the Puffball, Scholarly Journals

So What's In Them Scholarly Type Journals Anyway

I decided to take a closer look at one of the more scholarly mycological periodicals, Mycologia, and see over a period of two years, what type of information was really being looked at. First, the specifics.

Mycologia is published bimonthly (i.e. in the usual sense, which is every two months - just like our newsletter) by the New York Botanical Garden. It is published for $80 per year for US orders, and $89 per year for non-US orders. You can make a check, drawn on a US Bank, or an International Money Order, payable to Mycologia, and mail to:

Scientific Publications Department
The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126 USA

An overview of the two year period shows an average of 12 primary articles, 7 "briefs", and 142 pages. There are also various book reviews published in the back of most of the issues (all but three issues out of the twelve had book reviews). Several of the books reviewed would have been of interest to the general "macro" mycological reader.

This journal is a sounding board for all aspects of mycological endeavor. The articles run the gamut of mycology, from monographs and newly published descriptions of mushrooms which we would actually recognize (such as "Three new species of Amanita from Southwestern Idaho and Southeastern Oregon" - 82(1), pg. 120 - includes A. armillariiformis, A. aurantisquamosa, and A. malheurensis), to studies of organisms so bizarre that one not intimately involved would not even dream of these things as being related to mushrooms at all (try reading "Mycelium formation and calcium oxalate production by dsRNA-free virulent and dsRNA-containing hypovirulent strains of Cryphonectria parasitica" - 82(3), pg. 358 - copies of this article would make a great gift idea for the person who has everything).

To try and give you a real feel for what type of reading the prospective subscriber might enjoy, I've taken the liberty of giving an overview of the titles put forth in the 1990, and 1991 issues. This includes all titles pertaining to "real" mushrooms - no offense to those whose life work may be the study of sweet smelling smuts growing on the underbellies of semi-slimy Siberean centipedes - and a sampling of other interesting sounding titles. I've put these into categories that I'm sure were probably intended by the original authors, but simply overlooked.

Itty-Bitty Bug Mushrooms

Fungi associated with African earwigs and their relationships to South American forms - 82(1), pg. 138: As hard as I've looked I've yet to see a good Amanita muscaria growing on an earwig - boy, those tropical bugs must really be something...
Fungi associated with the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes in Ontario - 82(3), pg. 289: Subterranean termite - kinda Gothic sounding, don't you think?
Destruction of Gnomonia leptostyla perithecia on Juglans nigra leaves by microarthropods associated with Elaegnus umbellata litter - 82(3), pg. 387: For some reason a picture develops of a group of noble Gnomes fighting off creatures that somewhat resemble the scorpion looking creatures we saw on slides at Decembers meeting.
Development of a yeast flora in the adult green June beetle (Cotinis nitida, Scarabaeidae) - 82(4), pg. 471: And here I thought this was an immuno-deficient disease that just struck American women.
Orphella hiemalis: A new and rare trichomycete occurring in winter-emerging stoneflies (Plecoptera, Capniidae) - 83(2), pg. 214: New and rare - NOT. I've seen hundreds of thousands of these things in spring-emerging caddis-fly nymph in the Rickreall river near Dallas.
Life history and arthropod dispersal of a coprophilous Stylopage - 83(3), pg. 360: In other words - this little bug forgot to wipe the stuff off his little boots after he left the cow pasture.
Ejectosporus, an unusual new genus of Harpellales in winter-emerging stonefly nymphs (Capniidae), and a new species of Paramoebidium (Amoebidiales) - 83(4), pg. 389: Boy, these guys really have a penchant for studying winter-emerging stoneflies.

Bird Mushrooms

Fusarium species recovered from waste peanuts associated with sandhill crane mortality - 82(5), pg. 562: I guess now that we've got a democrat back in the White House we'll see quite a large number of grants related to peanut research.

Cow Mushrooms

Lactate dehydrogenases in obligately anaerobic chytridiomycetes from the rumen - 82(2), pg. 261: Where did we Americans get this obsession for cow burps?
Resistant body formation in Neocallimastix sp., an anaerobic fungus from the rumen of a cow - 83(1), pg. 40: I'm blank on this one - I'm sending this title to Gary Larsen of "The Far Side" fame - he's pretty good with cow humor.

Fish Mushrooms

Salinity tolerance of an Aphanomyces isolate (Oomycetes) and its possible relationship to ulcerative mycosis (UM) of Atlantic menhaden - 82(3), pg. 364: Nothing worse than a fishy tasting mushroom that's too salty.

