March 2020 - 8

HEADLINES/CALENDAR
Fungi - Small (But Mighty!)
By Jill Calabro, Ph.D., Research and Science Director,
HRI and AmericanHort
Fungi are so variable - from single-celled yeasts to the
biggest living organism on Earth (Armillaria ostoyae covers
nearly 4 square miles in an Oregon forest ... and is a butt
rot!). Others are small but mighty, like the artillery fungus.
Also known as the shotput fungus or the cannonball
fungus, the artillery fungus is most often found in mulch. Its
Latin name, Sphaerobolus stellatus, means star-shaped sphere
thrower. Other species of Sphaerobolus have been identified
as well, including S. iowensis (Iowa-shaped sphere thrower?
Sphere thrower from Iowa?). The name alone implies that this
fungus has a colorful story to tell.
They resemble teeny tiny cups that grow in landscape
mulch, about 1/8 inch in size. Their " cup " holds a mass of sticky
spores called a gleba. Water pressure builds up in the " cup "
and eventually blasts the gleba out into the world. Being
sticky, the gleba sticks to the surface where it lands and looks
like a small, shiny black speck.
What's So Mighty About That?
Well, researchers documented a gleba shot as far as 18 feet
long and 14 feet high. For perspective, that is equivalent
to a six-foot-tall person throwing a baseball almost two
miles away and nearly 11/2 miles high. Since this fungus
is prevalent in landscape mulch, homeowners with lightcolored
siding often report headaches from trying to scrub
scads of tiny black spots off their home or car. If the siding
is wood, spores could germinate and slowly degrade it, if
enough moisture is present.
This is another example of a wood decay fungus. Artillery
fungi prefer mulch as a food source, since it is usually moist.
The type of mulch doesn't seem to matter. Researchers at
Penn State have tested 27 different kinds of mulch, and all
supported Sphaerobolus spp. growth eventually. However,
they do seem to favor the north side of houses, which tend
to have cooler temperatures and shade.
The Dark Side
New plant diseases don't come along that often, so it's
a fairly big deal when it happens. One of the newest turf
diseases is attributed to (you guessed it!) the artillery fungus.
Turns out mulch isn't the only substrate they consume.
Back in 2010, a handful of golf courses in New Zealand,
Scotland, and the U.S.
reported small dark rings that
resembled fairy ring, except that the turf was sunken within
the ring. It looked as though the ring had collapsed; thus,
the name 'thatch collapse' was coined. In all cases, the golf
course had high levels of organic matter.
Three Varieties Named AAS Winners
All-America Selections, North America's oldest and most
well-known non-profit plant trialing organization, is pleased
to announce three new AAS Winners for 2020:
* Delphinium 'Dewy Blue' F1 (Regional);
* Pea 'Snak Hero' (National); and
* Zinnia 'Holi Pink' F1 (Regional)
Growers, retailers and consumers will find these AAS
Winners for sale as supply becomes available through the
distribution chain.
Each AAS Winner is marketed through social media,
public relations and trade shows and are grown in 190
AAS Display Gardens across North America. Retailers can
request an All-America Selections Point-of-Purchase package
from the AAS office. For more information, visit http://
all-americaselections.org/aas-ambassador-tools or email
dblazek@aaswinners.com.
TPIE 2020 Cool Product Awards
Announced
The Garden Center Group reportedly had the largest
number ever of garden retailers as judges in attendance at
TPIE this year, which took place Jan. 22-24 in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida. Many of these retailers helped to find products to
receive the Cool Product Awards, said Danny Summers,
managing director. They nominated over 60 products in their
search results; the following 15 companies took home awards
for 17 productss:
* Aroid Greenhouse: Sansaveria 'Whale Fin' and
Zamioculcas varigated ZZ
In addition to being super sticky, the glebal mass is quite
resilient, and its job is to protect the spores within it. Research
has shown that even when the gleba is kept dry and dormant
for 11 years, spores are able to successfully germinate once
exposed to ideal conditions (moisture is key).
8 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | MARCH 2020
* BirdPlanter: Hanging Rooster Planter
* Capri Farms: Dracenia 'Harvest Moon'
* Costa Farms: Aglonemia " sra "
* Deroose Plants: Nova Star ZZ plant (black)
* Eves Garden: Truck Planters (Caricature Vehicles)
http://http:// http://www.all-americaselections.org/aas-ambassador-tools
March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2020
