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!
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.
Witches might not be real, but witches’ brooms certainly are – and they’re destroying chocolate! Yes, Halloween’s favorite treat (chocolate) is suffering at the hands of a disease with a Halloween-themed name: Witches’ Broom Disease. Witches’ brooms are actually fairly common and occur on many different plants. In chocolate trees (Cacao trees, Theobroma cacao, whose genus name literally means “food of the gods”), witches’ brooms are caused by the fungal pathogen Moniliophthora perniciosa and have an enormous economic impact on chocolate production in Central and South America.
Note: This is an archived post. Read the current version of this post here. Commonly known as the Split Gill, this little mushroom is easily distinguished by its small gills, which appear to be split lengthwise. The Split Gill is a notable mushroom because of its unusual morphology, ecology, and genetics. Before I get into the bizarre world of fungal sexes, I would like to describe the physical characteristics of this distinctive mushroom.
This small, yellow, parasol mushroom is a tropical species but can be found throughout the world in greenhouses and indoors among potted plants. These mushrooms often surprise people by appearing suddenly indoors at any time of the year. birnbaumii is a mostly harmless mushroom. It does not damage your plants at all, but it should not be eaten. The Yellow Houseplant Mushroom is mildly poisonous, but symptoms appear only when it is eaten in large quantities. If you are worried that a pet or child may eat the mushrooms, then you may want to pick the mushrooms and throw them out. This will not get rid of the fungus, so you will have to check the pot regularly. The mushrooms may also spread to other pots in your house through airborne spores. If you want to get rid of them forever, then you will probably have to throw away your...
Note: This is an archived post. The current version of this post is available here. This edible mushroom can be found in specialty markets under the names “Enokitake” and “” It can also be found in the wild in temperate areas across the Northern Hemisphere, but the wild mushrooms look nothing like the cultivated versions. Flammulina velutipes has many common names, including: Velvet Foot, Enokitake, Enoki, Winter Mushroom, Velvet Stem, Velvet Shank, Golden Needle Mushroom, and others. I am using the name Velvet Foot because it is among the most commonly used names and it sounds the most poetic. According to Wikipedia, Enoki is the Japanese name for the Chinese Hackberry Tree, a tree in the hemp family on which F. velutipes is often found. Thus, “Enokitake” means “Chinese Hackberry Tree Mushroom.” Wikipedia also says that the Chinese names for this mushroom translate to Golden Needle Mushroom or Golden Mushroom. ...
Note: This is an archived post. You can find the current version of this post here. You are undoubtedly familiar with this mushroom, even if you recognize neither its scientific name, Amanita muscaria, nor its common name, “The Fly Agaric.” If the word “mushroom” does not immediately bring this fungus to mind, then the word “toadstool” probably does. You have certainly encountered Amanita muscaria’s distinctive red cap with white spots in a wide variety of visual art forms. This toadstool frequently pops up in paintings, cartoons, video games, movies, and decorations. It is because of the artistic over-use of the Fly Agaric that I referred to it above as “The Type Mushroom.” When describing a new taxonomic division or species of fungi, mycologists collect a “type specimen” which best exemplifies the characteristics of that taxon. This ensures that future mycologists know exactly what the original author intended to include in...
Note: This is an archived post. You can find the current version of this post here. Welcome back to creepy fungus month! I’m starting off this month with a mushroom that has a creepy name but is always fun to find: The Witch’s Hat. Hygrocybe conica gets its common name from the conic shape of its cap, its orange to red color, and its proclivity for bruising black. The Witch’s Hat is a small mushroom whose cap is 1 to 4cm across (rarely up to 6cm) and whose stipe is 3 to 8cm tall. Young specimens of this mushroom truly are beautiful. The bright, red to orange cap nicely compliments the lighter, orange to yellow stipe. When young, the cap is conical with a curved top and edges that curve slightly inward. The cap opens up as the mushroom matures to become broadly conical to convex, although it retains a...
After discussing a few mushrooms you should avoid, I thought you deserved to hear about one of my favorite edible mushrooms. Lactarius indigo has a good flavor, but what really makes this mushroom enjoyable is its color. As you can guess from its name, indigo is blue. Blue mushrooms are fairly rare, so they are always fun to find. This beautiful mushroom is also edible, making it one of the few naturally blue foods. Most bluish foods – such as blueberries – are actually reddish-purple. I have enjoyed this mushroom grilled with some seasoning, but there are other ways prepare it. One of the more festive options is to cook it with scrambled eggs. This, as you may guess, gives you green eggs (without needing any food coloring*)!
NEVER EAT AN AMANITA. Please keep reading if you don’t know what that sentence means. Amanita phalloides is perhaps the leading cause of deaths due to mushroom poisoning in the United States. The danger with the Death Cap is that it is often mistaken for an edible look-alike. Avoiding the Death Cap is not difficult once you learn to identify Amanita Although some Amanitas are edible, it is much safer to pass up every mushroom in that genus. The following list will help you identify A. phalloides:
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