Copper sulfate can be utilized to stimulate fungal pigment production for commercial spalting applications. This research explored two larger-scale uses for fungus stimulation by copper: “drawing” exclusion areas on sugar maple by surface application of copper sulfate and the use of copper sulfate in dual-fungi inoculation systems to increase the number of colors and types of spalting produced. Sugar maple boards treated with 2 mL of 0.13 percent copper sulfate in an S pattern and inoculated with Xylaria polymorpha showed a distinct area of clear wood, followed by thick dark zone lines and then by a general black pigmentation expanding outward from the S. Sugar maple blocks treated with 0.06 kg/m3 copper sulfate and inoculated with X. polymorpha/Arthrographis cuboidea had fewer black zone lines than the control blocks but more pink zone lines and internal pink stain.
Contributor Notes
The authors are, respectively, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Forestry, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (seri.robinson@utoronto.ca); and Professor, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sci., Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton (plaks@mtu.edu). This paper was received for publication in November 2010. Article no. 10-00058.