“Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble,” the three witches say in unison near the beginning of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
The small, non-threatening fungus, officially known as sarcosoma globosum, but more commonly known as witches cauldron, seems to have earned the nickname because of its appearance. That dark, murky gel at the centre of a brown pot demands attention and explanation.
And area residents are crazy for this fungus, if the interest in Hanna Petersen’s story is any indication. Based on its online numbers so far, it will likely be one of our top 10 most-read stories of the year.
UNBC professor Michael Preston is hoping the public can help him find more samples, so he can do more research into this rare forest inhabitant that little is known about.
Prof. Preston has no idea what the gel is actually for, what kind of fungus it is or if it can be grown in a lab but he’d sure like to find out.
He has some educated guesses, however.
The gel might be a way to help the fungus to release its spores. This fungus might live a far less visible life for years or even decades until, at the opportune moment, it flowers into that strange cauldron.
It might only be found in old-growth (a century or older) forests, which would explain both its rarity and why it has largely disappeared from Northern Europe, where it was first observed and also where it was – until now – considered its native habitat.
“What is it doing here in British Columbia? Our environment is a bit similar to northern Europe so sure it should belong here, but what is it actually doing in the forest?,” Preston said, before adding the three favourite words in all of science: “We don’t know.”
Preston would like to learn just what kind of fungus it is. The role of some fungi is to decompose dead organic matter on the forest floor while others have a tit-for-tat relationship with trees, providing certain nutrients in exchange for food sources in a system called the “wood wide web.”
For all of the interesting science about very big things, like galaxies and black holes, and very small things at the microscopic and genetic level, all the way into the quantum universe, there remain so many unknowns right in front of us.
Diving into the story of the witches cauldron is to plunge into the mystery of life itself. It will be toil and trouble for Prof. Preston to get this fungus to give up its secrets but that burning fire of curiosity lies at the very heart of the human cauldron.
