Fungus Fact Friday

Fungus Fact Friday

#125: Hypholoma sublateritium, the Brick Cap 3

Fungus Fact

#125: Hypholoma sublateritium, the Brick Cap

“Is this mushroom edible?” What a difficult question to answer.  The world of edible mushrooms is littered with lookalikes, various degrees of edibility, mushrooms that are edible only under certain conditions, and mushrooms that no one has assessed for edibility.  For Hypholoma sublateritium, the question is even more complicated.  There is no consensus on whether or not Brick Caps are edible.  North American field guides are divided on the issue and European field guides usually list these mushrooms as inedible or poisonous.  In my local mushroom club, they are considered edible and are a welcome find in the late fall, when it is usually slim pickings for mushrooms.  Because of this ambiguity, community is an essential part of mushroom hunting (despite its culture of secrecy and competition).  If you are serious about mushroom hunting, you should be involved with a local mushroom club to ensure that you learn information about...

#124: Galerina marginata, the Deadly Galerina [Archived] 2

Archived

#124: Galerina marginata, the Deadly Galerina [Archived]

Note: this is an archived post.  Read the current version of this post here. If you are collecting for the table, this is one little brown mushroom (LBM) that you should definitely be familiar with. Most LBMs go unnoticed because they are heard to spot and are usually too small to consider worth eating.  The “Deadly Galerina” is therefore usually not dangerous on its own.  The real danger from this mushroom comes when it is accidentally collected along with a group of edible mushrooms.  Galerina marginata contains amatoxins, which are also found in such infamous species as Destroying Angels (Amanita virosa complex, FFF#050) and Death Caps (Amanita phalloides, FFF#051).  In England, G. marginata goes by the beautifully ominous name, “Funeral Bell.”  Unfortunately for me, people in the United States prefer the much blander common name, “Deadly Galerina.”

#123: The Candy Caps 1

Fungus Fact

#123: The Candy Caps

Mushrooms come in some surprising flavors. Probably the most unusual flavors are found in the group of mushrooms known as “Candy Caps.”  These mushrooms taste/smell like maple syrup, butterscotch, camphor, burnt sugar, or curry.  Thanks to their pleasant odors, these edible mushrooms are usually used in dessert dishes!  I recently had the opportunity to taste some Candy Cap ice cream and was astounded by the intense maple syrup flavor provided by the mushrooms!

#122: Sphaerobolus stellatus, the Artillery Fungus [Archived] 2

Archived

#122: Sphaerobolus stellatus, the Artillery Fungus [Archived]

Note: this is an archived post. You can read the current version of this post here. Happy New Year! To celebrate, I decided to use some fungal cannon fire to start 2016 off with a bang!  Although it is tiny, Sphaerobolus stellatus gets just about as close as a fungus can to actually being a firework.  The tiny, star-shaped fruiting bodies are designed to launch a spherical sac of spores high into the air.  This unique spore dispersal strategy has resulted in a variety of common names, including: “Artillery Fungus,” “Cannonball Fungus,” “Cannon Fungus,” “Sphere Thrower” (which is a literal translation of its Latin name), “Shotgun Fungus,” “Shooting Star,” and “Bombardier Fungus.”

#121: Amanita muscaria, Part 2: Connecting to the Divine 1

Fungus Fact

#121: Amanita muscaria, Part 2: Connecting to the Divine

Across the globe, Amanita muscaria (the “Fly Agaric”) is the go-to mushroom for connecting humans with the divine. I will forego describing this mushroom, since I have already done that in FFF#069.  Fortunately, you are familiar with this toadstool.  It is the mushroom with a red cap covered in white dots, with white gills underneath, and supported by a white stipe.  Probably about 90% of mushroom art is based on this mushroom, so you have definitely seen it around (for example: in Mario games, Disney’s Fantasia, lawn decorations, and Christmas ornaments).  Aside from the visual aesthetic the mushroom provides in your daily life, muscaria has had a deep and lasting impact on a variety of cultures around the world, from Hinduism to Siberian shamans to Santa Claus.

#120: Geastrum saccatum 1

Fungus Fact

#120: Geastrum saccatum

This mushroom is one of the most common earthstars and can be found all across the globe. Geastrum saccatum does not have an official common name, although the name “Rounded Earthstar” is occasionally used.  Most of the time, it is just called “an earthstar.”  Most North American earthstars look very similar to saccatum, but it is possible to tell them apart without running for a microscope.

#119: Pisolithus arrhizus, the Dyeball [Archived] 1

Archived

#119: Pisolithus arrhizus, the Dyeball [Archived]

Note: This is an archived post. You can find the current version of this post here. “Our next contestant in the Ugly Mushroom contest performs thousands of hours of community service every year and is an accomplished artist. Its goal in life is to make the world a better place and form lasting relationships with those around it.  Give it up for…Pisolithus arrhizus! [applause]”  There seems to be little doubt among people that arrhizus is one of the ugliest mushrooms in the world.  The fruiting bodies of older specimens become distorted and can be mistaken for anything from animal poop to decomposing tree stumps.  Despite its unsightly appearance, this earthball can be used to dye wool, thus earning it the common name, “Dyeball.”  The fungus is also prized by gardeners and foresters for its ability to form robust mycorrhizae in extremely poor soil conditions.

#118: Poronidulus conchifer, the Little Nest Polypore 0

Fungus Fact

#118: Poronidulus conchifer, the Little Nest Polypore

In its mature stage, this mushroom can be nearly impossible to differentiate from numerous other Turkey Tail-like polypores. Fortunately, young Poronidulus conchifer mushrooms produce unmistakable cup-like structures.  This structure often looks like a cup fungus or a bird’s nest fungus without the eggs.  For that reason, this mushroom is often called the “Little Nest Polypore.”

#117: Craterellus cornucopioides species group, the Horn of Plenty 1

Fungus Fact

#117: Craterellus cornucopioides species group, the Horn of Plenty

If Black Friday needed to be symbolized by a mushroom, I would suggest the Craterellus cornucopioides species group. Their common and scientific names bring to mind Thanksgiving, they are black in color, they are prized edibles but are rather difficult to find, and they are very thin-fleshed, so you need to find a lot of them to make a good meal.  I love these little mushrooms.  Their flavor is mild but unique, making them a great compliment to various dishes.  These mushrooms go by a variety of common names: “Black Trumpets,” “Black Chanterelles,” “Horn of Plenty,” and “la trompette de la mort” (literally “Trumpet of Death”) in French.  The French name must be based on the mushroom’s dark color, since I am not aware of anyone having died after consuming the Horn of plenty.  I usually just call them “Black Chanterelles,” but I will use the name “Horn of Plenty”...

#116: Scorias spongiosa 1

Fungus Fact

#116: Scorias spongiosa

This bizarre fungus forms a fuzzy mat of tan to black tissue on the branches, trunks, and ground underneath American Beech trees. Scorias spongiosa belongs to a group of fungi called “sooty molds.”  Sooty molds digest the honeydew (essentially sugar-rich aphid poop) dropped by aphids in the process of feeding on plants.  There are many kinds of sooty molds and if you’ve ever had an aphid (or other insect) infestation on trees in your garden, they you’ve probably seen sooty molds.  Normally, sooty molds form a thin, black film on leaves and branches under places where the aphids are feeding.  spongiosa differs from normal sooty molds because it forms films that can be as thick as a football!