Utility Pole Mushrooms

Scytalidium circinatum sp. nov., a hyphomycete from utility poles - 82(3), pg. 399: I fully expect to see a follow-up monograph from this author on newly described species of hyphomycete's from soggy lincoln logs. As an aside, this author was possibly the first person in recorded history to even look on a utility pole for mushrooms.

Lake Muck and Miscellaneous Mushrooms

A new species of Phialophora from lake sediment - 82(5), pg. 647: Scuba diving for mushrooms - I wish I'd thought of this when I was in the Caribbean.
Seasonal fluctuations of soil microfungi in correlation with some soil enzyme activities and VA mycorrhizae associated with certain plants of a typical calcixeroll soil in Greece - 82(6), pg. 715: Fascinating the things you notice when you really look - the soil freezes - the plants wilt, the mushrooms stop growing - the soil thaws - the plants and mushrooms grow - wow, seasonal fluctuations happen even in Greece!
New species of Oedocephalum and Papulaspora from Japanese soils - 83(4), pg. 524: ¶¨¾½³Œ§·Ç' ¹¿Â...¾; if you could only read Japanese, you'd know that what I wrote was really funny.
Cellular slime molds in the forest soils of West Virginia - 82(1), pg. 114: This article was later retracted - it turned out to be just a banana slug trail.

Mushrooms of "Ill-Repute"

Light and electron microscopy of sorus development in Sorosporium provinciale, a smut of big bluestem - 82(4), pg. 480: I was quite offended to see that even a scholarly journal such as Mycologia had succumbed to the Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit Issue mentality.

Military Mushrooms

Hydrocarbon utilization by higher marine fungi from diverse habitats and localities - 83(2), pg. 227: This is one tough mushroom.

Water Mushrooms

Colonization of autumn-shed leaves by four aero-aquatic fungi - 83(3), pg. 317: There were five - sadly, the tiny air tanks apparently fell off the last little guy.

Schizophrenic Mushrooms

Ultrastructure of the ascospore walls of Schizosaccharomyces pombe during germination - 82(1), pg. 43: The primary characteristic of this little known wonder is the microscopic straight jacket - it's even been known to escape à la Hoodini.

