Pine Ridge Park - The Fungal Jungle

Mushrooms are extremely fascinating to me because of their complexity and vast mysteriousness. They play a crucial role in the environment as decomposers, being to break down lignin is of most importance in maintaining a healthy ecosystems. Not only are they decomposers but they also share a symbiotic relationship with plants with fungi called Mycorrhizae. One of the things I learned while on our field trip to Pine Ridge Park was that there is a certain type of mycorrhizae fungi called Ericoid mycorrhiza that is only associated with plants from Ericaceae family, including plants like Salal, huckleberries, blueberries, rhododendrons, cranberries, among others that are native to our region in Western Washington.


Ericoid mycorrhiza is a saprotrophic fungus that breaks down dead and decaying organic matter such as wood and is a ectomycorrhizae that forms and attaches itself to the outside of the plant roots. This could be an explanation of how huckleberries are able to grown on dead stumps and nurse logs.

Although I didn't find this mushroom while on our field trip I still found it and was able to ID it. I found this while on a hike in the cascades near Snoqualmie Pass. It is a Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria, the red cap and white dots are a distinguishing feature. The ring on the stipe is another characteristic that aids to the identification of this species which is the fruiting body of an ectomycorrhizae fungi.

Here are some other mushrooms I found in the Arboretum recently..