Dependent on Fungus?

We are all aware of fungus that depends on trees and plants to live.  Many types of fungus live off decaying plant matter and are helpful to the environment by breaking it down.

Shelf fungus on stump

But did you know that many tree and plant species can be aided by fungi when alive?  Mycorrhizal fungi are fungi that establish a symbiotic relationship with the roots of a vascular plant.  

A mycorrhizal fungus that has colonized the roots of  plant
(illustration by Melissa Buntin at Fine Gardening)

A fungus will colonize the plant's roots and send out filaments, called hyphae, as much as 200 times farther into the soil.  With such a large surface area, the fungus is better able to glean water and nutrients from the area, which it sends back to the plant roots.  In return, the plant will give the fungus necessary glucose.

Fruiting bodies of the fungus Amanita muscaria, which lives in a symbiotic relationship with several different kinds of trees  (photo source - Wikipedia)

I had previously heard about orchids having a symbiotic relationship with fungi, but when delving further, mycorrhizal fungi are able to help an astounding number of trees and plants - about 80% of all species, in fact.  Due to this symbiotic fungi, trees and plants are better able to resist drought and disease.

This type of fungi are also especially important for trees that are in areas with poor soil, such as most rainforests, as they help collect nutrients for the trees.  According to the Rainforest Conservation Fund, up to 90% of tree roots in the rainforest are colonized by mychorrhizal fungi.   The fungi even interconnect trees through their hyphae, creating a network or 'fungal mat'.  This may mean that rainforest trees with a higher canopy that can reach more light can transfer needed carbon to the shorter trees that are below in the shade.

A network that interconnects the trees and transfers energy?  Sounds like these fungi are from the Avatar planet of Pandora...
source of photo

Different types of fungus help different types of plants.  Some are very specific, while others will colonize the roots of several different types of plants.

You can buy some mycorrhizal fungus for your very own!  Pictured is a mix of several different kinds of mycorrhizal fungi that help roses, sold by David Austin Roses.

I always wondered why articles about soil amending advise not to till your soil very much, but instead just lay organic matter on top of it.  One of the reasons is that tilling destroys a lot of this type of beneficial fungi.  I, on the other hand, have compacted clay soil in much of my yard which does not provide enough oxygen content for a thriving colony of beneficial fungi - so I'm thinking some tilling may be necessary..

Wanted:  Fungi!
(photo of red clay at Wikipedia)

Previously, the thought of having soil that was teeming with fungus might have been distressing - now that I know all about the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi, however, they are welcome at the Red House garden!

Hostile fungi, on the other hand, need not apply...

The parasitic fungus Armillaria solidipes attacks tree sapwood.  One specimen found in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon covers an area of 3.4 square miles and is one of the largest living organisms in the world.  Most of it is underground - one only sees the evidence of this fungus in autumn when it blooms these little 'honey mushrooms' as pictured.

I am actually linking up to the Word for Wednesday meme over at the wonderful blog of Garden Walk, Garden Talk, my word for Wednesday being 'dependent'.  I am a little late to the party - I am away from the Red House for the week, and my computer apparently gets homesick and does not feel like being cooperative...

Two Terrarium Books

This winter I bought two new books about terrariums, which provided some great inspiration and advice about this fun indoor gardening technique.  Read these books at your own risk - you, too, might be tempted afterwards to buy some gorgeous glass containers and, of course, plants to go with them!

Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Miniature Worlds

by Amy Bryant Aiello and Kate Bryant

photography by Kate Baldwin

This book visually walks the reader through making a terrarium.  It provides step-by-step instructions for 50 different ones, and gives some great advice and even better inspiration.  They use some really interesting plants, like living stones and different succulents, to great artistic effect.  However, my favorite thing about this book is all the beautiful and creative ways they use different colored sand.

 

If I were forced to pick out a deficiency in this book, I would say that some of the plants were so fascinating that I think I would have liked a whole section in the book devoted just to the different plants they used!  They did talk about the general types of plants and provided blurbs about the specific plants as the book went along, but I was left wanting to know even more about them and where to get them!  (Thankfully there is a resources page at the back.) They also do use some strangely unusual objects that are surely meant more for terrarium inspiration than replication (jawbone of a sheep, anyone?)

Ultimately, though, I loved the book.  I would recommend it for anyone looking for some creative terrarium inspiration, especially for desert terrariums - this book has some true gems!

The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature

by Tovah Martin

photography by Kindra Clineff

This book was featured in the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens, and I bought it and started reading it with great anticipation - only to be rather disappointed.  The author's writing in this book is extremely verbose, painfully and distractingly so.  I enjoyed reading about the history of terrariums, but Martin describes each individual type of terrarium container in such detail and repeats herself so often, that I could barely get through the first half of the book.  If I wasn't so determined to read it, I would have surely just flipped through many of the pages for the beautiful pictures.

A Wardian Case - after seeing the pictures in this book, you will want one!

Thankfully Martin's overly descriptive style is more of a complement to the second half of the book, where she has a great section on the many different types of plants that do well in terrariums.  She details quite a few plants that one would not normally think of to put in a terrarium, and she adds a resource list in the back that tells where to find them.  I only wish there were a few more pictures to go with all the beautiful sounding plant descriptions!

Martin does not cover desert or beach planted terrariums at all, instead stating unequivocally that "succulents can never work in a terrarium" due to light requirements.   After reading the other terrarium book which highlighted several succulents for terrariums, I am rather dubious about that..

Several plants in a Wardian case

The book finishes with some terrarium ideas and some other ways that terrariums can be used, such as for rooting cuttings of plants and nursing plants back to health.  Martin often uses her beautiful glass containers to showcase certain plants and make them into centerpieces; her pictures show her penchant for putting potted plants under glass to enhance them as well as provide a more humid environment for them.

Tropical lady's slipper orchid encased in glass

I would only recommend buying this book if you want a good resource for possible terrarium plants.  Otherwise, just pick this one up from the library to learn more about the history of Wardian cases, cloches, and other types of glass terrarium containers and to get some inspiration from the gorgeous pictures!

For more reviews of gardening books from other garden bloggers, head on over to the blog Roses and Other Joys - you might just find the gardening book you never knew you needed!