Well, Hello There

And this is what I look like while I'm dissecting beetles. My adviser thinks it's a "good look for me." Am I a geek yet?

Yeah, yeah.

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American LL: Citizenship Day 2008 at Fenway Park

LL officially became a US citizen yesterday at Citizenship Day 2008, which took place at Fenway Park. Just over 3,000 other immigrants did as well. The event was huge, disorganized and took more than five hours to complete. It included lots of canned patriotism, not the least of which was a videotaped message from Dubya congratulating the newly-minted Americans on having achieved citizenship — inexplicably shown before the oath was administered. The event also included lots of religious hoo-hah; god bless this and that and the other thing. The event was also a great advertising opportunity for the Red Sox. Even as attendees were being shown patriotic imagery and having certain bits of the Constitution explained incorrectly to them (since when does the second amendment guarantee a right of self-defense with firearms? My copy of the Constitution only has a bit about a "well-regulated militia."), Red Sox marketing was passing out "Red Sox Nation" bracelets, and more than one speaker equated being a Red Sox fan with being a good American. No, really.

For me, there was a certain irony to the repeated advising of the new citizens to get involved and learn English and such. LL speaks and writes English better than the majority of people born in this country and she's certainly more involved with the community than most, including myself.

Nonetheless, it was a big ritual and now LL can cast a vote against the religious right wackos and incompetents in the next election, a big part of why she wanted to go through this whole trial in the first place. So, here are some photos.

	Citizenship: It's over there to your left.
	Crowd shot; line up over here. No, line up over there. "If you don't stand behind me, you don't get to be a citizen." The first practical lesson in American civics: shut up, take out your paperwork and get in line. Everyone being sworn in was instructed to show up at the ballpark at the same time and funneled in through a single gate, even though they had "appointments" at three different times. Most of these people don't speak English as their primary language. The result was a great deal of confusion and consternation. You can see the many happy, smiling faces in which this resulted in this shot.
	The notices everyone received in the mail told them to report to Gate D for the ceremony, but Gate D was closed and the crowd was told to go to Gate B instead upon arrival. Is this what they mean by "mass migration?"
	In case you didn't know which ballpark you were at, the sign on the Jumbotron was there to remind you, along with a rotating Red Sox logo. There were many reminders throughout the day of how the Red Sox are patriotic. Be a Red Sox fan... be a Red Sox fan... did we mention that you should be a Red Sox fan? Nobody leaves the stadium until they pledge allegiance to the Red Sox, goddamit.
	Once we entered the stadium, those who were being naturalized and their guests were separated into two groups. The immigrants were sent to the left, the guests to the right. The immigrants were tagged with bracelets and nobody lacking such a bracelet was allowed into the half of the stadium where the immigrants were seated... for two hours before the ceremony actually began. The immigrants were, however, allowed to visit their guests in the other half of the stadium. Here, LL makes her way over to sit with me since we were both bored out of our skull as we sat there waiting for something to happen. She later went to the concession stand and brought me food, since there was a concession on the immigrant side of the park and we were told that we shouldn't go back out into the hallway due to problems checking people in. I couldn't get to the concessions until after the ceremony. All in all, it was a zoo!
	Still, LL and I made the best of the situation. That's not saying much... our butts were already going numb by the time this shot was taken. The Venezualan kid sitting behind me was falling asleep. I wouldn't have missed this for anything, though, since it's a marker in LL's life. Even if it was five hours of ritual nonsense that could have been done with a five minute oath and a piece of paper.
	On command, wave those flags! These people aren't immigrants; this is in the guest section. Many tiny cameras were also present. The flags themselves were made in China.
	The very first photo of LL as an American citizen. She looks more American in this shot, doesn't she? The certificate says that she's one of us now (Gooble gobble gooble gobble, one of us... one of us...) As a waitress told her when we went for dinner at the Eastern Standard when LL told her she'd been born in Lebanon, "Welcome to our side." I hadn't known that LL was on the other side previously! But she's 'merkin now.
	The good news: George Dubya Bush's signature didn't appear on the certificate. Some guy from Homeland Security's signature was on it instead, I think. Neither LL nor I had ever heard of him before. We arrived at the stadium at 10:30 AM. It was 3:30 PM when I took this shot. I think it shows in LL"s face here. Still, the paper says she's 'merkin now and, thankfully, doesn't also say that she's a Red Sox fan. I'm sure that part was just an oversight.
	LL washes her hands as an American for the first time. The hand sanitizer she used was made in China.
	LL's first bloody mary... as an American. Nice eyes.
	LL calls her mom in Lebanon for the first time as an American. She still spoke that funny language that's nothing like English, so maybe the waitress was wrong about her being on "our side" now. I'll have to keep an eye on her for the next lifetime or so.
	LL's first raw oyster as an American. The oyster came from Duxbury, MA and not, thankfully, from China. She's eating it at the Eastern Standard restaurant in Boston, which is probably good but man, overpriced. A dozen oysters goes for about $30! A bucket of three dozen goes for $18 in Florida. You do the math. Welcome to America! Still, after the loooooong day, all we wanted were some oysters and a couple of drinks. We didn't even bother checking the menu beforehand. We only went to Eastern Standard because their awning says "oysters" right on the thing.
	On the train from Boston to Worcester; does LL look tired? We finally got home just after 8:00. LL is glad this whole citizenship-seeking song-and-dance is over, as am I. If she had to fill out one more stupid form asking whether she was selling "marihuana" (good morning, 1933!) or working as a prostitute... it wouldn't have been pretty. Best question on the forms? "Have you ever given false testimony." Why even bother asking? If you've given it before, why wouldn't you just give it again?

