Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: morphology

#037: Mushroom Morphology: Earth Tongue Look-Alikes 2

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#037: Mushroom Morphology: Earth Tongue Look-Alikes

The earth tongue look-alikes include a myriad of mushroom-forming ascomycetes that do not look like cups, morels, false morels, elfin saddles, or truffles. These mushrooms have a stipe and a variously-shaped head.  The heads can be bulb-shaped to club-shaped to paddle/spatula-shaped and may be lobed.  These mushrooms are for the most part unbranched, which sets them apart from the basidiomycete corals.  A few earth tongue look-alikes, like the Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria spp.) have minimal branching.  What sets the earth tongue look-alikes apart from the basidiomycete corals and clubs is that the earth tongue look-alikes have a clearly-defined, sterile stipe.  The clubs and corals tend to produce spores all over the fruiting body.  However, in some earth tongues look-alikes, like the Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha), the stipe is not very well defined.  That being the case, the earth tongue look-alikes are often lumped together with the corals and clubs.  If...

#036: Mushroom Morphology: Earth Tongues 1

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#036: Mushroom Morphology: Earth Tongues

The term “Earth Tongue” refers to the tongue-shaped mushrooms in a few select genera: Geoglossum (literally “earth-tongue”), Trichoglossum, and Microglossum. These fungi all have tongue-shaped heads on a sterile stipe.  The heads usually have a groove running down the center and two similarly-shaped lobes on either side.  This morphology is somewhat reminiscent of a tongue, thus the name of the group.  You’ll need a microscope for accurate identification of your earth tongue collection.  If you have access to one, see the “Beginners Guide to Earth Tongues” (linked below*) for tips on microscopic examination.  The key provided at the end of that article, however, was written for people in England and therefore may not be useful for American mushroom hunters.  If you’re satisfied with identification down to genus only, then there are a couple things you can look for when sorting your collection.  First, Geoglossum and Trichoglossum produce black mushrooms, while...

#035: Mushroom Morphology: Elfin Saddles 1

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#035: Mushroom Morphology: Elfin Saddles

These odd-looking ascomycete mushrooms are all found in the genus Helvella. The mushrooms have a smooth to highly wrinkled stipe and a head that is cup-shaped to saddle-shaped to lobed to irregular.  Some elfin saddles have a small stipe and look like large cup mushrooms but have ribs that extend up the stipe and onto the base of the cup.  Other elfin saddles with cup-shaped heads have long stipes but are smooth.  There are also some with heads that really do look like a saddle for a horse.  Elvin saddles with lobed or irregular heads often have large, fluted (wrinkled to grooved) stipes.  Sometimes the stipes are so deeply grooved that there are holes going completely through the stipe.  I like to think of these mushrooms as mushroom ghosts.  To me, they look like shriveled-up, ghost versions of false morels.  Most elfin saddles come in various shades of brown, but...

#034: Mushroom Morphology: False Morels 10

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#034: Mushroom Morphology: False Morels

False Morels, despite their name, are easily distinguished from true morels simply by simply looking at them. If you are new to identifying false morels, there are three factors that set them apart from true morels: 1) false morels have a head that is wrinkled, rather than consisting of ridges and pits; 2) false morels have a head that is attached only at the top of the stipe; 3) and false morels have a stipe that is solid or filled with cottony material, rather than hollow.  If you’re unsure whether you have a false or a true morel, just slice the mushroom from top to bottom and look for the three factors above.  If you’re familiar with these two groups of mushrooms, then you can differentiate between them just by glancing at them.  I think that false morels look kind of like melted versions of morels: instead of the upright...

#033: Mushroom Morphology: Morels 8

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#033: Mushroom Morphology: Morels

It’s finally spring in North America! This has been a very long winter, but now the trees are starting to bloom.  To any mushroom enthusiast, this can only mean one thing: it’s the start of morel season!!  Keep your eyes peeled for these elusive mushrooms (especially under Tulip Poplars if you’re on the East Coast)!  What a morel looks like is a little hard to describe without a picture, so look at the one in the link below.  The head of the mushroom is the fertile surface and is defined by an exterior of irregular ridges and pits and a hollow interior.  This is often likened to a pinecone, though one with more color and less regularity.  The head is held above the ground by a stocky, hollow stipe.  The cumulative effect looks somewhat like a pinecone trophy.  There are four main species (or perhaps morphological groups) of morels in...

