Sports
MEDFORDeJjfTRIBUNE
SECTION B MEDFORD, OREGON. SUNDAY DECEMBER 8, 1963 PAGES 1 TO 8
A Bumper Fungus Crop for Area
Fred Lawrence, who knows his mushrooms, posed here in
his Medford home with water color plates he madr! of his favor
ites, the corals.
Features
A bed of moss seems a very
appropriate place for a mush
room tn grow. The encyclo
pedia gives the French word
for moss as probable deriva
tion of the word mushroom.
By EVA HAMILTON
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
When shadows claim the Sugar Pine trail far up in the
' Elk Creek country and the ground erupts with fungi, it is
easy to believe that leprechauns come out and dance in fairy
rings of mushrooms.
On slopes of Diamond Lake, too, where rushes could be
hiding places for the "little people," there seems good rea
son for the fairy rings.
Giant toadstools offer wanted shelter for insects as they
prepare for one last meal along. the Union Creek trail before
winter ice makes stickers of fern fronds and destroys the
fungus parasols.
But what purpose does a fairy ring serve on a lawn in
the city of Medford where no flight of the imagination can
conjure up a troop of the wee folk who inhabit the rushy glen,
some gardeners ask.
Warning Issued About Mushrooms
Departing from fantasy to fact, mushroom fanciers an
swer: "They are for eating." And here is where Fred Law
rance, 1422 Euclid Ave., Medford, recognized mycologist,
issues a warning.
"People should not be tempted to pick and eat unless
they know what they are picking. All mushrooms that grow
in a ring are not 'fairy-ring mushrooms', and some are very
poisonous."
The marasmius oreades or fairy-ring mushroom is edible
and palatable, too, with a nut-like flavor, but there is now
a Japanese import that resembles it closely and it is being
found in the Portland area and may be here, Lawrence cau
tioned. It is very poisonous.
There are 40 to 50 mushrooms that grow in a ring. The
ones recently found in the Union Creek picnic area, growing
in a ring under the evergreens, are of. the clitocyhe genus,
Lawrence said.
The fungus crop this year in city, country and mountain
areas has been one of the largest noted in many years, my
cologists point out.
There has been a bumper crop of edible mushrooms, ton,
but the crop is now past its prime. Many of the mushrooms
are water soaked, some are frosted and may soon be deco
rated with icicles. November was their month! They have
been so plentiful along Laurelhurst, Obenchain and Cobleigh
roads in the Butte Falls and McLeod areas that they were
visible to passing motorists.
There are 2,000 different species of mushrooms in the
u
Mushrooms, edible and non-edible, have through the years preferred the stump in a forest
glen or on a mountain peak as a place to grow.
Northwest, Lawrence, whose specialty is Ihp corals, ex
plained. Many are edible, but some are poisonous and those
that are poisonous are very poisonous.
Botanists do not separate the toadstools from mushrooms.
The less scientific mind, however, classifies the edible varie
ties as mushrooms and the poisonous ones as toadstools.
Explode From Ground
In colors that rival the spectrum red, orange, violet
and gold, shading into chartreuse the mushrooms exploded
from the ground this autumn in practically all mountain
reaches. The brightest ones appeared in the shadiest places.
Great clusters of coral were found, too. Screened by the flam
ing vine maple, these growths, resembling oceanic life, of
fered line and color to tempt the artist.
Similar to brown velvet some mushrooms appeared with
gills of yellow or chartreuse. The orange ones, emerging from
a bed of moss, offered the most striking contrast and an
obvious expression of nature's determination to bring from
the soil one more eruption of color before snow carpets the
earth.
If there is not a heavy freeze this mushroom growth may
continue, '. iwrence volunteered. Some years, he explained,
he has gathered mushrooms throughout the winter in the
mountain areas.
To make these the delectable thing gourmets write about,
the proper cooking must be done, Lawrence said, adding that
this is a study in itself.
Addresses Portland Society
Lawrence, who recently addressed the Portland Mycology
Society on the corals, has obtained much of his knowledge
and training in mycology from Dr. Alexander H. Smith, pro
fessor of mycology at the University of Michigan. Rut not
his information on the corals. For this, his source is E. J. H.
