I know many of you love wild mushrooms. Here’s another good reason to love them.
Ah, the Garden Giant. He’s a jolly fellow who roams around your garden at night tossing mulch as he merrily skips along, helping your veggies grow lush and tall. Not quite. The Garden Giant is actually a species of mushroom, scientifically known as Stropharia rugosoannulata, that may hold a key to filtering harmful pollutants from stormwater runoff. Although this mushroom can be rather “giant” as the name implies, growing up to eight inches tall and a foot wide at its cap, it is not the mushroom itself that does the work. It is something hidden underground — a fungal root-like material called mycelium. Mycelium is a microscopic, cobwebby, fungal thread that, when mixed with woody debris, decomposes bacteria.
Sarah Strunin reports. http://ijpr.org/post/can-mushrooms-help-fight-stormwater-pollution
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: mushrooms, Puget Sound, Stormwater | Comments Off on Can Mushrooms Help Fight Stormwater Pollution?