#032: Mushroom Morphology: Cup Fungi 2

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#032: Mushroom Morphology: Cup Fungi

The defining features of cup fungi include spores borne in asci, a smooth, upper spore-bearing surface, and a sterile surface underneath. Most cup fungi are saprobic, but it has been recently suggested that some of the large cup fungi may be at least partially mycorrhizal.  Although I am discussing cup fungi as a morphological type and these fungi are usually grouped together in identification keys, the term “cup fungi” covers a variety of different shapes.  So-called “cup fungi” can be flat to slightly turned up at the edges to bowl-shaped to goblet-shaped to vase-shaped to vase-shaped with a slit down the side to shaped like a bunch of cups squished together (accordion style).  Despite these various morphologies, this collection of mushrooms is differentiated into at most three groups: small cup fungi, large cup fungi, and ear fungi.  To get a better idea of what I describe below, I would recommend...

#031: Mushroom Morphology: Toothed Fungi 0

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#031: Mushroom Morphology: Toothed Fungi

As you might suspect, toothed fungi are defined by a hymenium (spore surface) that consists of spines or teeth. On larger mushrooms this ends up looking something like a bunch of hedgehog quills stuck onto the bottom of a mushroom.  These teeth are always oriented straight down, perpendicular to the ground.  They are also always tapered to a point.  These two characteristics ensure that falling spores do not land on the spines as they fall.  Aside from these two characteristics, the toothed fungi can form a variety of different shapes.  One of the most commonly eaten toothed fungi, Hydnum repandum (commonly known as the “Hedgehog Mushroom”), has a pileus and central stipe that is reminiscent of a classic “mushroom” or toadstool.  Others, like Steccherinum ochraceum, lie flat against their substrate (resupinate) and produce small teeth.  Sometimes resupinate fungi make teeth that are little more than bumps on their hymenium.  Some...

#030: Mushroom Morphology: Polypores 4

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#030: Mushroom Morphology: Polypores

One of the most commonly encountered mushroom morphologies is the polypore. Polypores are distinguished by a hymenium (spore-bearing surface) consisting of many, small pores.  Unlike in boletes, the pore surface of the polypores cannot be easily separated from the rest of the mushroom.  Polypores are a highly diverse group of mushrooms that come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  The polypores you are most likely to encounter, especially during the winter, are tough to woody mushrooms that can last throughout the winter.  Of these, the most common are the Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) and Trichaptum biforme.  Both of these are medium-sized wood decomposers often found covering fallen logs or stumps.  The tough fruiting bodies are annual, but can last for a year or more.  Other polypores that last through the winter produce large, woody conks on the side of living trees or fallen logs.  These mushrooms are perennial and...

#029: Mushroom Morphology: Chanterelles and Trumpets 3

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#029: Mushroom Morphology: Chanterelles and Trumpets

This morphological group of mushrooms is defined by the presence of blunt ridges rather than true gills. These ridges can vary from well-developed, gill-like structures to small wrinkles on a nearly smooth hymenium (spore-bearing surface).  Another defining feature of the chanterelles and trumpets is that the hymenium is always decurrent.  This means that the ridges run down the stipe/stem, often going all the way to the ground.  Chanterelles usually have a pileus (cap) that is flat to depressed in the center.  The mushroom that defines this morphology is Cantharellus cibarius, commonly known as “The Golden Chanterelle,” or simply “The Chanterelle.”   Trumpets, which are a subset of chanterelles, usually have a nearly smooth hymenium and are distinguished by an extremely depressed pileus, which results in the trumpet/vase/funnel shape of the fruiting bodies.  This morphology is best illustrated by Craterellus cornucopioides and its almost indistinguishable American relative Craterellus fallax.  Commonly known as...

#028: Mushroom Morphology: Boletes 6

Fungus Fact

#028: Mushroom Morphology: Boletes

The bolete morphology is one of two morphologies characterized by a hymenium (spore-bearing surface) covered with pores. Although boletes and polypores share this characteristic, the similarities end there.  In fact, they look different enough for them to be commonly referred to by to different names.  Boletes always share the following characteristics: the stipe (stalk) is central, the hymenium is on the underside of and is distinct from the pileus (cap), the pore surface easily separates from the pileus, the pore tubes are relatively long, and the flesh is fleshy to tough.  From above, boletes tend to look a lot like agarics.  However, bolete caps are often cracked or eaten away, making it possible for experienced mushroom hunters to tell boletes and agarics apart without picking them up.  Most boletes are mycorrhizal with trees, so boletes are usually found growing on the ground around specific trees.  Polypores never share all of...