Foraging and Finding the Ugly, But Useful "Pisolithus Arhizus"
IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (Meaning: My Warped, Personal Opinions and Musings)
From the Author:
Salutations.
I am JaiChai.
And if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now.
I invite you to interact with everyone, learn, and have as much fun as possible!
For my returning online friends, "It's always great to see you again!"
Finding the Ugly, But Useful "Pisolithus Arhizus"
As I was wandering a wooded area after a heavy rain and looking for signs of mycelium; basically foraging for mushrooms, I found a weird, ugly mushroom with the scientific nomenclature of "Pisolithus Arhizus" (common name "Dyeball").
Seriously, it's REALLY ugly and has many derogatory names (i.e., Dead Man’s Foot or “dog turd”). Source
About Pisolithus Arhizua
Historically, it was boiled...
...then used to dye clothes and hair.
In fact, there's a whole sub-culture that uses this ugly mushroom for the make-up and ornaments of the gothic scene.
But then my research revealed that it is a super-mycorrhizal; meaning, it builds a symbiotic relationship and rejuvenates almost all plants.
"Pisolithus arhizus is a major component in mycorrhizal fungus mixtures that are used in gardening as powerful root stimulators." Source
So, instead of throwing it out (my first intention), I experimented with it and revived all the tomato, snow peas, and kangkong plants that fell prey to aphids and/or viral/bacterial invasions - and it worked!
Since then, all my fellow gardener friends wanted the mushroom too.
Luckily I saved some viable tissue, cloned it, and gave some spores, cultures and mushrooms to all my gardener friends.
Parting Shots
FUN(gi) on!
By JaiChai
Really Appreciate You Stopping By.
Truly hope to see you again!
About the Author
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, longtime girlfriend and three dogs.
