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.
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.
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.”
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”...
This edible, toothed mushroom looks like a frozen waterfall sprouting out of the side of a tree. Aside from its unique appearance, the mushroom is notable for its putative ability to help the nervous system regenerate.
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.
If you need a mushroom centerpiece for your Halloween party, then this is it. This large mushroom has a bulbous, bright red, reticulated base that easily invokes demonic fires (hence its common and scientific names). As a bonus, Satan’s Bolete has a fetid odor – quite fitting, don’t you think? Unfortunately, this mushroom is rather rare.
Noting what decorations a bolete has on its stem can be very helpful in identifying that bolete. One type of decoration you may find on a bolete’s stipe is reticulation. Reticulation is a net-like pattern of ridges that extend partially or all the way down the stipe. These ridges are actually an extension of the pore surface, much like decurrent gills in agarics. The reticulum does produce spores, but is not as efficient at discharging spores because it is oriented parallel to the ground. Heimioporus betula is hands-down the best example of reticulation in any bolote.
This is without a doubt the strangest-looking puffball-like mushroom in North America. It starts out looking like the inside of an oddly-colored egg and ends up resembling a little, red balloon glued to the top of a tiny termite mound. This description really doesn’t do the mushroom justice, so please do an image search for “Calostoma cinnabarinum” to see what the mushroom actually looks like.
This is one of the strangest fungi you can find in North America. Like other jelly fungi, it is characterized by its squishy, gelatinous texture. Most jelly fungi have a fairly disorganized, globular structure. However, Pseudohydnum gelatinosum has a distinct stipe, pileus, and spore surface. In fact, its spores are borne on teeth, much like the unrelated Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum repandum)!
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