Volume 11, Part 2, May 1997 PAPER MADE FROM BRACKET FUNGI ANNA KING 1 AND ROY WATLING 2 14, Craighouse Terrace, Edinburgh EHIO 5LJ 2 Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh EH3 5LR • Making paper from bracket fungi might appear eccentric but as Rice (1992) has shown it is not only possible but attainable with very simple resources. Indeed, Miriam Rice's display of coloured and textured papers at the 6th International Fungi and Fibre Symposium held at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh in 1993 demonstrated that very beautiful papers could be made. One ofus (AK) therefore embarked on some paper-making experiments (enthusiasm outstripping knowledge and expertise at first), calling on the experience gained in examining fungus structures at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Paper-making from all kinds of plant and recycled material has enjoyed an enormous vogue during the last decade. Plant-based papers, however, rely on the use of caustic soda to break down the cellulose and chlorine-based bleach to lighten the resulting pulp. The great- est appeal of using polypores, apart from the end product, is the absence of chemicals in the tech- nique. This is because the fungal wall has a totally different structure from that of plants, being based on chitin, a nitrogenous building block. Bracket fungi like other Polyporales may be classified by the hyphal structure; whether the hyphae are thin-walled (generative), thick-walled linear (skeletal) or thick-walled branched (bind- ing) and the mixtures of two (dimitic) or three (trimitic) hyphal types. If only generative hyphae are present the fungus is termed monomitic. By trial and error over two years the best papers appear to be made from trimitic polypores, but there are some exceptions. The paper process The paper can be made quite easily in small batches in any kitchen and the only machines required are a sturdy liquidiser/blender and an old-fashioned mangle or a book-press. Provision must be made with polythene sheeting, old newspapers and towels to mop up - the process can be awash with water. Other tools required are a mould - a wooden frame with fine metal or plastic mesh - and deckle - another empty frame which fits snugly on the mould; a pile of cotton sheeting cut to size, (larger all round than the mould and deckle) and a plastic vat or tank for holding the paper pulp. A eat's litter tray is an ideal size for small moulds and deckles. The process is briefly as follows: chop up the washed polypore with a sharp knife or pruning saw and add to a small quantity of water in the blender. Purists like to collect rain water but Edinburgh water straight from the tap at its fair- ly neutral pH works well. Some species are very hard and benefit from a good long soaking in water (up to a year!) to help soften them. Do not overload the blender; small quantities liquidise more successfully than large ones and some polypores fluff up so much that you need to add more water to the blender goblet anyway. Observe carefully what happens to the pulp while it's being blended: if it fluffs up well and resem- bles wet marshmallow, then a good paper will result. Some polypores, especially the trimitic ones, will double, triple or even quadruple in vol- ume when added to water and chopped in the blender. If the pulp is not very voluminous, is gritty in feel and appearance, then you can add some trimitic pulp to the vat to give you a more cohesive, if textured slurry in the vat - some of the monomitic and dimitic ones give a pulp like this. The prepared pulp can now be added to the vat, which should contain sufficient tepid water to facilitate sliding the mould and deckle in and out of the slurry without difficulty. The ratio of water to pulp varies with the requirements of the papermaker and the inherent properties of the polypore used. It is one of those 'indefinables' that can only be described as 'feeling right': too thin, and the paper will be difficult to couch; too thick and you'll end up with something resem- bling a small wet doormat. Assuming, then, that the vat's contents are of an ideal suspension, make a 'gather', using the mould and deckle held firmly together. To get
Making paper from bracket fungi might appeareccentric but as Rice (1992) has shown it is notonly possible but attainable with very simpleresources. Indeed, Miriam Rice's display ofcoloured and textured papers at the 6thInternational Fungi and Fibre Symposium heldat the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh in 1993demonstrated that very beautiful papers couldbe made. One of us (A K) therefore embarked onsome paper-making experiments (enthusiasmoutstripping knowledge and expertise at first),calling on the experience gained in examiningfungus structures at the Royal Botanic Garden,Edinburgh.
Paper-making from all kinds of plant andrecycled material has enjoyed an enormousvogue during the last decade. Plant-basedpapers, however, rely on the use of caustic sodato break down the cellulose and chlorine-basedbleach to lighten the resulting pulp. The great-est appeal of using polypores, apart from the endproduct, is the absence of chemicals in the tech-nique. This is because the fungal wall has atotally different structure from that of plants,being based on chitin, a nitrogenous buildingblock.
Bracket fungi like other Polyporales may beclassified by the hyphal structure; whether thehyphae are thin-walled (generative), thick-walledlinear (skeletal) or thick-walled branched (bind-ing) and the mixtures of two (dimitic) or three(trimitic) hyphal types. If only generativehyphae are present the fungus is termedmonomitic. By trial and error over two years thebest papers appear to be made from trimiticpolypores, but there are some exceptions.
The paper process
The paper can be made quite easily in smallbatches in any kitchen and the only machinesrequired are a sturdy liquidiser/blender and anold-fashioned mangle or a book-press. Provisionmust be made with polythene sheeting, oldnewspapers and towels to mop up - the processcan be awash with water. Other tools required
are a mould - a wooden frame with fine metal orplastic mesh - and deckle - another empty framewhich fits snugly on the mould; a pile of cottonsheeting cut to size, (larger all round than themould and deckle) and a plastic vat or tank forholding the paper pulp. A eat's litter tray is anideal size for small moulds and deckles.
