Over the last 20 years I have moved towns/city three times, moved house four times, moved offices seven times, and employers four times. They have all involved, not only, the downsizing and decluttering of my possessions but on occasions the lost of supporting platforms. An example was the loss of ten years of email when I moved from a non-Microsoft to a Microsoft workplace. It hurt. And now as I sort through my files once again, I came across a packet of photos for which I no longer have and supporting information. So, this blog is an attempt to capture what I remember.
While working at Forest Research in Rotorua I was sent (in 1999) some potted plants with fungi growing in them along with the question “are they harmful to the plants”. The plants came from a nursery, run by a charity, that produced potted native plants in Christchurch. The nursery made its own compost and potting mix and as can be seen in the photos used recycled milk containers as pots. There were two fungi, a morel and a large cup fungus fruiting in each pot. And many of the pots in the nursery had either one or the other.
I had seen material of morels a couple of years before and had done some reading around and was aware that they were often associated with burnt ground. It was speculated that the heat of a fire stimulated the fungus to fruit. There is a whole group of fungi, particularly ascomycetes, that like this habit and are known as fireplace fungi or pyrophilous fungi. This led me to wonder whether the potting mix was being colonised by pyrophilous fungi as a result of the compost heating up and excluding other fungi? I never got the chance to look into it but always wondered whether morels could be grown commercially this way.
I never identified the species of Morchella although Morchella esculenta is the only species recognised to be present in New Zealand. And I don’t know what the cup fungus is either. There is an interesting paper by Greene et al (2010) that looks at the mixed fruiting of Morchella spp. and the cup fungus Geopyxis carbonaria on a forest burn site in British Columbia.
Would love to hear from anyone who has encountered morels in their potting mix.
Greene DF, Hesketh M, Pounden E 2010. Emergence of morel (Morchella) and pixie cup (Geopyxis carbonaria) ascocarps in response to the intensity of forest floor combustion during a wildfire. Mycologia 102(4): 766–773. DOI: 10.3852/08-096
Spores, moulds, and fungi 
Not morel, but I have seen this cup fungus ( name?) in a pot with horse manure. Philip
Thanks Philip. I only have the photo so I would be guessing as well. Cheers Geoff
Here is a link to a record of Morchella importuna. It occurs most years in the re-cycled milk cartons that ‘Tres For Canterbury’ use in their nursery in Christchurch.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/1366755
It is likely the same species, and perhaps even the same nursery?
The name Morchella esculents is applied rather broadly. M. importuna is a look-alike and one of the most common ‘weedy’ Morchella species that has spread around the planet.
More worrying is this record from the same nursery with ferns …
https://scd.landcareresearch.co.nz/Specimen/PDD%20106158
Many of these kinds of Galerina are deadly toxic.
And there is this also in a fern plant from the same place …
https://scd.landcareresearch.co.nz/Specimen/PDD%20106159
That is the endemic secotioid fungus Tympanella galanthina, It pops quite often in these situations.
And there is this …
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/48306411
Also from Trees for Canterbury and one of our more unusual ‘magic mushrooms’
Thanks Jerry. It’s interesting that the morel, what ever it is, is still popping up in the nursery. And maybe there is a blog on potted plants as a habitat for mushrooms. Cheers Geoff
Hello Geoff!
The only time I’ve ever encountered morels in NZ was when I was on a field trip with ross McQueen’s class around about the central plateau- near the Hermitage( in the early 1970’s). There was a small plantation of Pinus and there were dozens of morels underneath. Unfortunately they were past their eating stage much to my annoyance (= they are my favourite edible species). Dan and I have collected Geopyxis in burned areas in Minnesota and he has a lot of photos which he could send to you for your interest. Thank you too for your fungal foray pictures and data- very much appreciated.
Hope all is well with you,
Kind regards,
Ann
Hi Ann. I first learnt about pyrophilous fungi reading your copy of Larsen’s 1970 paper “Danish fireplace fungi – an ecological investigation on fungi on burns.” https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/19700600893 back in the early 80s. The only place I have seen a mass fruiting was in Victoria where eucalypts (a plantation I think) had been harvested and burnt. I didn’t have a camera with me so didn’t get any photos (at least I don’t think I did but you never know what will turn up in the declutter 🙂 ) Cheers Geoff
Geoff, I recall that many years ago Prof. Tony Cole at University of Canterbury had a bumper crop of morels in plant pots at the University. I never saw them personally. I’ve not heard from Tony from some years; he was at: tony.cole@canterbury.ac.nz Nick Cummings (most recently at Lincoln Univ.?) worked with Tony so will likely have memory of this?