So, yep, LL is officially American now. She'll always be a Lebaneezer to me, though.

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Fungi from Moreland Woods

We checked out Moreland Woods yesterday on behalf of the Greater Worcester Land Trust. Conditions were far from ideal for determining fungal diversity. It hasn't rained in at least a week, so there may be species there for which we had no evidence. As things were, though, there wasn't much to be found. The most common fungus appears to be a large white Lactarius species, at least judging by the number of dried-up mushroom "corpses" that we found. There were perhaps 10 species of Russula, maybe a half dozen Lactarius and a smattering of other fungi all together.

I made only three collections myself:

		Climacodon septentrionalis is a pathogen of hardwood trees. The fruiting bodies in this photo were growing on what I think was a maple tree that had snapped and fallen over about four feet from the base. It was a large tree, and there's a good chance that this fungus is what killed it judging from the condition of the wood. C. septentrionalis looks like a polypore from a distance (I thought it was some kind of Oxyporus when I first saw this one), but it has teeth on the underside instead of pores. The teeth on this specimen were up to 9mm long and about 0.5mm wide. I didn't see the fruiting bodies on other trees in the vicinity, so perhaps the good news here is that only the one downed tree is infected.
		I couldn't key this Cortinarius to species. It appears to be something close to C. lilacinus, but the overall spore size and ratio of spore length to width weren't quite right... close, but not exactly right. It might also be C. iodes in the process of drying out and losing its color. The flesh inside the stipe was almost solid violet, but that in the pileus was very pale and nearly white. We found little troops of this in two separate locations, but it wasn't widespread and definitely isn't the endemic C. dionysae, since the spores were broadly ellipsoid and not lemon-shaped at all.
		Ramariopsis kunzei is among the most common coralloid fungi in our area, surpassed perhaps only by the ubiquitous Tremellodendron pallidum. Even so, I only saw a few individuals in one area, growing in hardwood humus. The fact that I even bothered collecting this is testament to the paucity of more unusual species found during our survey

All in all, the decision to preserve this parcel of land is unlikely to be made on the basis of fungal diversity. If it is conserved, it's going to need a lot of clean-up work. There has been quite a bit of junk thrown into the place. I saw far more rusting car parts than fungi, and the most common artifacts in the place were beer bottles and golf balls. I suspect that the place is used as a practice driving range during the day and a hideout for bored teenagers at night.

There are two brooks that cross the property, but both were reduced to little more than mud puddles when we saw them yesterday, and judging by the amount of plant overgrowth, it looks to me like that's their normal condition. The most common ground cover plant, by a substantial margin, is poison ivy. Some areas around the dried-out brooks were so overgrown with the it, and with Virginia creeper, that they were practically impassible without a machete.

