For the next several weeks, I will examine the major groups of gilled mushrooms. I chose to start this foraging for mushrooms should learn to identify this group. In general, amanitas are umbrella-shaped agarics (FFF#027) that usually display all the following features: a universal veil, a partial veil, free gills, and a white spore print. Well-known amanitas include A. muscaria (FFF#069 and #121) as well as the Destroying Angels (FFF#050).
Dear Fungus Fact Friday readers, I skipped writing a Fungus Fact this week in favor of working on this site’s glossary. The glossary, which I will update more later today, is basically a list of all the words I’ve learned while studying fungi. I also included some words from high school biology that are not used very often or are easily confused (for example, even I get mix up mitosis and meiosis sometimes).
Reindeer Lichens grow in northern temperate forests, boreal forests, and even in the tundra. They are highly branched, fruticose lichens that are a primary food source for reindeer (also called caribou in North America). These lichens are sometimes called “Reindeer Moss,” even though they are lichens and not moss.
Hapalopilus nidulans is small, drab, polypore that most people overlook. However, this humble mushroom is remarkable for two reasons: it is poisonous and it produces a lovely purple dye. It is an uncommon mushroom, which reduces the likelihood of someone eating it but also means people working with mushroom dyes never have enough of it. This mushroom appears on decomposing wood in North America and Europe.
Sirex noctilio, known as the “Sirex woodwasp” or “European woodwasp” (sometimes spelled “wood wasp”), is an invasive species that attacks most species of pine trees. Interestingly, the insect is dependent upon the fungus Amylostereum aerolatum to complete its life cycle. The Sirex woodwasp carries the fungus with it to new trees and in return the fungus becomes a meal for the Sirex woodwasp’s larvae.
Fungi appear in the news with surprising frequency. However, many of those stories do not provide any new information. Below is a summary of what we’ve learned about fungi from November 2016 Through February 2017. Read below to learn about: two-fungi lichens, the fate of bananas, battery recycyling, Crohn’s disease, orcas, human pathogenic fungi, and more! Visit the associated links to get the full story.
From above, Lenzites betulina looks a lot like the Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor, FFF#065). When you flip the mushroom over, however, it looks completely different. L. betulina has a distinctly gilled spore surface, which easily separates it from nearly every other polypore. A few others do have gills, but L. betulina is the only one with pale gills and pale flesh. This mushroom is usually referred to by its scientific name, but it is sometimes called “the Multicolored Gill Polypore” or “the Birch Mazegill.”
Clitocybe odora is easily recognized by its pale blue-green color and its distinctive anise-like odor. The mushroom is edible, but not very many people go looking for it. C. odora is sometimes called the “Aniseed Funnel” or “Blue-Green Clitocybe,” but most people refer to it by its scientific name.
Chlorociboria spp. include some of my favorite fungi. Although you don’t see their mushrooms very often, it is quite common to find pieces of wood that have been stained blue-green by Chlorociboria mycelium. This attractive and unusual coloration earned these fungi many common names, including “Green Stain Fungus,” “Blue Stain Fungus,” “Turquoise Elfcup,” and various combinations and derivatives of those. I enjoy finding the stained wood, especially during dry periods or over the winter, when mushrooms are scarce.
Fistulina hepatica is a very unusual polypore that is easy to recognize: it looks (and somewhat feels) like a large tongue growing from the side of a tree. This edible mushroom is distinctive because of its bizarre pore surface. When young, the pores are little more than multicolored bumps. As the mushroom matures, the pores develop into individual tubes, like a collection of straws. Its unique, meat-like color and texture earned F. hepatica the common names “Beefsteak Fungus” and “Ox Tongue Fungus.”
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