FEATURED FUNGUS FRIEND

Trametes versicolor

(aka Turkey Tail, Kawaratake or Yun-Zhi)

This bracket fungi shows off their beautiful bands of tan, brown, cream and rust colors radiating out from a central 'foot' -holding onto wood.

A very common saprobe, meaning it decomposes (feeds on) wood and other organic matter, this bracket fungi has medicinal value.   According to Fungi Perfecti's Paul Stamets and other mycologists this particular bracket fungi has immune boosting properties as well as antitumor benefits.

Resources for Fungi information:

We must pay homage to the various mushroom websites for their spectacular imagery and vast knowledge base!  As a start we recommend Mushroom Experts, Tom Volk's Fungi, MykoWeb (Fungi of California), and of course Fungi Perfecti.

Our Fungi Friends…

Mushrooms are the fruiting part of a fungus; much like the apple is the fruit of a tree (fungus is singular, fungi plural). Most of their lives are spent underground as mycelium (strands of cells that can go for miles!); but when they do show their faces they are beautiful, if not a bit odd, to behold.

The vital role fungi play in our natural world is still underrated today. We, at Gaia Creations, believe fungi hold answers to many questions humans have regarding restoration ecology, agroforestry, biomimicry, even medicine. Check out Paul Stamets as he explains the 6 ways mushrooms can save the world on YouTube.

For the rest of this year we are going to feature one Fungus of the Month each month to show the diversity of mushrooms in our neck of the woods. We also want to point out their value to living organisms around the globe (and we mean ALL of them!) and hopefully learn a bunch more ourselves in the process! Visit our website for more Gaia Creations.

Enjoy!