Symbiosis of Plants and Insects's Journal

"Parasola conopilus," a species of hygrophanous mushroom, was a species observed during Lab 5; its tissue can vary in colour depending on the moisture level. When moist, the cap presents as a lustrous, shiny reddish-brown colour; when drying, however, it goes through a two-tone colour stage, wherein the centre outwards whitens, and then the entire cap and stem thin out and become dull and greyish-brown. This fungus is native to several parts of Europe, but is also present in North America, such as the Jeanne-Mance location it was found at, in Montreal, Quebec. Moreover, this mushroom's genus was originally identified to be "Psathyrella," but has since been reclassified to "Parasola," a decision still being debated, but essentially due to it not growing in dense clusters, unlike all other "Psathyrella" species.

On 6th October I had another lab session at Jeanne-Mance Park where we got to walk into the trees for fungi observations. One that caught my attention was the Trametes cubensis. It is a bracet fungus and belongs to the family Polyporaceae [reference: Global Biodiversity Information Facility, https://www.gbif.org/species/2548276]. Though it was found isolated and dried, getting a little rusty and probably in decay, its relatively huge size (about palm size) and hemispherical shape stood out from the rest. Recently, there is a still a debate as to whether this fungus is the species cubensis or lactinea, whether these are the same fungus, or whether one has been mis-identified. An accurate ID would still require further researches on its characteristics, mostly by compare and contrast with other fungi species.