Temperature measurements from the spore-producing gills, spines, and tubes underneath fruit-body caps revealed cooling in 18 basidiomycete species growing in mixed deciduous woodland. The temperature of cultured fruit bodies of Lentinula edodes and Pleurotus ostreatus fell upon exposure to low velocity airflow, consistent with an evaporative mechanism of cooling. The mechanism of ballistospore discharge characteristic of basidiomycete fungi is dependent on condensation of water from the air surrounding the spores onto the spore surface. The current model for this process predicts that condensation, and therefore spore discharge, is enhanced by cooling of the fruit body.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Husher et al. (1999) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched one closely related paper. Consider it for comparative context: