Poplar

The poplar's mycorrhizal partnerships

The poplar, a close relative of the aspen (the aspen is itself a poplar, Populus tremula), has a limited but clearly defined range of mycorrhizal partners. In her "Key to the Fungi of Ukraine," M. Ya. Zerova singles out the two most valuable species, which grow only thanks to poplar roots:

1. Poplar knight (Tricholoma populinum): A massive, fleshy, edible mushroom with a brownish-reddish cap. It is a strict mycorrhizal partner of the poplar and often grows in huge "fairy rings" or long rows in autumn, hiding completely under fallen leaves or even in sand.

2. Slate bolete (Leccinum duriusculum): Despite its Ukrainian name, which files it among the birch boletes, this species with very firm, almost stone-hard flesh forms mycorrhiza specifically with poplars (most often with the white poplar). The cut flesh turns pink and then blackens.

David Arora notes that you will very rarely find classic porcini or chanterelles under poplars, since these mushrooms prefer oaks or conifers.

Poplar wood: the perfect substrate for oyster mushrooms

While poplar roots support only a few mushrooms, its soft, porous wood is a true incubator. Roger Phillips describes the poplar as one of the best natural substrates for wood-decaying fungi (saprotrophs):

- Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus): Old, fallen or wind-snapped poplars are often literally plastered with huge gray colonies of oyster mushrooms. This happens in late autumn, when the temperature drops.

- Velvet shank (Flammulina velutipes): Velvet shanks adore poplar stumps and fallen trunks.

- Dryad's saddle (Polyporus squamosus): Large "plates" of this mushroom often appear in spring on living but weakened poplars.