Spalt Your Own Lumber: Zone lines get even more mysterious
September 30th, 2009 in blogs
Sara Robinson, member
4 users recommend
Green zone lines? How? Why?
Summer has come and gone, hence the Spalting Fungus of the Month will go on hiatus until next summer. Until then, I hope you'll all help me brainstorm on an issue that has me a little confused: colored zone lines!
Historically...
In case you're new to my spalting posts, zone lines are black, winding lines that meander through spalted wood. They're caused by antagonism - either from one fungus to another or by only one fungus that has a serious case of self-loathing. Zone lines are composed of pseudo-sclerotal plates, which is a fancy way of saying 'really dark, thick melanin'. Because PSPs are composed of dark tissue, zone lines have always been thought to be black or brown. Well, I have evidence to the contrary!
Dr. Spalting Disagrees!
One of my spalting bins has been producing green zone lines. The center of these lines is black, but upon pigment diffusion, a green color appears. In my experience, zone lines don't diffuse, much less diffuse green! The best explanation I can come up with is that PSPs are actually a collection of many colors, and whatever fungus is responsible for these zone lines produces a diffusible green pigment. Thoughts?
Another Example
Birch seems to produce red zone lines on a pretty frequent basis. Like the green zone lines, these lines start with a solid dark center, out from which pigment diffuses. I assume that the mechanism for this is similar to the one I mentioned above, but in reality, I just don't know.
Thoughts?
If any out there has ever encountered any colored zone lines, I would love to hear about it. Any thoughts on the cause would also be appreciated. Regardless of the reason, I consider these types of zone lines to be rare and beautiful. Anyone can a black zone line, but how many people can manage zone lines in color?
Sara Robinson
http://www.northernspalting.com
posted in: blogs
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Comments (2)
I think your blog posts are well-written and extremly interesting. The photography is great too. Keep up the good work!
Patrick Posted: 8:30 am on October 1st