Diario del proyecto Group 1 - 111 Tuesday 2:35pm – TA: Wing

Merulius tremellosus is a member of the Merulius genus which usually grows on decaying wood, both hardwoods and conifers, such as on fallen branches or logs for example. It can be found in Asia, North America, South America, Europe and North Africa . This mushroom is not edible . Merulius tremellosus has been found to be able to degrade Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are significant environmental pollutants . This fungus could thus be used to reduce PAH waist!

The fungi that I have chosen to explore further is the Pleated Inkcap (Parasola plicatilis) mushroom.
This mushroom is commonly found across Europe and North America. They are usually visible during the summer and autumn months. The interesting thing about this mushroom is that these are best observed in the morning, as during the afternoon, the stem collapses under the weight of the cap. This mushroom is inedible but is not poisonous. This mushroom differs from other inkcaps, as its cap flattens and its gills do not turn an inky black color.

I have chosen the chickory, or the Cichorium intybus as my journal entry. Its placement in the phylogenetic tree is in the family of Asteraceae and more specifically in the family of the Cichorioideae. The latter is a sub-family of the Asteraceae.
One unique adaptation of this plant is the bright blue petals.
One common adaptation found amongst my observations is that most of these are weeds, that are invasive and hard to get rid of. They have seeds that have a specific type of structure to ensure they are easily dispersed, either by air or through animal feces, for example.

By taking into consideration all of my observations the species that caught most of my attention was the Burdocks. Once I located the Burdock into the phylogenetic tree, I learned that its scientific name is Arctium, which contains 83 species. They are active in Europe and Asia but have been successfully spread worldwide.

When I was walking through the park I unintentionally passed through a plant and all of a sudden several burdocks had grabbed on my pants. This leads me to the conclusion of a common adaptation in burdocks, their prickly heads. Species such as burdocks tend to have these sort of spines to form a globular shell to protect the seeds at the interior of the flower head.

One adaptation that I noticed from most of the plants that were observed is that most of them don’t have defense mechanisms. Meaning that they all grow in numerous quantities, probably because of their extensive roots. Plants have consistent growth and this is why they don’t adapt into a defense mechanism against the herbivores.