While I wasn't specifically looking for them, I didn't see many animals or evidence of animal activity. I suspect that there's little more than the usual assemblage of semi-urban animals in the place: squirrels, chipmunks, rats, maybe a few raccoons and skunks.

Whatever happens to Moreland Woods, the place needs a lot of restoration work. It's too bad that the oft-mentioned "tragedy of the commons" appears to be in full effect here. It might be a nice place to have in the neighborhood, and the neighborhood itself is certainly one of the nicest in Worcester. Instead, it looks like everyone who lives in the area regards Moreland Woods as somebody else's problem.

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Exotic Worcester, America's Hidden Gem

As today is Labor Day, a big holiday here in the USA, I thought I'd do something a little different today.

I haven't posted many photos of Worcester since I moved here a year ago. That's an oversight on my part, because Worcester is one of America's most exotic and unusual cities. LL has been going on walks through Worcester every morning for the past few weeks, so today I thought I'd accompany her on a walk from Webster Square to Tatnuck Square and bring along the camera to shoot a few photos of some of the unusual things one would see along the way.

Prepare to be amazed. As you'll see, Worcester is one of America's — nay, the Western Hemisphere's — hidden treasures.

	LL's butt at the beginning of our walk.
	LL's butt a few minutes later.
	Perhaps no radio station in Worcester has a more targeted marketing plan than WXLO, 104.5 FM. For instance, they've figured out that the people who live in this house are their target demographic, so rather than scattering advertising all over town and hoping that they see it, they've simply parked a billboard right on their lawn. The crack marketing team at WXLO has reportedly compiled a list of hardcore Bon Jovi fans in the Worcester metro area and all of them get a similar treatment. Rumor has it that the station's market share is way up because of this campaign. Only in Worcester!
	LL's butt a few more minutes later. Notice the change between shots.
	You're probably wondering about this shot. Every city has a few McDonald's... but this McDonald's can be found only in Worcester, near the intersection of Chandler and Mill. You can get 12 McNuggets for only $3 here! Where else are McNuggets being practically given away? Nowhere! Only in Worcester, the home of discount meat-like blobs! How about that for a marketing slogan, city council?
	Of course, there are more and better dining opportunities in Worcester than just McDonald's. Here, we see LL outside of one of our city's finest Friendly's. I eat at Friendly's restaurants fairly frequently. Sure, there's better food at a few places in town, but with the free happy endings, it's not the food that keeps bringing me back.
	LL's butt even later on the walk. Observant readers will note that it has swung significantly to the right at this point.
	Many people believe that places like New York and Hollywood set fashion trends in America, but they're really only following fads that start out here in Worcester. In this shot, LL models one of the hottest new styles that's catching on like wildfire around town lately — the functional yet sexy knee brace. For those of you who don't reside here in New England's fashion Mecca, this may look a bit odd right now. Wait a few months, though, until all the big actresses and rock stars are wearing these. I've heard a rumor (can't confirm it, though) that Gwen Stefani loves the things and Renee Zelwegger owns at least a dozen. Once again, Worcester leads the way!
	I bet you non-Worcesterites are looking at this photo and thinking, "Meh. Another bland, utilitarian high-density housing development. Ah, but look more closely! Many of these are yellow. Quel magnifique!
	This is the largest "Slow Children" sign in all of New England. It's hard to appreciate it's scale; LL is in the shot to give you some idea of the size of the thing. The sign is a triumph of local technology, requiring nearly two years of research and development followed by over 500 man hours in construction time. The project, funded by several bond initiatives, was undertaken at a cost of nearly $5.3 billion. That may seem excessive, but here in Worcester we like to remember that today's slow children grow up to be the slow leaders of tomorrow.
	About ten years ago, the first killer sunflower seeds arrived in Worcester mixed into a shipment of pink plastic flamingos returned by dissatisfied Danish customers. Today, the deadly carnivorous flowers can be found in many of the outlying parts of town. It took LL more than twenty minutes of wrestling with this flower before she exhausted it enough for me to snap this photo. Her hair tells the story. Moments after this picture was taken, the flower messily devoured a passing Jehovah's Witness. Moral: meat-eating plants do not take kindly to proselytizing.
	The world-famous Ken Chin's Restaurant needs no introduction. If you haven't already heard of it, there's no point in trying to explain it to you now, you poor lost soul.
	LL's butt quite near the end of our walk.
	Considered by many to be one of the triumphs of modern athletic architecture, Colonial Bowling Center offers its clientele alleys with up to ten pins each and the latest in ball return technology. Around here, we simply refer to it as the Eighth Wonder of Worcester.
	Located within walking distance of Worcester Regional Airport, this supermarket with no groceries serves New England's largest air traffic-free airline hub. On the left side of the photo, two conjugating police vehicles can be seen. This area is a breeding ground for police vehicles, which begin their lives as meter maid buggies soon after hatching. They don't reach maturity for several years, so we Worcesterians are very careful to preserve their mating grounds in pristine condition. Note that it is very dangerous to approach police vehicles while they are mating; the males have been known to become very aggressive and injure gawkers who wander too close. Keep a safe distance and avoid any sudden movements that might enrage them.

