Denver EcoFlora Project's Journal

Insect Alert!
In August we are taking a break from our usual plant-focused programming to help Cornell researchers with Project GNBee learn more about ground nesting bees. What are ground nesting bees anyway? Well, when we think of a bee, we might imagine a beehive—which is a colony of bees, but many native bees don’t fit into this stereotype. In fact, 90% of all bees are solitary, and 70% are ground nesting. Ground nesting bees are solitary bees, meaning they don’t have colonies with a queen and worker bees. Instead of building a beehive, each female bee constructs her own nest in the soil. Just like colony forming bees (or eusocial bees), ground nesting bees are important pollinators and critical for biodiversity and ecosystem health. Despite their importance, little is known about their nesting requirements—which is where Project GNBee comes in. They are aiming to utilize the amazing resource that is community scientists to locate and map ground nesting bee habitat.

Contribute to the effort to learn more about ground nesting bees by making iNaturalist observations. Please join the GNBee project on iNaturalist , and post pictures of ground nesting bees entering or leaving their nests and estimate the number of entrances. To find ground nesting bees, check areas with well-draining soil—gardens, meadows, and sandy areas. Your contributions can aid in understanding the vital role ground nesting bees play and how we can protect them.

To learn more, check out Project GNBee’s website and Instragram.

@tom_barnes_

@slowswakey

For September we are introducing our first fungal friend to the EcoQuest—the genus Chlorophyllum! Even though mushrooms aren’t plants, the term “botany” historically included all plant-like organisms, so terms like “botanical” or “flora” include fungi. Here at the Denver Botanic Gardens—we study fungi as well as plants!

Derived from Greek roots, the name “Chlorophyllum” means “green leaf”, or in this case “green gill,” as some species in the genus do have green spores. It was designated as a genus at a time when spore color was an important identifier for separating genera. Spore prints are a useful tool for identifying fungi—to make a spore print, place a mature mushroom cap with the stem cut, gill down on a piece of white paper overnight. Putting a container over it can help protect it from getting moved. In the morning, you’ll find a pattern of spores—the color of which can help in identification.

Members of the Chlorophyllum genus are often found in grassy areas, lawns, and woodlands in late summer to early autumn. Characteristics of this genus include a large cap that is often scaly and white, with a central stem and conspicuous ring toward the upper part of the stem. The stem is typically smooth and hollow with an enlarged base. The gills are especially distinctive in that they are “free”, meaning that they do not attach directly to the stalk.

In the Denver metro area, you can expect to find Chlorophyllum molybdites (commonly called “green-spored Parasol”), C. rhacodes, and C. brunneum. The latter two species are commonly referred to as “shaggy Parasol.” Chlorophyllum molybdites is poisonous, but unfortunately tastes rather good and as the other similar-looking species are edible, it causes more poisonings than any other mushrooms in the area. To distinguish, C. molybdites has green spores while the other two have white spores. Additionally, the textures of the caps are different, C. molybdites is softer, less scaly, and more granular. Telling these three species apart is challenging and especially discouraged for foraging, unless you are an expert.
If you stumble upon a Chlorophyllum mushroom in the Denver area, leave it as the genus Chlorophyllum on iNaturalist unless you are certain. Be sure to take a good picture of the ring—especially from the side, as this can help the fungal experts identify it to species level. If you can, make a spore print and upload a picture of it in your observation. Your contributions amplify our understanding of this captivating genus and urban ecology.

Help Denver Botanic Gardens document Chlorophyllum in the greater metro area by photographing as many as possible in the month of September. Post your findings to iNaturalist so they will automatically be added to the Denver EcoFlora Project.

Green-spored Parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) by @bradenmays

Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes) by @patcooper