BIOL111 - Myriam's Tuesday group's Journal

Trametes gibbosa, or Lumpy Bracket, is a non-edible species of fungus that is observed often found growing on dead wood in regions including northern North America and northern Europe. Lumpy Brackets are characterized by large pores (length up to 4 milimeters) that extend in a somewhat circularly from the center, a tough texture and an absence of a stem. The color changes throughout the fungus life cycle. They are whitish when they are young, then move to becoming more cream colored, and eventually gray. The Lumpy Bracket is a basidiomycete, with a four spore basidia. This means that it undergoes sexual reproduction, and the visible part of the fungus is the reproductive body. Lumpy Brackets have smooth, elliptic spores which vary from 4-5.5 by 2-2.5 microns (Gibson 2020).

Purple-Spored Puffball, formally known as Calvatia Cyathiformis, is a large edible species of Calvatia, a genus of puffball mushrooms. Located across the entire country this common fungus is often found in grassy areas either growing alone or in fairy rings. Fairy rings arise when outward-growing mycelium depletes the soil of its nutrients creating a ring of mushrooms and Purple-Spored Puffball can form fairy rings that can survive for more than 400 years(Millman, 2019). At maturity, the puffball can be 8–17 cm high and 8–20 cm wide or roughly between the size of a softball and a soccer ball(Kuo, 2016). In Malaysia, the puffball is eaten when it is young and the flesh is firm but considered inedible when the fungi gives when pressed or if the dark-purple colored spores are visible(Abdullah, 2009).

Marasmius oreades, commonly known as fairy ring fungi, are one of the species of mushroom that form the natural phenomena known as a fairy ring. A fairy ring begins when the mycelium of a mushroom falls in a spot that supports and encourages growth, and it sends out a subterranean network of hyphae that grow outwards from the spore in every direction. This forms an underground mat of hyphae in a circular shape, which mushrooms are able to grow up from and create a circular pattern above ground. Gradually the subterranean mycelium dies out, but the ring continues to grow outwards and the diameter of the ring continues to grow and eventually, the underground segments of the fungi die out and a field of fairy ring fungi are left, with no discernable ring pattern. Marasmius oreades are known to create very large and irregular rings that can at times achieve a width of over three hundred and fifty meters.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Fairy ring. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/science/fairy-ring.

Marasmius oreades, commonly known as the fairy ring fungi, are found in lawns and grasslands. The age of fairy rings can be determined by the diameter of the rings. Different sectors of the rings can affected by mutation and selection during growth phases (Hiltunen, 2021). Grass growing around the fungi is typically greener than grass further away, this is the grass that game animals prefer to graze on (Rogers, 1969). This is caused by the release of nitrogenous substances into the soil as older hyphae of the mycelium dies.

The Trametes versicolor mushroom, also known as the turkey tail mushroom, is an edible member of the kingdom fungi traditionally used for its medicinal properties, particularly in Asian and Easter European traditions. Most often, the turkey tail mushroom is consumed as a powder made from the mycelium and the fermented substrate in which it grew. Turkey tail mushrooms have long been regarded for treating infectious disease and cancer. Recent findings suggest that the turkey tail mushroom enhances innate and adaptive immune responses. It has been found that the immune-activating properties of a mycelial-based medicinal mushroom preparation (such as the one using turkey tail mushrooms) comes from both the mycelium itself, and the substrate fermented by metabolism which is not present in the initial substrate. x

Fairy-Ring fungi, formally known as Marasmius Oreades, which are part of the basidiomycete fungi family, are an especially interesting organism as they grow in circles (fairy rings). Fairy-ring fungi can be found on lawns or in forests, mainly requiring sufficient moisture for growth. Each ring has a common origin, and can expand radially outwards for years, with different sectors slowly and independently mutating over the fungi's growth period (Hiltunen, Ament-Velásquez, Johannesson, 2021). An interesting note about the Marasmius Oreades is its history of mythology, as there are hundreds of old tales and myths about the relationship between fairy rings and spiritualism. One interesting myth about fairy-ring fungi is that seeing a circle of mushrooms signifies the presence of elves or fairies, and this is associated with either good or bad luck, depending on the tradition.

Hiltunen, M., Ament-Velásquez, S. L., & Johannesson, H. (2021). The Assembled and Annotated Genome of the Fairy-Ring Fungus Marasmius oreades. Genome biology and evolution, 13(7), evab126. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evab126

One of my observed species was the Arctium minus, or the Common Burdock. The phylogeny for the Common Burdock starts at Eukaryotes, then plants, then the order Asterales, then the family Asteraceae, and then the genus Arctium. The Arctium genus consists of differing species of Burdocks, which are native to Asia and Europe, but have spread across the world, including to North America.

All of the plants I observed have flat leaves, and the majority of the leaves have a broad surface area. Flat leaves help plants retain water, and broad leaves allow the most sunlight possible to be consumed by the plant, which is vital for life. Most of the plants I observed were shrubs and weeds that grow close to the ground, in an area with many taller plants and trees that block sunlight and create competition for water. The plants I observed adapted through the shape of their leaves to collect and retain as many nutrients as possible.

Burdock plants themselves have a unique adaptation. All plants in the genus Arctium have burrs, which have a hook and loop mechanism to attach to other organisms. This works well for spreading seeds, as burrs become attached to other organisms which then carry the burr with them.

Brambles (genus Rubus) are a group of flowering and/or ruit bearing plants, which often have thorns protruding from their thin woody stems. On the OneZoom phylogenetic tree, they fall on the Rose family” branch. Some common brambles include the Bakeapple, Black raspberries, Purpleflowering raspberries, Salmonberries, the Japanese wineberry, and the Western thimbleberry.

In terms of adaptations, while the all of the plants in the Rubus family each have their own speficic characteristics which evolved through natural selection, as the plants of this family are all inter-connected (through the rose family), they will inherently share aspects of their adaptations with one another. For example, most plants of the Rubus family produce what is commonly called the “bramble fruit” (blackberries, raspberries, and dewberries are all examples of bramble fruit). Plants of the Rubus family maintain their existence through the production of their fruit, as they maintain a symbiotic relationship with the animals around them with the aim of propagating seed dispersal.

With reference to all 10 of my observations, a shared adaptation amongst the plants of Mount Royal would relate to surface water erosion. Water erosion causes the detachment of soil (and soil material), which can uproot and disrupt plant life. With the effort of maintaining their survival, all of my observed plants would have needed to (/ would be in the process of) evolve to have stronger and longer roots, which would help combat the effects of displacement due to water erosion. This type of evolution would also work to further all of my observed plants’ genealogy through soil domination.

Cornus sericea, one of my observations, locates very deeply on the
phylogenetic tree. It is in the eulkaryota branch, and finally be assigned
to cornaceae. One adaptation that all observations of leaves have in common
is the color of them. All of the leaves samples in my group are green, or at
least part of them are green. None of the sample is totally yellow. In my
observations, larix has the most special leaf shape: needle.The needle
shaped leaves can help it to store more water.

The phylogeny of the common silverweed begins at eukaryotes, then plants, eudicots, pentapetalae, the rose family, potenilleae and finally the genus of argentina or potentilla.
One adaptation of the common silverweed is that it grows in cracks in the rocks and has thick roots to keep itself safe from predatory beaks. It can also spread rapidly due to its roots as they curve toward the ground and find a moist spot, forming an upright stem, resulting in a separate plant.
Both trees and plants have adapted to withstand the cold weather. Some trees lose their leaves to manage the lack water, while plants will keep their leaves to insulate themselves.