This mushroom is a common sight on hardwood logs at any time of the year. Its fan shape and circular zones of orange and brown colors make Stereum ostrea look very similar to the true Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor. ostrea, the “False Turkey Tail,” has a smooth undersurface, which easily distinguishes it from T. versicolor.
Note: This is an archived post. You can find the current version of this post here. Boletinellus merulioides is an odd mushroom, both in appearance and ecology. The Ash Tree Bolete can be readily identified by its pore surface – which is only a few millimeters thick and looks more like a network of ridges – and by the fact that it fruits only under ash trees. merulioides appears under ash because it has a unique symbiotic relationship with a pest of ash trees: the Leafcurl Ash Aphid.
Note: This is an archived post. You can read the current version here. Pluteus cervinus is one of the first gilled mushrooms to appear in the spring, although you can also find it during summer and fall. Commonly called the “Deer Mushroom,” it is distinguished by its free gills, pinkish spore print, radish-like odor, and unique, pointed cystidia (if you have a microscope). In Europe, the mushroom is called the “Deer Shield” (I think mushrooms in the genus Pluteus are called “shields” in Europe, though I’m not sure why) or the “Fawn Pluteus.” I was introduced to this mushroom as the “Fawn Mushroom,” which is not as common as “Deer Mushroom” in the United States.
Chaga (produced by the fungus Inonotus obliquus) is considered by many to be the most potent medicinal mushroom. Its popularity is on the rise and a quick internet search returns mostly websites offering to sell Chaga or sites touting its medicinal benefits. Chaga purportedly has cancer-fighting properties, stimulates the immune system, reduces inflammation, and prevents aging. The part of the fungus that people use is not quite a mushroom. Instead, it is a sterile conk that looks like a large block of charcoal stuck to a birch tree. This structure can be chopped off the tree, ground up, and steeped in hot water to make a tea. Chaga tea is the usual way to take advantage of the fungus’s medicinal properties.
This distinctive, ear-shaped mushroom is brown in color and gelatinous in texture. Auricularia auricula-judae is a common find in North America and Europe and has a close relative in Asia. As a result, the fungus has accumulated a variety of common names. The two most commonly used names in English are “Jelly Ear,” “Wood Ear,” and “Tree Ear.” Other popular names for this mushroom include “Judas’ Ear” or “Jew’s Ear.” In most European countries, the regional common name translates to “Judas’” Indeed, the species name for this mushroom translates to “Ear of Judas.” English translations of Asian names for this mushroom include: “Wood Ear Mushroom” and “Cloud Ear Mushroom.”
Mushrooms come in all different colors, even green! Although green is an unusual color for mushrooms, certain mushrooms sporting green colors are common. The most frequently-encountered green mushrooms are from the Russula Of these, my favorite ones are the Quilted Green Russulas (also called Greencracked Brittlecaps), which belong to the Russula virescens species group. R. virescens can be found in North America, Europe, and Asia. However, preliminary DNA studies suggest that specimens found in North America actually belong to a few different species and should not be lumped in with R. virescens. Unfortunately, mycologists have yet to formally classify these American species. As a result, the North American species in the group can be called R. virescens for now.
Of all the sexually transmitted infections in the world, the anther smuts are probably the most bizarre. Fungi in the genus Microbotryum infect plants in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae) as well as a few other species. When a plant infected with an anther smut tries to produce flowers, the fungus hijacks the process and forces the plant to make anther-like structures filled with fungal spores instead of pollen. The spores are primarily transmitted to new flowers by pollinators, but can also be spread by wind or splashing raindrops.
These fungi are obligate plant pathogens with life cycles similar to the rust fungi. Thankfully, the smut fungi have much simpler life cycles: only one host and only two spore types. To make matters easier, smut fungi only infect flowering plants (angiosperms), with just five known exceptions out of the over 1,400 described species. Wondering about their common name? Although the word “smut” has come to mean “something obscene,” it originally meant “dirt” or “excrement.” Smut fungi produce copious amounts of powdery, black spores, which look like dirt en masse. “Smutted wheat,” therefore, is wheat that has had its seeds replaced by the dirt-like spores of a smut fungus.
Rust fungi – which are so named because of their characteristic, rust-colored spores – have the most complex life cycles of any fungi. These fungi are all obligate plant parasites and most have two hosts. To successfully cycle from one host to the other over the course of a year, rust fungi produce up to five different types of spores.
Phellinus igniarius is probably the most dangerous regularly-consumed mushroom. By itself, the mushroom is pretty much useless. However, many Native American groups discovered that the ashes of igniarius will increase the buzz of chewing tobacco. Today, this practice is particularly widespread among Native Alaskans. Despite attempts by health agencies to discourage this practice, usage rates are still above 50%.
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