Last year, around this time, I was in Kumbarwada, a place in Kali Tiger Reserve, Dandeli. I was working on my master’s thesis about how knowledge about tubers is passed down from older to younger people in the Kunbi community. The Kunbis are a forest community that grows over 30 different kinds of tubers in their backyards. Tubers are really important in their festivals and food. So, I was studying how this knowledge is changing and what people know about tubers now. I had to interview people from that community as part of my research and one of them was Shishir Anna. There was no network where I was staying, so I planned to meet him the day before. As we planned, I went to interview him the next day. He said sorry because they were going to collect ‘Paavanabe’, a kind of mushroom, and it would be gone in a few days. I got really excited and asked if I could go with them. He didn’t want to at first because I’m a girl, and we were going to a thick forest with leeches. But I kept asking, so he finally said yes. An old man and two old women came with us too. They were barefoot, while I was wearing my knee-high rubber boots.
On the way to the forest patch, Shishir Anna filled me in on the details about this special mushroom. It’s called ‘Paavanabe’ and it only pops up for a short eight-day window in the Ashadha month, right after Ekadashi. This is when the monsoon first hits the region. It’s a real treat because it’s a bright and beautiful mushroom that you only get to see once a year. They swear that eating it once a year boosts their immunity, helping them fight off the usual fever and cold that comes with the rainy season.
The colourful Paavanabe (Russula sp.)
What makes this mushroom even more interesting is its connection to a specific tree called ‘Pava’ (Hopea ponga) (the tree is called ‘Pava’ in Konkani, ‘Haiga’ in Kannada). This mushroom, belonging to the Russula genus, actually needs the fallen leaves of this tree to grow, which is why it’s always found under Pava trees.
Stands and leaves of the Pava tree (Hoppea ponga)
We trekked into a part of the forest where these trees were quite abundant. After gently clearing away some of the leaf litter, there they were – these adorable little mushrooms. The old man instructed me to only pick the mature ones, making sure to leave the young and old mushrooms untouched to ensure the next generation of mushrooms.
Paavanabe in the leaf litter
He also shared another fascinating fact about the Pava tree. It produces galls (Mangalorea hopeae) that look like tiny sea urchins. Turns out, these galls have a surprising use – they’re a natural tick repellent! You simply break open the gall and apply the contents to your skin. It’s effective even for those pesky ticks that find their way into your ears. I was totally amazed by this endemic tree that I did not know about before and how it was connected to other living things. It was uncovering a tiny secret world right there in the middle of the big forest.
Galls of Pava tree
I didn’t have a place to cook where I was staying, but Shishir Anna’s wife was super sweet and sent me some mushroom curry the next day. I can honestly say it was the most delicious mushroom dish I’ve ever tasted!
(The people’s names have been changed.)
Readings:
- Raman A. Galls induced on Hopea ponga (Dipterocarpaceae) in southern India and the gall-maker belonging to the Beesoniidae (Homoptera: Coccoidea). Insecta matsumurana. New series: journal of the Faculty of Agriculture Hokkaido University, series entomology.. 1992 Oct;47:1-32.
- Sridhar KR, Karun NC. Diversity and ecology of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the Western Ghats. Microbial Interventions in Agriculture and Environment: Volume 1: Research Trends, Priorities and Prospects. 2019:479-507.
About the author: Aditi Rao is a nature educator from Sirsi, Karnataka. She is currently working as a fellow at Nature Classrooms. She is also finishing her master’s in Wildlife Conservation Action from BVIEER, Pune.