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into Worcester, America's home of discount meat-like blobs. Remember, everything you've seen here was located on just one street among the many that wend their way through this town. If you're considering taking a vacation this year, why not take it in Worcester, Massachusetts? They don't want you to know about the exotic adventures and hedonistic pleasures that this city offers the intrepid traveler... but now you know.

See you soon!

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Wachusett Wednesday: Beautiful Beyond Compare

Yesterday's trip to my Wachusett Mountain field site was not only productive, it was perfect. There are few days in the years that I've been foraying that compare to it. It was a clear, cool day, an ideal 60°F when I arrived on site. Mosquitoes and biting flies were nearly absent and I barely broke a sweat. The recent rain and cool temperatures for August have produced a variety and quantity of fungal fruiting bodies that I haven't seen in years; there was such a diversity that I collected perhaps one species out of twenty that I actually saw. Lactarius spp. were particularly prolific, and much of that was the choice edible Lactarius hygrophoroides, although I didn't collect any of that. One would have needed a dump truck to haul off a fraction of that mushroom's bulk. The various Russula species of a couple of weeks ago have nearly vanished now. In their wake, thanks to the unusual weather, have come a number of species that are not often collected on the East Coast if they ever have been before. The coral fungus you'll see below, for example, is normally known only from Idaho westward, but there's nothing else it could be according to every characteristic I observed in the specimen collected. Next to Lactarius spp., the bulk of the fruiting bodies I observed in the field were boletes of various sorts, many of them quite robust and colorful. Tylopilus was particularly profuse.

I also brought back a few polypore specimens that look to have become home to beetles. I'll be opening up the fruiting bodies today to see what lives inside of them. That's interesting in terms of my research, but the photos that follow are of the most interesting and colorful mushrooms I collected, not the comparatively drab polypores.

Special thanks to Manfred Binder for his help with the identification of the boletes. Without his assistance, I'd still be in the lab trying to figure out what collections I was adding to the herbarium. It takes me a half hour to an hour to identify a single bolete; Manfred can do it in about 15 seconds most of the time. I hope he enjoys the Strobilomyces.

