Ecology is the study of organism interaction with their environment. My organism, False turkey tail, is typically found on forest floor, grassy areas with tree, even in our (well my backyard). We know from our fungal week that fungi prefer humid areas. Therefore, we know that my organism would not be found in the desert.
The fruiting body of false turkey tail tends to wing off from dead bark tree. This video pulled from YouTube displays their position.
BTW: Please do not take the person’s advice of how false turkey tail is “medicinal”. Please do your own research.
This video compares/contrasts about medicinal purpose for true turkey tail and false turkey tail. Please still do your own research and if you’re daring like me just take a small bite to see how you react, but not if it is obviously poisonous. LOL
False truly tail can be found with other fungi that resemble its shape. Normally this is Phlebia incarnate, which is a polypore fungus. When my organism was first discovered, it was confused as a polypore fungus. Now my organism is classified as a crust fungus. The difference between a polypore fungus and a crust fungus is the underside of their fruiting body. A polypore fungus such as true turkey tail that was introduced in my blog post 1 has pores that make up the underside of their fruiting body. My organism has a soft underside, or no visible pores.
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
This fungus above is a polypore fungus and photo was obtained from this website.
False turkey tail is a plant pathogen. This means that S. ostrea causes infection to a plant. Based off what I have learned this semester I must say that the symbiotic relationship of my organism and the tree is parasitism. First off false turkey tail grows and covers most of a tree bark, thereby blocking sunlight. The false turkey tail also “decompose” the tree. The definition for decompose is basically to break down. So the tree is not coming out alive, as in commensalism or mutualism.
False turkey tail has been found to have a commensal relationship with a type of algae. In my case, I did not see any green discoloration on the flowering body of my organism that I photographed (probably because it was still in the cooler temps). The algae uses the false turkey tail to be in a better “spot” within the same environment (Volk, 2000). The algae does not harm my organism, and the algae has a better chance at achieving photosynthesis.
I actually decided to go back to my photo album and I found this photo. Now I believe there is some green on this false turkey tail but I also feel like there is developing lichen on this specific tree bark.
References:
Kuo, M. (2008, December). Stereum ostrea. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/stereum_ostrea.html
Online Image. Retrieved from Missouri Department of conservation.Web site: https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/thin-maze-flat-polypore
Volk, T. (2000).Retrieved from http://TomVolkFungi.net Web site: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/nov2000.html