Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: mushroom

Morchella angusticeps 2

Fungus Fact

#140: Morchella angusticeps, the Black Morel of Eastern North America

Black morels can be distinguished from yellow morels by their dark ridges and light pits. Other morels have light ridges with darker (or only slightly darker) pits.  Morchella angusticeps is the most widespread black morel in North America.  It can be found almost anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, although it is not as common as yellow morels (see FFF#086 and FFF#226).  There are a handful of black morel species, but you can easily identify M. angusticeps because it is the only one in eastern North America that does not grow in burn sites or on wood.

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Fungus Fact

#226: Tulip Morels

Eastern North America has two general forms of yellow morels: large and small.  Large morels (see FFF#086) typically grow up to 22cm when fully grown, whereas the smaller versions grow up to only 12.5cm tall.  But size isn’t the only difference; the smaller yellow morels tend to be thinner in relation to their height and have long vertical pits.  The larger morels typically look stouter and have more random pits.  Small morels are commonly known as “Tulip Morels” because of their association with tulip trees.  Tulip morels comprise two species that are nearly indistinguishable: Morchella diminutiva and M. sceptriformis.

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Fungus Fact

#225: Radulodon copelandii, The Asian Beauty

Have you seen Radulodon copelandii?  If you live in the Boston, New York, Pittsburg, or Washington DC areas, you probably have.  If you live elsewhere on the East Coast of North America, get ready to.  R. copelandii is a distinctive fungus that produces a mat of whitish teeth along the surface of recently dead broadleaf trees, usually oaks.  The mushroom recently arrived on the continent from Asia, which gives the mushroom its common name, “Asian Beauty.”  The Japanese names for the mushroom are “Sagari haritaki” and “hanging needle mushroom.”  R. copelandii is currently spreading in eastern North America and is quickly becoming one of the most common mushrooms within its range.  This is concerning, so the species warrants further study and monitoring – hopefully by people like you!

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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!”

Aleurodiscus oakesii 0

Fungus Fact

#020: Aleurodiscus oakesii, Smooth Patch Disease

Aleurodiscus oakesii is an unusual mushroom that grows on living trees but isn’t considered a parasite. The fungus decomposes the outer layer of hardwood tree bark. This doesn’t harm the bark but does cause smooth patches (thus the name “Smooth Patch Disease”). The mushrooms themselves appear occasionally inside these smooth patches. Each mushroom is a small tan roughly circular crust fungus, so some other common names for the fungus include: “Oak Parchment,” “Hop Hornbeam Disc,” and “Oake’s Crust.” These nondescript mushrooms are easier to identify by their ecology than morphology.  Additionally, you can always see the smooth patches, but the mushrooms are more elusive.  Despite regularly finding smooth patches, it took me four years to find the actual mushrooms.

Amanita amerirubescens 0

Fungus Fact

#152: Amanita rubescens Group, The Blushers

Amanita rubescens (and its close relatives) could be considered the fugu (pufferfish) of the mushroom world: both are edible but careless mistakes can be deadly. Although A. rubescens is considered edible and many people eat it, most people avoid the mushroom because it is easily confused with some deadly poisonous amanitas. A. rubescens slowly stains pinkish when injured, earning it the nickname “The Blusher.” Other than this distinctive staining reaction, the mushroom looks a lot like other species of Amanita; the Blusher is a tannish umbrella-shaped agaric with warts on the cap and a ring on the stalk.

B. frostii 0

Fungus Fact

#220: Butyriboletus frostii

Boletes are some of the most beautiful mushrooms; their striking color combinations and distinctive textures make the entire group extremely photogenic. One of my favorite boletes to photograph is Butyriboletus frostii, commonly known as the “Candy Apple Bolete” or “Frost’s Bolete.” This mushroom is bright red with yellow and orange layered underneath and has a prominently reticulated stipe. To capture all the beauty of B. frostii, you need to photograph it when it’s young and its red pores are still covered with golden droplets. You may know this mushroom under a different name; when I first learned this mushroom way back in 2015, it was called Boletus frostii. Then its name changed to Exsudoporus frostii before changing again to Butyriboletus frostii, which is the correct name as of this writing in July 2018.

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).