Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: agaric

gilled mushrooms

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Current / Fungus Fact

#071: Flammulina velutipes, The Velvet Foot or Enoki

It’s often said that you can tell how edible a mushroom is by the number of names it has. This concept certainly applies to the edible Flammulina velutipes, which goes by the common names Enokitake (and the shortened form Enoki), Velvet Foot, Winter Mushroom, and Golden Mushroom, as well as many other derivatives and regional names (if you’re outside the United States, you probably call it something else!). Another reason the species has so many names is because it looks very different in the wild than it does in the grocery store: in the wild, it grows as an orange umbrella-shaped mushroom with a black fuzzy stipe, but when cultivated it grows as a pale thin needle-shaped (or perhaps spaghetti-shaped) mushroom with a tiny pileus. I generally use the names F. velutipes, Velvet Foot, and Enoki, since each one emphasizes a different physical aspect of the mushroom.

Amanita muscaria development 2

Current / Fungus Fact

#234: Mushroom Development

My first introduction to mushrooms was as a child seeing them appear as if by magic in my family’s lawn. This mysterious way that fungi appear to pop into existence still captures my imagination, which brought me to the small but interesting field of mushroom development. So, can science explain how mushrooms appear out of thin air? Mostly, but there is still much we don’t know. Obviously, mushrooms don’t materialize out of nothing – instead, they sprout from the mycelium already growing in the substrate. Typically, this proceeds as follows: the mycelium bunches up, then the various mushroom tissues are created, and finally whole fruitbody gets larger. However, this generalized model has limitations and can’t explain all the variation we see in mushroom shapes. Why Study Mushroom Development? Before we get into the details, it is useful to discuss why mushroom development should be studied. One of the major reasons...

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Fungus Fact

#231: Hypholoma tuberosum

I first saw this mushroom in 2017 at a foray in Pennsylvania.  There wasn’t much out, so six of us spent a lot of time trying to identify these little brown mushrooms growing in mulch right outside the foray center.  We ruled out everything in our keys and couldn’t nail down the species until we found sclerotia growing below the mushrooms.  As it turns out, the sclerotia are the only interesting feature of these LBMs.  Brown cap, brown stalk, dark spores, small, growing in mulch – this description could apply to hundreds of mushrooms until you get into the nitty-gritty details.  Fortunately, you can easily separate these mushrooms from similar ones by looking for the sclerotia.

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Fungus Fact

#230: Lichenomphalia umbellifera

Nearly all lichens belong to the Ascomycota, but there are some lichenized basidiomycetes (often called “basidiolichens”)… and a few of those actually form mushrooms!  Lichenomphalia umbellifera is a lichen that forms a small agaric.  If you find this mushroom, you would probably dismiss it as just another LBM, unless you notice the lichen at its base.  The lichen part of this mushroom consists of tiny green bubbles that seem to be sprinkled over its substrate.  You’re most likely to find L. umbellifera in the Pacific Northwest – just remember not to overlook the small mushrooms!

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Fungus Fact

#085: Schizophyllum commune, The Mushroom with Over 28,000 Sexes

If you think dating is complicated in the human world, be glad you’re not Schizophyllum commune.  Humans have two basic biological sexes and six or more gender identities to deal with, but S. commune has to choose from over 28,000 different sexes!  This overly complex system is based on genetics and the weird way fungi reproduce.  But this isn’t just a weird example, it’s also one of the most common mushrooms in the world.  You can probably find the mushroom out now, and identify it easily.  The little white mushroom is easily distinguished by its small gills, which appear to be split lengthwise.  This unique feature has led to its common name, the “Split Gill” or sometimes “Common Split Gill.”

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Fungus Fact

#124: Galerina marginata, the Deadly Galerina

If you are collecting for the table, this is one little brown mushroom (LBM) that you should definitely know. 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 the 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.”

Lepista nuda 0

Fungus Fact

#223: Lepista nuda, The Blewit

Lepista nuda, often called Clitocybe nuda, is a popular edible mushroom known as the “Bewit” or “Wood Blewit.” I’ve put off writing about these mushrooms for a long time because they’re one of the most difficult edible mushrooms to positively identify. Until this fall, I wasn’t completely sure of my ability to identify these mushrooms. The problem is that Blewits have very few unique characteristics and can therefore be confused with many poisonous mushrooms. Blewits are definitely not beginner mushrooms. Young Blewits are a beautiful lilac color and can be confused with Cortinarius. With age, Blewits become tan and can be confused with Cortinarius, other clitocybioid mushrooms, and probably others as well. With so many possible lookalikes, remember: “When in doubt, throw it out!”

Coprinellus domesticus 0

Fungus Fact

#219: Coprinellus domesticus

One of the most unusual things I found in my first year of mushroom hunting was a log covered with a layer of orange fuzz – reminiscent of shag carpeting, which looks out-of-place in a natural setting. After much searching, I discovered that the fuzz was produced by a mushroom: Coprinellus domesticus. The mushroom itself is an inky cap, but the fuzz – called an ozonium – lasts longer and is therefore easier to find. Nobody knows why the fungus makes an ozonium, but it certainly makes identification easier. You might also find this mushroom fruiting in your bathroom. As its species name implies, the fungus routinely appears in wet areas of homes. The mushroom has a few common names that are used occasionally. These include the “Firerug Inkcap” (primarily British), “Retro Inky” (from MushroomExpert.Com), and “Domestic Inkcap” (translated from French).

Neolentinus lepideus 0

Fungus Fact

#218: Neolentinus lepideus, The Train Wrecker

Neolentinus lepideus is a very tough whitish agaric with lots of scales that appears on dead conifer wood. Its gills have a serrated margin, a characteristic shared with pretty much every species that has “lentin” in its genus name. In the United States N. lepideus is called the “Train Wrecker” because it often appears on railroad ties. In most other parts of the world, the mushroom is simply called the “Scaly Lentinus.”

Coprinellus disseminatus 0

Fungus Fact

#214: Coprinellus disseminatus

Coprinellus disseminatus is a tiny umbrella-like mushroom that makes up for its small stature by producing thousands of mushrooms at once. I found one stump last weekend that I estimate produced between 6,000 and 10,000 mushrooms. There were so many mushrooms so close together that from a distance they looked more like a single large crust fungus than lots of tiny mushrooms. C. disseminatus is also remarkable because it is an inky cap but its gills do not liquefy. You can actually get a spore print from this mushroom instead of a gooey black glob.1 Despite that, C. disseminatus disappears quickly like any other inky cap. Once, in my early days of mushroom hunting, I passed a stump with a few hundred C. disseminatus mushrooms in the morning. When I revisited it that afternoon, I found no traces whatsoever of the inky caps.