		This mushroom isn't from Wachusett. Several Tricholomopsis rutilans popped up right in my yard. Commonly known as the plum and custard mushroom, it's distinctive mauve scales on the cap and stip and egg yolk yellow gills (when fresh; this specimen was already a bit dry) make it quite easy to identify. I last collected it in California in 2002; this photo of one of the California specimens better illustrates the color of the gills of a fresh specimen. While it's technically edible, I don't care for it. As I recall, the flavor is bland verging on bitter. Still, finding this growing literally in my own backyard was a nice surprise.
		Coprinus micaceus is a common species, usually found fruiting in large clusters around decaying wood, as shown in these photos. The surface of the cap is usually covered in metallic gray flecks; you can just make them out in the second image. Rain will tend to wash those off, though. Some references list this as edible, others say its edibility is unknown. I've never tried it myself. While few Coprinus species are poisonous, some contain a chemical that can react with ethyl alcohol in the digestive system to cause very nasty illness, bad enough that in the past they were used as a sort of medicine to dissuade alcoholics from drinking. It's thus a good idea to avoid mixing Coprinus with alcohol.
		One of the most distinguishing traits of Coprinus spp. is their tendency to digest their own fruiting bodies. In this image, you can see that process beginning. The gills, which are already black with spores, are the first to go. The cap margin soon turns black and gooey as well, and before long the whole mushroom decays into a mass of black goop. The ink used to write the US Constitution was made from that unpleasant-looking mess. Again, this Coprinus micaceus specimen was found in my backyard; I didn't see any at Wachusett.
		One last mushroom from my backyard. This is Inocybe lacera, and despite its rather nondescript appearance it's easy to distinguish from the seemingly endless parade of little brown Inocybes. Most of them have angular or nodulose spores; it's practically a signature of the genus. I. lacera, on the other hand, has spores shaped somewhere between a sausage and an egg. It also doesn't have a particularly strong scent, whereas many of its kin have quite distinct and often disagreeable odors. This makes I. lacera arguably the drabbest among the drab when it comes to little brown mushrooms. I suppose that's a sort of distinction. Most likely toxic, I doubt most people would even notice the thing growing among the pine needles in which it is typically found, let alone try eating the thing.
		While the unusual-looking Orisalum mikeum has previously been collected from Florida, California, Pennsylvania and New York in past years, it has most recently been sited only in Massachusetts and briefly near the Penn State campus as well. As far as is known, it is a saprobe despite it's misleading name. While rare, it can be found in nearly any habitat and is as common under hardwoods as it is under conifers. It definitely appreciates cool, sunny days, beer and lobster. The spore dispersal mechanism employed by Orisalum mikeum has been the subject of much speculation in the past, but authorities have since agreed that some things are better left unexamined. This species renders itself inedible by sequestering nicotine from its substrate. Do not attempt to eat.
		My first collection at Wachusett was Tylopilus indecisus, and it also turned out to be one of the more run-of-the-mill Tylopilus species present, though it certainly was widespread enough. There are a number of similar looking species and it takes a bit of investigation to narrow it down to this one. The stipe lacks reticulation and turns dark brown in age, while the pores turn pink and bruise light brown. When cut open, the staining reaction is very slow and culminated eventually in a pink tone after about ten minutes. Applying FeSO4 to the cap context also results in a slow staining reaction that starts off a light gray and eventually turns blue after several minutes. Otherwise, T. indecisus is readily confused with any number of brown members of the genus, which is probably the reason it's called the indecisive Tylopilus in the first place.
		Hydnum repandum is sometimes known as the sweet tooth, and that should tell you all you need to know about its edibility. It's quite tasty and safe to try; there are no truly toxic fungi that are likely to be confused with this one, just some bitter ones. I've collected it several times in the past. At Wachusett, I've only found pure white specimens of var. album; I've found ones with the characteristic dark scales in the past, particularly in the spring in California. If you look carefully, you can see that there are orange stains on the fruiting body in the second photo that weren't there in the first. That's a characteristic bruising reaction for this species; the slightest touch of human skin causes that discoloration. I've also noticed that the local variety has shorter teeth than those found on the West Coast. The latter have teeth that can sometimes be as long as 4 mm, but those around Wachusett have teeth that don't exceed 2 mm.
		The appearance of the beautifully colored, slimy to sticky Cortinarius iodes is a sure sign that autumn is on its way to the northeast. I collected this species many times in Florida where it is the most prevalent winter mushroom at least as far south as Tampa. Definitely not edible and likely toxic. Most purple things aren't good to eat.
		Speaking of things that aren't edible, here's Entoloma griseum. This is one that can kill you. When cut or crushed, these specimens gave off an almost eye watering bleach aroma, and that ought to be a warning sign for anybody with the IQ of a sand flea that it shouldn't go into one's mouth. The flesh of this fungus is crisp and somewhat fragile and the stipe is filled with stringy pith but has a hollow pocket running up the center.
