Something fungi going on here

I was needle plucking and working on a Japanese Black Pine this evening and thought I'd post a photo of a fungi fruiting body on the top of the soil.
There is no organic matter in my soil mix - akadama, lava, turface and sand blast sand.
Is this the mycorrhizal flower?



Dry River Bed pot by Dale Cochoy.

Looks more like a liverwort.
Iris

Hello Rob. Looks like Liverwort to me too. Never seen it that big though. Liverworts usually thrive in wet conditions like the moss.

Hmm, learn something every day. Could be Liverwort, although these were never very green, but could be a sign this tree is getting too much water.
Moss does thrive in my garden mostly due to my use of a automatic microspinkler system.

Think I'll pluck it out and see what happens.

Hi Rob,
As we all know, the mycorrhiza receives nutrients via the roots. Sugars created in leaves move
downward and into the fungal hyphae. From the mycorrhiza partner, (Symbiosis) the plant receives phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, and micronutrients such as copper, sulfur and zinc. So the mycorrhiza depend on the roots to make a living, therefore there is no reason to flower or seek sunlight for photosynthesis.

Just my two cents,

Patrick Giacobbe

Patrick Giacobbe wrote:Hi Rob,
As we all know, the mycorrhiza receives nutrients via the roots. Sugars created in leaves move
downward and into the fungal hyphae. From the mycorrhiza partner, (Symbiosis) the plant receives phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, and micronutrients such as copper, sulfur and zinc. So the mycorrhiza depend on the roots to make a living, therefore there is no reason to flower or seek sunlight for photosynthesis.

Just my two cents,

Patrick Giacobbe

Hi Pat,
All true except for the flower part. Most fungus make a fruiting body with spores for reproduction including mychorryzae. The thing is I'm not sure this is the fruiting body but being it was always dark and never green makes me wonder. Liverworts is a strong possibility. Must be a fungus buff (mycologist?) out there somewhere.

For general edification, a mycologist identified the growth as a type of fungus called a Polypore.
Generally, they are a type of fungus that attacks dead wood. However although most polypores cause wood decay, several genera have members that are mycorrhizal, forming mutualistically beneficial relationships with the root of trees.

The tree shown might have a dead root or so. But I have two other pines I grew from seeds with no deadwood that I know with the same polypore and both trees seem fine. I use all inorganic material in my pine soil so the fungus must be living on the pines deadwood (possibly dead roots) or forming a mycorrhizal relationship with the roots. There are many fungi types that form mycorrhizal relationship with plants. I had previously inoculated this soil with a commercial product called PHC TreeSaver which contains a cocktail of mycorrhizal fungi spores so I believe it is the fruiting body of the polypore and I am hoping in a mycorrhizal relationship. This polypore has only appeared in a few Japanese Black Pine trees so it must be specific to pines which also fits the pattern of mycorrhizal fungi. I will carefully monitor the trees and see if they suffer but so far so good.

I am trying to get a specific id made to see what type of polypore it is.

For those that are interested, the Polypore fungus turned out to be good news for my Japanese Black Pine bonsai. It is Thelephora terrestris, an ectomycorrhizal fungus so the PHC Tree Saver mixture is doing its job and helping the Pine trees with a mycorrhizal relationship and also confirmed my first hunch was correct. I highly recommend PHC TreeSaver for conifer bonsai. This fungus is also good for most conifers especially Picea rubens and Larix laricina.

I read or misread somewhere, the role of incorporating some charcoal in the potting medium
for this kind of fungi. It provides more beneficial effect to plants.