May of 2005 was cooler, cloudier and wetter than normal. The near 4.5 inches of precipitation is about 1.5 inches beyond the usual. The cloudy, wet days lasted far more than expected and appreciated.
Though the moisture may have dampened our plans and attitudes, these conditions proved to be great for local growth.
The spring wild flowers put forth a dazzling display and when leaves shaded these ephemerals, their place is rapidly being taken by the unrolling ferns. A visit to the woods now will reveal the lushness of fern growth. Even though many are small, only inches high, others like the ostrich and interrupted ferns, are reaching two to three feet tall.
Also of note is the present fungi. Spring is not a time that we expect to see mushrooms and other fungi. But the wet conditions have brought out some of note.
Red cups sit on the forest floor while the yellowish witches' butter (jelly fungus) grows on a nearby dead branch. Some mushrooms can also be found now.
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Oyster fungus is on a few logs and a couple of Marasmius and Coprinus types are sticking up from the humus, too. And for many, this is morel time.
Also known as sponge mushroom, pine cone mushroom or May mushroom, morels are well known to the fungi fancier. Not only edible, they are choice when sautéed in butter. Many a collector has kept a prime site a secret.
Much more common in the southern part of the state, some can be found in the north as well. They do appear every May, but moisture of some years brings out more. And this wet spring means more morels.
But another has been common recently: the false morel. Morels are a rather consistent cone-shape on top of a hollow stem. Colors vary from light to dark brown. False morels are diverse in shape and though some may be almost white, most are a dark brown, nearly black.
The top or cap of these false morels will vary in shape and size, but all hold a series of fungal folds and turns that have given this fungus another name: brain fungus. False morels are never edible and can be quite dangerous. Once seen, it appears as though only the careless gatherer would mistake the two.
Besides both growing in the Northland this spring, morel and false morel have other things in common. Neither is a true mushroom. Reproductive cells, called spores, are produced in tiny sacs on the fungal surface and dispersed from here. (It is interesting to note that though the morel is the state mushroom of Minnesota, it is not really a mushroom.)
Mushrooms produce spores between gills under their caps.
Like most others, these fascinating fungi of spring will not last long. Soon the parts we see above the ground will collapse and fade, leaving the surviving subterranean mycelia for other wet years.
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Larry Weber is author of the "Backyard Almanac" and "Butterflies of the Northwoods." He lives in Carlton County and teaches natural science at Duluth's Marshall School.
