Dermocybe splendida
11th International Fungi and
Fibre Symposium
Denmark, Western Australia
12-18 July 2003
I always enjoy the drive from Fremantle to Albany, straight as an arrow, hardly any towns, and a broad, smooth road through the open expanses of canola, wheat and sheep paddocks comprising the Great Southern agricultural district. Near the end of the journey there is the sudden, startling panorama of the Stirling Ranges, distant blue shapes rising out of the plain, our only ‘mountains’. This time I finished the drive by turning off onto the side road winding through Jarrah forest down to the South coast and the pretty town of Denmark. The International Fungi and Fibre Symposium was being held for the first time in the Southern hemisphere at the beautiful new Denmark Agricultural College campus.
The International Fungi and Fibre Symposiums (IFFS) began in the United States in 1976, instigated by Miriam Rice, and have been held bi-annually ever since. Dorothy Bee Bee was involved at the start and is now a Director of the International Mushroom Dye Institute based in California. IFFS publishes the International Mushroom Dye-Gest and you can contact them through Dorothy at dbeebee@sonic.net or PO Box 703 Mendochino California,USA 95460. Miriam Rice’s book Let's try Fungi for Colour is still the authoritative publication.
I was quartered with a group from Finland, a couple from East coast America, three Australians and a young woman from California. The Finns, from above the Arctic Circle, had driven straight from Perth airport through a number of tiny wheatbelt towns to get to Denmark and looked a bit stunned by their first glimpse of Australia. They were appreciative of South coast wines, however, and the evenings quickly turned into tasting sessions that kept out the cold.
There were 72 of us in residence, mostly from the Northern hemisphere. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, United States, Germany and England were all represented. Australians were in the minority but comprised fungi enthusiasts, spinners and weavers, paper makers and textile artists. A dedicated group from Denmark comprised the organising team and joined us daily. The Finns dressed for dinner the first night in fungi dyed jumpers with mushroom motifs and I began to spot more dyed yarns, the colours so distinctive – soft purples, pinks, greens, oranges, browns and even a hint of blue. There were mushroom earrings, mushroom brooches and mushroom printed scarves and T-shirts. I was obviously in the company of seriously mushroom-obsessed people. The English couple at my table (she spins and dyes, he makes paper) had been to 6 previous symposiums and this was their first visit to Australia.
The lure of the symposium for most of the delegates was the unknown dye potential of the Southern Australian fungi and, for the international visitors, the chance to visit Australia for the first time. Denmark resident Katrina Syme, botanical illustrator, mushroom expert and textile enthusiast, was responsible for the Symposium coming to Australia, and her energy, knowledge, passion and dedication to the study of Australian fungi was inspirational for us all. She explained that of the 12,000 or so larger fungi species thought to exist in Australia only a small percent have been named. On our field trips we collected a number of undescribed species that Richard Robinson, the mycologist from the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) took back with him for the herbarium. The knowledge of dye species is even smaller, so we were really heading into the unknown as we tried various species during the workshops.
The Symposiums always follow a format of talks and lectures mixed with field trips and practical workshops. We began the first night, appropriately, with an introduction to local indigenous culture by Hardy Dershaw, the aboriginal ranger for the region from CALM. Cameras popped as he held up witchetty grubs, which later we BBQ’d with emu steaks. There is a strange fungus called native bread (Laccocephallum mylittae) that appears after fire and has a huge underground nutrient store in the form of a mass of sago-like structures, which are edible and very starchy. This was searched out by South coast Nyungar people, whether to eat or for another use is unclear. Information on aboriginal culture from the area is hard to source due to the early and thorough disruption of traditional life in the South West. There is a relationship between fire and fungi, particularly the underground truffle-like ones that are the main food source for some small marsupials in newly burned areas, something possibly exploited by aboriginal people.
Sunday morning the Minister for the Environment, Judy Edwards, arrived from Perth by plane and opened the Symposium, something of a coup for the organizers but also recognition of the new respect for the role of fungi in ecosystem health and in sustainable agriculture and forestry practice around the world. Many fungi have an important symbiotic relationship with plants. Dr Steven Hopper, the CEO of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority and renowned botanist spoke about the geology of Western Australia and Gondwanan relics. The South West of Western Australia is the only place in Australia registered as a global biodiversity hot spot. This has a lot to do with the length (227 million years) of undisturbed weathering of the landscape here, leaving isolated relics of plant systems as the climate changed, and allowing plants to adapt over time to specific and difficult soil conditions. This accounts for the many different species of fungi found here but a relative lack of quantity. The situation in Europe is the reverse, quantity rather than diversity. Out of this difference there quickly emerged a discussion about sustainable harvesting in Australia as opposed to Europe and America. In Europe the main threat is seen to be habitat destruction. Taking quantities of dye specimens (and you need a few to make a good dye bath) has a long tradition and—anecdotally at least—yield has not been affected by gathering where people have collected at the same place for many years. In Norway there is a ‘red list’ of forests where picking is not allowed, but also a reliance on a culture of knowledge and respect for the use of wild fungi that begins in primary school. In Western Australia we tend to rely on regulations. You need a permit to collect in State Forest and in National Parks permission is given for research only, on private land the permission of the landowner is required. Would-be fungi hunters should check the requirements of their own state. Fungi are the fruit bodies of the organism (fungi are not plants or animals) and theoretically if open specimens are taken they will have spread much of their spore already. However the IFFS has begun work on a Code of Conduct for ethical harvesting fungi and other natural materials for use in textiles. We spent an evening brainstorming in small groups to make suggestions for the Code and agreed it should include: picking mature specimens only; never disturb the mycelium; be knowledgeable before you start; where necessary collect small amounts for research before collecting for the pot; lobby for habitat protection; educate others and be aware of safe dyeing and disposal habits. This last was also a topic of much informal discussion. Mordants such as chrome and tin are no longer recommended by the IFFS because of their toxicity, both to the dyer and to the environment. Alum and iron are the preferred additives where a mordant is required. Some dyers found this too prescriptive but in the main there was agreement that this is the responsible course to follow.