The process is briefly as follows: chop up thewashed polypore with a sharp knife or pruningsaw and add to a small quantity of water in theblender. Purists like to collect rain water butEdinburgh water straight from the tap at its fair-ly neutral pH works well. Some species are veryhard and benefit from a good long soaking inwater (up to a year!) to help soften them. Do notoverload the blender; small quantities liquidisemore successfully than large ones and somepolypores fluff up so much that you need to addmore water to the blender goblet anyway.Observe carefully what happens to the pulp whileit's being blended: if it fluffs up well and resem-bles wet marshmallow, then a good paper willresult. Some polypores, especially the trimiticones, will double, triple or even quadruple in vol-ume when added to water and chopped in theblender. If the pulp is not very voluminous, isgritty in feel and appearance, then you can addsome trimitic pulp to the vat to give you a morecohesive, if textured slurry in the vat - some ofthe monomitic and dimitic ones give a pulp likethis.
The prepared pulp can now be added to thevat, which should contain sufficient tepid waterto facilitate sliding the mould and deckle in andout of the slurry without difficulty. The ratio ofwater to pulp varies with the requirements of thepapermaker and the inherent properties of thepolypore used. It is one of those 'indefinables'that can only be described as 'feeling right': toothin, and the paper will be difficult to couch; toothick and you'll end up with something resem-bling a small wet doormat.
Assuming, then, that the vat's contents are ofan ideal suspension, make a 'gather', using themould and deckle held firmly together. To get
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Volume 11,Part 2, May 1997
an even distribution of fibres , the frames are gen-tly agitated, holding them horizontally, in a side-to-side action, then to and fro. The excess wateris allowed to drain back into the vat; when it hasstopped dripping, the deckle can be carefullyremoved and laid aside while the paper iscouched on to a dampened cotton sheet, this isdone in one firm, swift movement. Another cot-ton sheet is laid upon the paper and the processrepeated until you have a pile, or 'post', ofpapers, one on top of the other, to about ten ortwelve in number. Throughout the process thevat must be replenished with more pulp from theblender. The post is then placed between twoboards and taken to the press, which is on a trayor draining-board. Pressure is applied, gently atfirst, then gradually increased. Too much initialpressure on these very wet sheets can result inthe fibres being distorted too radically to give agood piece of paper.
Drying the paper is a very time-consumingaffair and can give much frustration and disap-pointment. Scrupulous attention to cleanlinessmust prevail in order to prevent moulds growingon the paper, if it is not turned and aired regular-ly and the damp cottons replaced with clean, drysheeting daily. After the initial pressing toextract the excess water, the sheets with thedamp paper pulp adhering to them are hung upto dry with plenty of air to circulate aroundthem. A clothes rack or kitchen pulley is ideal.During the summer, the process can be done out-side, and only takes an hour or so to complete.At other times of the year, overnight on a pulleyis sufficient.
The next stage is slightly more tricky: thepaper has to be eased off the cotton sheets withgreat delicacy, but if they are still slightly dampthen this is not too difficult. Place on dry cottonsheets, intersperse with blotting-paper, card orFormica off-cuts if you want a smoother surface ;this last step must be repeated until the paper iscompletely dry.
The fungi
Monomitic polypores break up reasonably well inthe blender, but the pulp, does not cohere andtends to go straight through the mesh on themould. Should you manage to make a piece ofpaper, the result is usually gritty and brittle.Interesting colour and textural variations can be
obtained by adding these pulps to a more sym-pathetic, cohesive , dimitic or trimitic pulp.
Dimitic polypores are remarkably diverse intheir behaviour during the paper-making process.Some go gritty in the blender, others 'fluff up'quite well. They offer by far the greatest rangeof colours and textures; only by experimenting isit possible to discover their different properties.
The majority of trimitic polypores fluff up wellin the blender. They make a good pulp whichbehaves well in the vat and couches onto the cot-ton sheets easily. A good post of paper madefrom these can be couched and dried successful-ly in a matter of days depending on the ambienttemperature and humidity.
Table 1 shows how the commoner Scottishpolypores react to the paper-making process andthe resulting paper qualities are compared withthe widespread and common resupinate-effu-sopileate Stereum hirsutum. To these are addedIschnoderma benzoinum, a rather uncommonfungus found quite near Edinburgh in autumn1995 and Lenzites betulina which is also uncom-mon in Scotland. The latter was collected inOctober 1994.
Conclusion
Polypores are very amenable to the preparationof paper from their flesh; the resulting paper isoften of high quality and attractive appearance(see Fig 1 on the back cover of this issue). Themost versatile paper comes from the trimiticpolypores, as the result of one's efforts can beput to a variety of uses. Lenzites betulina proba-bly makes the most satisfactory and versatilepaper, taking printing ink exceptionally well; therelated Trametes versicolor also makes a usefulpaper. Some of the tougher polypores e.g. Fomesfomentarius require a lengthy softening time inwater.
ReferencesRice, M. (1991) Fine Paper from Mushrooms. Mushroom
10(1); 21 - 26.Rice, M. (1992) Get an old Blender. Mushroom 10(3): 22 -
26.
Editor's note: This papermaking process wasshown at Fungus 100 - see the illustration in thepictorial record on pp 36 - 37 of Mycologist 11,part 1.
