fungi-and-a-funguy

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Fungi Fact 193: The western varnished conk(Ganoderma oregonense) is an edible bracket fungus in the genus Ganoderma, which is unusual as most species in Ganoderma have a wood-like texture and flavor, and are inedible. The western varnished conk can be found on the Northwestern coast of North America.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

hi raven jumping into your asks is there a fun fact about fungi I should be aware of

oh i have SO MANY fun fact about fungi that i could share with you, but i'll try to give you a little highlights reel of some of my favorites!

fungi are basically the only organisms that can actually digest lignin (a component of woody-plants', i.e. trees', cell walls that make them hard). some bacteria can kind of do it, but only fungi get close to being good at it. my research focuses on this!

the technical term for mushrooms is "fruiting body" because the actual vegetative structure (the main part) is entirely underground! this is called the mycelium, and it connects a network of fruiting bodies and symbiotic plants in a what is colloquially called the "wood wide web"

some mushrooms can produce a sticky latex colloquially termed "milk" (hence the name of these mushrooms--the milk caps!). this latex can be neon-colored (red, yellow, white, and even blue!), may be toxic in some cases, and have a variety of different smells! another species of mushroom that produces latex but isn't a milk cap is commonly known as the bleeding tooth fungus, (Hydnellum peckii) and it is my favorite mushroom ever!

mushrooms range from being stinky to smelling really good! Lactarius volumis produces a latex that smells like rotten fish, there's another that's literally described as smelling like semen, one my professor claims smells like peanut butter (i think it smells like corn chips), and one that i swear to god smells like windex

those are just a few of my favorite fun facts about fungi! sorry that this is probably a much longer response than you might've wanted, but thanks for giving me the opportunity to yap about my favorite little guys ever :3

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Fungi Fact 192: "North American species of Mycena." is a monograph(big book about 1 specific topic) about Mycena species in North America, it was written in 1947 by the mycologist Alexander H. Smith.

It is available online for free here: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fung1tc/AGK0806.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Fungi Fact 191: Mycena is a genus of Fungi with approximately 500 species, a large amount of these species smell like chlorine or radishes. Mycena species are saprotrophic(decomposers).

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Fungi Fact 190: The Zambian slender Caesar(Amanita zambiana) is an edible mushroom found in Africa, when it is in season it significantly contributes to food security in Zimbabwe. The mushroom is mycorrhizal(forms symbiotic relationships with plants for food, usually mutualistic(++)), usually forming mycorrhizal networks with trees from the Brachystegia genus.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 189: Grisette(Amanita vaginata) and tawny grisette(Amanita fulva) both used to be in the genus Amanitopsis because they both lack annuli(the ring thing on the stipe(stem), remnant of partial veil), but it was later decided that this difference was not significant enough to justify putting them in a separate genus.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 188: The gunpowder amanita(Amanita onusta) is a mushroom with a lot of cone/pyramid-like warts, somewhat resembling tiny obelisks up close, also the mushroom smells like bleaching powder(Calcium hypochlorite).

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 187: Grisette(Amanita vaginata) is an edible mushroom in the Amanita(the genus that death caps and destroying angels belong to) genus, however it could be easily mistaken for some poisonous species in the same genus. Many species in the Amanita genus have an annulus(ring thing on the stipe(stem), remnant of a partial veil), however, grisette lacks an annulus.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 186: The yellow ringless amanita(Amanita sinicoflava) is a mushroom with an olive-yellow pileus(cap). Its species name, sinicoflava, means Chinese yellow, which refers to the color of its pileus.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 185: The parasitic asterophora(Asterophora parasitica) mushroom grows as a parasite of other mushrooms, specifically, mushrooms from the genera(plural of genus) Lactarius and Russula.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 184: The orange mycena(Mycena leaiana) is a mushroom with a bright orange cap, it is saprotrophic(it is a decomposer). Its orange color comes from leainafulvene, a pigment produced by the mushroom. Leainafulvene is weakly antibiotic towards Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, it is also noticeably cytotoxic towards tumors(kills cancer and other abnormal growths), but it also has mutagenic properties(messes with your DNA, which could cause cancer)

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 183: The yellow knight(Tricholoma equestre(or flavovirens)) is a mushroom that is commonly eaten, and can be easily found worldwide, but is particularly common in France and Central Portugal. The mushroom is thought to be edible, but there are reports of poisonings caused by it, and there is some research that shows it is poisonous, but this research is disputed.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 182: The wood woolly-foot(Collybiopsis peronata) mushroom can be commonly found in woodland areas in Europe. It has no annulus(the ring thing on the stipe(stem)) or any other evidence of a veil. Its edibility is somewhat unclear, but it is generally regarded as inedible.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 181: The scaly wood mushroom(Agaricus sylvaticus(or silvaticus)) is a mushroom that is edible when cooked, but resembles inedible species. It was first referred to as Agaricus silvaticus by the mycologist Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774, which might not sound like super a long time ago, but that was 195 years before fungi were considered to be their own kingdom(fungi became their own kingdom in 1969), and the fact that it has kept the same scientific name throughout all that time is impressive.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 180: The frosty bonnet(Mycena adscendens) is a mushroom with a thin, hollow stipe(stem). The mushroom appears to be dusted in sugar or frost, but these particles are actually remnants of the partial veil(temporary structure that protects the hymenium(spore bearing surface, usually gills)).

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 179: The East Asian death cap(Amanita subjunquillea) is closely related to the death cap(Amanita phalloides), they also share similar toxic effects. There is an all white variant of the East Asian death cap that can be found in Southwest China, Japan, and Northern India.

[fungi-and-a-funguy]

Daily Fungi Fact 178: The eternal light mushroom(Mycena luxaeterna)'s stipe(stem) is long, thin, and hollow, due to this it is fragile, its stipe is also covered in a thick gel. The stipe is also bioluminescent(when living stuff glows), giving off a yellow-green light constantly. It can only be found in a small area of the Atlantic Rainforest, this area is located in São Paulo, Brazil.