Just Mushrooms

Cation exchange capacities and mineral element concentrations of macrofungal stipe tissue - 82(1), pg. 91: I wonder if these are all mushrooms from the Cajun country of Louisiana?
Aberrant dikaryons in the Lycoperdaceae - 82(1), pg. 17: The subtitle of this article is "Deviant Dikaryons".
Meiosis and premeiotic DNA synthesis in a homothallic Coprinus - 82(2), pg. 170: Hmmmm...
Amplification and sequencing of DNA from fungal herbarium specimens - 82(2), pg. 175: Sounds more like an article to be found in keyboard magazine.
Population genetics and systematics of the Morchella esculenta complex - 82(2), pg. 227: Ho, hum.
Investigation of polyols, amino acids and phenolic acids in a taxonomic study of Cortinarius, subgenus Leprocybe, section Orellani - 82(2), pg. 243
On an undescribed Tremella from China - 82(2), pg. 270: Hey, what's the deal, this article consisted of blank pages - I guess they were serious when they said "undescribed" - boy, that Buddhist humor!
The odor of Agaricus augustus - 82(2), pg. 276: After 78 pages they decided that perhaps it had an almond odor - and this grant was only for $38,547,319.37.
Effects of culture conditions on mycelial growth and luminescence in Panellus stypticus - 82(3), pg. 295: This experiment stemmed from accidently leaving the petri dish uncovered over a particularly long weekend - thought they'd better cover their rears and do their thesis on this one.
Effect of low humidity on spore production and basidiocarp longevity among selected isolates of Flammulina velutipes - 82(3), pg. 379: More from the above doctoral work - amazing what lack of water does to a Flammulina.
Serological differentiation of three species of Armillaria and Lentinula edodes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using immunized chickens as a source of antibodies - 82(4), pg. 415: These people need real jobs! - let's see what happens when we take rutabaga juice and rub it on a Gyroporus cyanescens violaceotinctus - I bet a serious study has yet to be done on this.
New species of Phylloporus and Tricholomopsis from Colombia, with notes on Phylloporus boletinoides - 82(4), pg. 452: The new species were, if memory serves me correctly, Phylloporus cocaine-iensis and Tricholomopsis moneylaunder-ioporus.
Polyporus pseudobetulinus comb. nov.: new records in Europe and North America - 82(5), pg. 582: I hadn't even heard the old records, let alone the new ones.
Localization of bioluminescent tissues during basidiocarp development in Panellus stypticus - 82(5), pg. 595
Spectral analysis of the bioluminescence of Panellus stypticus - 82(5), pg. 607
A new species of Helvella from China - 82(5), pg. 642: At least this one was actually described - although it had been officially censored by government decree.
Notes on the rhizomorphs and mating system of Xeromphalina campanella - 82(5), pg. 651: Some things are best left unstudied.
The candy-like odor of Nolanea fructufragrans - 82(6), pg. 786: This was a philosophical disseration centering on whether or not this mushroom would still smell if there was no one in the woods to smell it - he then finished asking if the pope was catholic, and if a bear...
Studies on Marasmius from eastern North America. IV. Additions to sect. Sicci. - 83(1), pg. 30: I believe section Sicci contains the poisonous, sickening Marasmius.
Effect of nutrient supplementation of flavor, quality, and shelf life of the cultivated mushroom, Agaricus bisporus - 83(2), pg. 142: An apple a day?
Effect of methionine and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid on ethylene production by Laccaria bicolor and L. laccata - 83(2), pg. 236: It's very apparent to me that they would have had much more success using 14-diaminocyclomethane-4-acidiobicarbolic acid for maximum ethylene production - sometimes looking at the problem from the outside can really shed some light on the subject.
Compatibility and population studies of three species of Tremella - 83(3), pg. 273: Yep, they put all three mushrooms in a box, watched them for three weeks, didn't see any arguments or fights breakout - well, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure the outcome of this one.
Ultrastructure of the septal pore apparatus and early septum initiation in Auricularia auricula-judae - 83(3), pg. 322: Hmmmm, and I didn't even realize that Jew's Ears had septal pore apparatus.
Fruiting of hypogeous fungi in Oregon douglas-fir forests: Seasonal and habitat variation - 83(3), pg. 335: For those from the Pacific Northwest who have done any truffling at all, it will come as no big surprise that Dr. Trappe was involved in this article - wow, a serious note - somebody make sure my wife reads this one.
Cytology and genetics of a sporeless mutant of Lentinus edodes - 83(3), pg. 354: Also known as Teenage Mutant Shiitake Mushrooms.
Evolutionary relationships of Lentinus to the Polyporaceae: Evidence from restriction analysis of enzymatically amplified ribosomal DNA - 83(4), pg. 425: From further study of the DNA it was found that the Shiitake was more closely related to a chimpanzee than the Polyporaceae - so if you had thirty Shiitake's in a room banging away at typewriters, could they also in time randomly type Shakespeare's famous line "To be, or not to be"? - sorry, it's getting very late.
Characterization of three Tremella species by isozyme analysis - 83(4), pg. 446: Obviously the supply house where all these mycologist's buy their specimens had a special on Tremella's and Shiitakes.
Growth and competition between Lentinus edodes and Trichoderma harzianum on sawdust substrates - 83(4), pg. 455: The competition wasn't quite as exciting as professional wrestling, but, it really wasn't too bad - hey, easy does it - can you come up with something funny for this one?
New records of Phaeocollybia from Colombia - 83(4), pg. 464: New records? - I wonder if their sound is like the Central American version of the Rolling Stones?
Effects of grafting on stipe elongation and pileus expansion in the mushroom Flammulina velutipes - 83(4), pg. 480: Kind of an interesting article really - he decapitated the mushrooms and stuck the caps on various parts of the stem to see how they would grow. He discovered that if he took the stipe from one mushroom, and taped it to the bottom of another mushrooms stipe, that the second mushroom then had a longer stipe - wow.
Fluorescent compounds in Cortinarius speciosissimus: Investigation for the presence of cortinarins - 83(4), pg. 492
Catatrama (Tricholomataceae), a new genus from Costa Rica - 83(4), pg. 501
Incidence and diversity of double-stranded RNA in Lentinula edodes - 83(4), pg. 506: A must-read for you bio-technology junkies.
Chalciporus piperatoides in North America - 83(5), pg. 559
Laccaria laccata complex in North America and Sweden: Intercollection pairing and morphometric analyses - 83(5), pg. 578
Speciation and species concepts in the Collybia dryophila complex - 83(6), pg. 758

In years past many articles have been published of mushrooms that we would come a little closer to identifying (no pun intended - ; none taken says you!) with.

This journal can be seen at the library of the Oregon Mycological Association, the Oregon State University library, or the Portland State University library in downtown Portland, to name a few places. The first issue of Mycologia came out sometime shortly after the turn of the century (1906-1908?), so there are quite a few to take a look at.

In closing, I wish to emphasize that I've meant no offense to those great men and women who have contributed the articles to this journal. It's through these people that leaps in our knowledge of a sometimes little understood aspect of our living is made.

Thank you!

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Last updated November 6, 1995