Warehouse Staining Fungus

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 17 Oct 2007

At this point (see Image for context), the cycle route is hemmed in by the River Leven on one side, and a wall on the other; behind the wall, whisky barrels are piled high (a distillery is located there). Along this portion of the route, many of the trees beside the path are visibly blackened. This is often the case in areas that are close to bonded warehouses: trees, walls, and even houses often become covered in a dark mould. The photo shows the bark of one affected tree; a fairly featureless black mould covers much of the surface, contrasting with the lighter-coloured fresh surfaces that have been exposed by cracks in the bark. The role that the proximity of whisky bonds plays in the formation of this mould has frequently been played down by the industry(*). However, when I was on a tour of a (different) distillery, the tour guide pointed out a similar black mould on a wall, beside which barrels were being stored, and he ascribed it to the Angels' Share (the name given to the portion of whisky that is lost each year from barrels through evaporation). (Such staining is also evident elsewhere on the course of the River Leven; near the Black Bridge, Image, there are bonded warehouses on the eastern side of the river.) Not for nothing is the common name of this mould "Warehouse Staining Fungus"; it is a phenomenon that has long been familiar from sites associated with Cognac production in mainland Europe. For those who wish to know more about these black moulds and their causes, "warehouse staining fungus" is a useful search expression (another is "Baudoinia compniacensis"). - - • - - (*) When disavowing responsibility for the mould, industry spokespersons tend to take a predictable tack, speaking about "microflora", presumably because it sounds more pleasant than "mould". They may go on to say that it consists of organisms which "occur naturally in the environment" — a true but pointless observation, since no one imagines that this mould was genetically engineered in the lab, like a bio-weapon. The real issue is its much greater abundance in this particular environment. They may finally add that "the organism grows where the environment supports it", or words to that effect. That observation is also true, but not very profound: it tells us that the mould grows where it *can* grow, rather than growing where it *cannot* grow. (I was reminded of official advice, later mocked, that was given to "grow-your-own" enthusiasts during WWII: "do not grow your potatoes where they will not grow".) Exposure to ethanol vapour enables the mould to flourish in environments that would otherwise prove too harsh for it. The mould grows in abundance near bonded warehouses because "the environment supports it", the proximity of bonded warehouses being an important element of that environment. (If I come across any new tactics, I will, in time, add them to this description, with further comments of my own. I have no quarrel with the whisky industry, and I enjoy their product, but I hate spin, whatever its source, and I particularly enjoy deconstructing irrelevancies that are couched in technical language in an attempt to bamboozle the general public.)

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