Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: russula

mushrooms in the agaric genus Russula

Inocybe rimosa 0

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2017 Mycorrhizal Mushroom Map:
1 Year, 1 Yard, 499 Mushrooms

In October of 2016, I stepped out into my back yard and found it carpeted with medium-sized brown mushrooms. Apparently, I had nothing better to do that day than attempt to identify these boring nondescript mushrooms, so I sat down with a field guide and managed to key them out to Inocybe rimosa. This was a surprising result; most of the boring brown mushrooms that pop up in yards are saprobic, but Inocybe is a mycorrhizal genus. Since I. rimosa is mycorrhizal, there is only a very limited area in my yard that it can grow. This made me wonder, “Will it grow in the same place next year?” There was only one way to answer that question: keep track of where mushrooms appear in my yard. I logged all 227 I. rimosa mushrooms and waited eagerly for 2017, when I would map all the mycorrhizal mushrooms that appeared.

Mycena leaiana 4

Fungus Fact

#027: Gilled Mushrooms (Agarics)

The gilled mushrooms, informally referred to as ‘agarics,’ are the type of mushroom with which we are most familiar. The most common edible mushrooms (white/button/portabella mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms), Amanita muscaria – the most recognizable mushroom in the world and the inspiration for almost all mushroom art – and the ‘magic mushrooms’ are all gilled mushrooms. All these mushrooms share one feature: vertical plates of spore-producing tissue stacked under a sterile cap.

Russula mariae 3

Fungus Fact

#175: The Genus Russula

Russula is my favorite mushroom genus. This may be surprising to mushroom hunters because Russula mushrooms are generally ignored when foraging. However, I like them because they are very easy to identify and are genetically distinct from most other gilled mushrooms. Fungi in the genus Russula produce umbrella-like gilled mushrooms with crumbly flesh that do not exude liquid when injured.

#133: Russula virescens species group 3

Fungus Fact

#133: Russula virescens species group

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.