		Much more colorful than the above Entoloma but probably just as toxic, this cheerful-hued mushroom is Nolanea salmoneum. I've never seen it before, but it was prolific under hemlock at Wachusett yesterday. Normally, this mushroom is found in marshy areas such as cedar swamps, but I guess all the rain we've had this month has allowed it to explore some new terrain lately. Nolanea is a genus recently split from Entoloma; one of the distinguishing traits of the genus is the production of cubical spores, which makes them very easy to measure. Those from specimens of N. salmoneum I collected yesterday measured a neat 9 microns per side. This image shows a very mature specimen; younger ones are even more acutely conical and often have a little pointy bit sticking up from the apex. It might well be confused with a Conocybe or Lepoiota at first, but a quick look at the spores under a microscope soon reveal its true identity.
		When I first noticed this specimen of Tylopilus felleus better known as the bitter bolete, I was surprised to see it growing high on an old hemlock stump. Tylopilus is an entirely mycorrhizal genus, not a wood rotter. Manfred tells me, however, that this species has learned the trick of growing on conifer stumps that have already decomposed enough to permit young roots from other plants to penetrate them; the fungus then forms an association with those rootlets. You can see some of these in the photo if you look careful at the left side. T. felleus looks a good bit like T. indecisus, above, but the brown reticulation over the top quarter of the stipe is distinctive. As its common name implies, T. felleus is far too bitter to be edible.
		Otidea leporina, the rabbit ear fungus, is an ascomycete among the Pezizamycota, related to things like tree ears and elf saddles. These specimens were blowing off visible clouds of spores at the slightest provocation. Identifying things like this can be tricky and absolutely requires microscopic examination. While its edibility is not known, O. leporina very likely contains the nasty toxin N-methyl-N-formylhydrazone. Kinda cute, though.
		There's little chance of mistaking Boletus frostii for anything else. This is one of the most colorful of the boletes, and the combination of crimson pores and a red stipe with yellow reticulation make it stand out from its peers. The pores readily bruise black when handled. B. frostii is edible though not particularly good and some people have trouble digesting it; it's probably best avoided unless one is certain of one's stomach's cast iron composition. Still, you can't beat this mushroom for sheer color and overall esthetics. On that front, I'll give it a 10.
		B. frostii is all about red. This mushroom, Retiboletus ornatipes, is all about yellow. It's not quite as pretty as B. frostii in my opinion, but it is reputed to be a very good edible and it was fruiting by the hundreds in a particular area of Wachusett dominated by beech with a little birch as well. I soon gathered a paper bag full of these for the herbarium and there are enough that I don't think anyone will miss them when I pilfer a few to try eating as I have never done so before. I'm generally a bit circumspect about eating boletes (the only time I've ever poisoned myself was with a small bolete), but Manfred identified this one, so I'm willing to give it a go.
		I have no idea what this fungus is doing in Massachusetts, but every single morphological character it possesses indicates that it's Ramaria magnipes, a species normally found from Idaho to the Pacific Northwest under trees like vine maple that aren't even present at Wachusett. This one was collected under mixed beech and maple. It's quite distinctive in many ways; the number of terminal branches is highly variable and each branch ends with what looks like the surface of a molar. The arms are quite short and the base is deeply rooting and tapers to a sharp point. From the clamps on its basidia to its chemical reactions, no other species fills the bill. Ironically, "magnipes" means "big feet," a reference to its unusually bulky base. I assure you, however, that this particular bigfoot is not a rubber Halloween costume.
		We've had red and yellow, so I'll end with purple. This beautiful specimen is Tylopilus plumbeoviolaceus, the purple bitter bolete. Like most purple things, it's as distasteful as its name implies. It may be hard to judge the scale of this mushroom from the photos; the larger specimen is over a foot tall and has a cap about six inches wide. This is the first time I've collected it and by the time I found it I had no room for anymore specimens. Polypores can take up a lot of space in one's backpack. Like all of the other collections made yesterday, this one will be deposited into the university herbarium for future study. I should note that even with Manfred's help on the boletes, I spent over seven hours identifying the fungi whose photos you've just seen in addition to the five or six hours spent collecting them and the two hours spent composing this update. I hope the effort proves enjoyable and useful to my readers.

A final note: I saw absolutely no evidence of the presence of any Asian longhorned beetles at my study site yesterday. If you're in Massachusetts, particularly within 50 miles of Worcester, please keep your eyes open and report evidence of the invasive insect's presence in your area. You can learn more about how to spot the Asian longhorned beetle at the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Blog. If you see the beetle or damage you suspect was caused by it, please take pictures and file a report at this link or call the MIPO hotline at 617-626-1779.

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