Corner, lecturer at Cambridge. University in England, a rec
ognized world authority on corals.
There are between 75 and 100 species of corals found
in Oregon, alone, according to Lawrence, a recognized au
thority but one who modestly insists upon limiting his area
to Oregon.
The corals have their host trees. One kind grows under a
fir, another kind under a laurel. They are not supposed to
grow under pines, but Lawrence says he has found them
there. He has been collecting for eight years. Corals have
many irregularities, he has found. They appear in a variety
of shapes and sizes. They are influenced by altitude as well as
their hosts.
Most of them are edible, the Oregon expert said. He has
found only two that are not. One is jelly-like in consistency
aid the other has bright yellow tips and salmon-colored
branches. He doesn't think these are poisonous, but they are
so bitter after cooking they are not considered edible.
Discovers New Specie
In the Jacksonville area, Lawrence has discovered a new
specie of mushroom of the genus hygrophorous. It has been
named "Specie Lawrencei" in the monograph recently pub
lished. Dr. Smith declared it a previously unknown specie.
In his collection Lawrence has a copy of Dr. Smith's hook,
"Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitat." It is now out of print
and recently sold on the New York market with a book of
reels for in excess of $170, Lawrence said.
Dr. Smith has collected specimens in this area. Five years
ago he set up his laboratory in Grants Pass and Lawrence
worked with him there and in the field. He furnished Law
rence with the keys he uses in identification.
There are 100,000 species in the fungus order, -which in
cludes the woody types and the molds (the. one from which
penicillin is made) as well as those commonly known as toad
stools and mushrooms, Lawrence said.
Ways of Measuring
There are different ways of measuring the mushroom or
fungus growths. To some people they spell only trouble. They
detract from the smooth expanse of green lawn and appear in
connection with turf fungus diseases, pink patch and dollar
spot. They are a dangerous food, a temptation to the inex
perienced. To others, they are a welcome accent to choice
foods and an enchanting decoration of the fall and winter
earth.
The unusual prevalence of them this year is the result of
just the right weather conditions, Lawrence noted.
So, whether they are found in a decomposed stump above
the 5,500-foot elevation or in a "Golden Meadow," such as
Johnny Gruelle created for "Raggedy Ann," the way of a
mushroom and the way of a toadstool are determined by the
kind of glasses (rose-colored or clear) worn by the folk who
appraise them.
$r?l
T'
Sutryifci
- " PLATE 3- ' V
M j. iJw. l
to
; j iS a r ..... ' ' 11 -.
Mir--
i'4
m ?f j.
Bit 4 J X '
The attractive growth shown
below was near a large
stone in the vicinity of Becky's
Cafe and could be classified
as nature's entry for the gar
drn show. It was loft undis
turbed so the mushrooms (or
toadstools) were not classified.
They, loo, had been given a
white frosting.
rjg .
Figure 1, Plate 3, shows what Fred Lawrence considers Oregon's most beautiful coral. It is
pale salmon pink in color. There are between 75 and 100 species of coral found in Oregon.
PLATS 10
The formation above, found
protruding from a rock foun
dation, was more spectacular
than beautiful. It was de
scribed by an onlooker as
"t'bangi Lips."
t .4 Ua t Ikir nhnlA tmio t-1 1 rr m inrtnrl Kl' Ha U-aw InaVrtO nf ihf
twm-flnwpr alone the Union Crork trail. II is edihlp. in its primp. Fir nrrdlps and frost rircoraln
it now. Its close neighbors, the thro in the bottom of the picture, were not identified by Law-rnce.
4
mm
Jl': , O n
V. dl l !!.' .1 I. f - 77. )' , .
1.4
Figure 1, Plate in, is a coral found (or the first lime in Oregon by Lawrence. It wasn't includ
ed in Ihp record. Figure 2 shows how massive the stems of the coral can he. These drawings,
w hich are in color, were done by Lawrence, who is an artist and a sign painter.