One of the lectures was on the ‘mysteries of PH’ by chemist and fungiphile Phreben Graae Sorensen from Denmark. PH of the dyebath can be changed by adding small quantities of either acetic or clear ammonia and has an effect on the colour independent of the mordant used. Care must be taken not to push the bath either way too much or the fibre will be damaged. Keeping the PH between 6-9 is recommended (7 is neutral). We used PH test papers in the workshops, adding another variable to the process.
Definitely the highlight of the week were the field trips. For those new to Australia it was a chance to see the bush and for fungiphiles a chance to search in a new place. On day 3 the whole group set off in two buses and various private cars to the Valley of the Giants Tingle (E. jacksoniae) forest near Walpole and we had a glorious day wandering and collecting for the fungi identification table. Several new species were found plus species thought to contain dye, as their European counterparts are known as dye species. It was quickly apparent that dyers using fungi will have to take on Latin names. Partly because many Australian fungi have no common name—or no name at all—but mostly to join an international conversation about dyeing as some fungi families are found worldwide. Knowing names means knowledge can be passed on accurately and experiments are repeatable and understandable. I learned that the familiar big yellow ‘puffball’(which it isn’t)—also known as ‘dyeball’ or ‘horsedung fungi’- that grows along road verges and produces clouds of yellow spores, is Pisolithus, various species of which grow all over the world. I also learned that what I had assumed to be one species that frustratingly gave either yellow or brown for no good reason is in fact two – Pisolithus albus (white to brown stumps full of yellow spores), which gives yellow, and Pisolithus marmoratus (flaking brownish stump with yellow spores), which gives brown. Fungi taxonomy is complicated and constantly under review, and dye colour may prove to be a useful part of the identification process. The old hands told me they learnt one or two new names each season, which makes it a manageable task. Several fungi identification workshops gave me a glimmer of insight into the fascinating world of fungi and I can highly recommend Fungi of Southern Australia by Neale Bougher and Katrina Syme, illustrated by Katrina’s wonderful watercolours. There is a good section on general taxonomy and a list of dye species and their colours, many of which we tried at the workshops. Richard Robinson from CALM has written a field guide for the South West, which is a useful size to have in the field and illustrated with photographs.
In the workshops we experimented with wool that had been pre-mordanted with alum and iron, as well as un-mordanted, and added PH high and low to the tests, so often had 6 or 7 pots going at once. Katrina and the Denmark dyers had collected our trial species and dried them beforehand. To list a few: we obtained reds from Dermocybe splendida, (reddish brown caps, yellow stems growing in the Sheoak leaf litter in colonies)greens from Anthracopyllum archeri (little orange platelets on rotting wood) and yellows from Cortinarius species and Piptoporus australiensis (also called curry punk, a pored bracket fungi that drips orange). We obtained blues from an introduced species of lichen (Xanthoria parietina) that grows on old fruit trees so harvesting is not a dilemma. The lichen is soaked in a dilute clear ammonia solution in a glass container for a few weeks beforehand to make the dyebath. The wool is added to this and the container warmed in a water bath (keep covered or do this outside because of the ammonia fumes). When the yarn goes pink it is exposed to the sun and goes blue. Rinse at the end. Paper makers used various polypores (bracket fungi)—which should not be boiled before pulping as this destroys the fibres that make good paper. Yellows and browns predominated.
There were two especial highlights of the evening talks. A presentation by honours student Donna Franklin, who is culturing mycelium on fabric in collaboration with the Symbiotica project at the University of Western Australia, and then steaming it to fix the strange shapes and colours; and an eloquent silent presentation of her images of landscape and artworks by Nalda Searles. We were also introduced to the forests of Finland and fungi dyed textiles from Sweden.
Fungi are fascinating in themselves and the Symposium covered a lot of ground, informing us about their habits and habitats as well as how to dye with them. Before collecting and experimenting be warned that some fungi, particularly the Amanita species-that red and white 'fairytale' mushroom is one of these - are very poisonous. Wash your hands after handling and store and dispose of carefully.
The next Symposium will be held in Denmark, Scandinavia in 2005. The International Mushroom Dye-Gest will have the details. I can feel the lure of collecting in a different landscape, being in the company of other enthusiasts and learning more about these strange and wonderful organisms that have added a whole new palette to my dye work. I thoroughly recommend the experience.
