Mushroom ID 101 What is a Mushroom? • Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of certain fungi - the apple, not the tree. • Classified in the Charlotte Caplan Fungi kingdom Asheville Mushroom Club (Mycota) March 2018 What We’ll Do Today Why are Mushrooms like Icebergs? • How mushrooms grow • Because you only see a small part of what’s there • Basic classification of macrofungi • Most of the fungus is an underground mycelium • Made up of tiny strands of tissue – hyphae • Features used to identify mushrooms • Looking like this: • Some common families of mushrooms • Common poisonous mushrooms • Where to find more information Why are Fungi Important? Fungi at work! • They are nature’s recyclers – creating soil for Only fungi can digest the tough plant growth lignins in wood and return the carbon and other elements to • Vital to all ecosystems: no fungi – no soil, no the soil. plants, no animals • Most trees and plants rely on fungal mycelium around their roots or in their tissues • Some mushrooms are edible or medicinal • Some fungi can clean up pollution • They are beautiful and endlessly varied Mature mushroom (fruiting body) Spores (~1/100th mm) Mushroom Categories Gills Fungi are classified first by way they grow and disperse their Fungal Life spores. Two main groups (phyla): Ring Cycle • Basidiomycetes produce spores at the tip of specialized Spore germination cells (basidia), usually on the underside of the fruiting body, which drop by gravity Part of mycelium • Ascomycetes produce spores inside tube-like cells (asci) on the outer surface and are forcibly ejected up & out There are other phyla, but they are mostly microscopic. Mycelium Mushroom primordia Basidiomycete Spore Production Ascomycete Spore Production • How are the spores spread? Spore Dispersal Methods Mushroom names l Wind • Scientific (Latin): Genus + species e.g. Strobilomyces strobilaceus l Impact (by raindrops or animals) l Being eaten by • Common name: · Mammals “Old Man of the Woods” · Insects · Other invertebrates l Jet propulsion – yes! l Some combination of the above Types of mushrooms – not just Identification - Where to Begin? cap & stalk • Over 10,000 mushroom species in the US • About 250 are edible • Many are hard to identify, requiring years of experience, expensive reference books and a microscope Some mushrooms haven't even been named yet! “Shelf” Mushrooms Other Shapes: Puffballs A B A. Hemlock Varnish Shelf B. Chicken of the Woods C. Hexagonal-pored Polypore Lycoperdon molle - Soft Puffball Calvaita gigantea - Giant Puffball D. Turkey Tail C DD and more .. Identifying “Cap & Stem” Mushrooms Step one: Look under the cap: what does the spore-bearing surface look like? Morchella esculentoides – A) Gills Yellow Morel B) Pores C) Teeth D) Folds E) Smooth Leotia viscosa - Green Jelly Mutinus caninus – Dog Babies Stinkhorn Clav aria zollingeri – Purple Coral Gill Features Widely spaced Moderately spaced (this one also produces milky latex when cut) Closely spaced Crowded (this one also bruises green) Look under the Cap – 2. Pores How Gills are Attached to the Stem Spores form on the inner surface of tightly packed vertical tubes under the cap (e.g. Boletus, Suillus, Polyporus) 0 Boletus frostii Polyporus squamosus Frost’s Bolete Dryad’s Saddle Look under the Cap – 3. Teeth Look under the Cap – 4. Folds Spores form on the outside of spines that hang The Chanterelle family have a down under the cap (Hydnum, Sarcodon) folded or wrinkled spore- bearing surface – not true gills – or smooth Cantharellus infundibuliformis (Funnel-shaped Chanterelle) Hydnum repandum Cantharellus lateritius (The Hedgehog) (Smooth Chanterelle) Martin Livezey Step 2: Look for Rings and Veils Then look at other features • Is there a ring of tissue on the upper stalk l Rings & veils l Spore color (evidence of a “partial veil”) l Texture & “feel” • Are there ridges or or a cup-like sac (a volva) l Smell & taste around the base of the stalk (evidence of a l Habitat “universal veil”)? l Size • Are there patches or warts on the cap that can be l Cap color l Season rubbed off (more evidence of a universal veil)? Rings & Veils Some Genera with Rings on Stem Amanita Agaricus Lepiota Suillus Another type of veil Veils can Vanish The genus Cortinarius: all species have a cobweb-like partial veil, soon lost. Deadly galerina – Galerina marginata © Fred Stevens Common Psathyrella – Cortinarius traganus Psathyrella Candolleana Step 3 – Spore Color • Very important for identification • Often hard to tell in the field • Gill color may provide a clue • Learn to make a spore print Step 4 - Texture Use black paper for white spores “Corky” “Leathery” “Fibrous” Boletes give spore prints too “Firm” “Brittle” Ascomycetes are messy “Delicate” Morels Carbon Balls Some Important Mushroom Other Features Families • Habitat – where it’s growing • Amanita • Substrate – what it’s growing on • Russula • Smell & taste • Lactarius • Cap & stem surfaces • Boletes • Color • Polypores • Season Amanita Family Volva – evidence of a “universal veil” • Tissue around entire button • Ruptured by the growing mushroom • Leaves a sac or just a collar-like ring on base of stem • May leave patches on cap • All Amanitas have a volva – very few other mushrooms do. Amanita jacksonii “Eastern Caesar’s Mushroom” Amanita bisporigera “Destroying Angel” More Common Amanitas Is this an Amanita? The Blusher - Amanita ameri-rubescens Coker’s Amanita – A. cokeri Tawny Grisette – Amanita fulva Yellow Patches – A. Flavoconia Lactarius: “Milk Caps” • Features like Russulas • Plus - exude milky latex when cut • Latex often “hot” tasting Lactarius peckii (Peck’s Milk Cap) Glenn Esterson Tylopilus plumbeoviolaceus Boletes: Mushrooms with pores (Violet Bolete) • Boletes are fleshy mushrooms Common Boletes with tubes & pores under the cap • Tubes easily separated from cap • Grow on the ground (not wood) • One family – many genera Boletus bicolor Suillus pictus Two-colored Bolete Tylopilus felleus Pain ted Bolete (Bitter Bolete) Other Bolete Features Some change color when bruised Stem patterns: - Network (reticulation - Scales (scabers) - Dots Gyroporus cyanescens Polypores Have at least two out of three features: • Pores under cap Trametes versicolor – Turkey Tail • Grow on wood Polyporus varius – Elegant Polypore • Tough, corky or leathery texture One family, many genera Bondarzewia berkeleyi – Ganoderma tsugae – Hemlock varnish shelf Berkeley’s Polypore Some of the Commonest Deadly Poisonous Mushrooms: Poisonous Mushrooms Amanitas • Destroying Angel & other Amanitas • Jack o’Lantern • Yellow Stainer • Green-spored Lepiota • Earth Ball Amanita virosa: • Cortinarius species Destroying Angel • Deadly Galerina • False morel Amanita phalloides Death Cap More Amanitas: Do Not Eat!! Beware of Jack O’ Lantern! Amanita cokeri Coker’s Amanita Chanterelle (cantharellus sp.) l Folds, not gills l Single or small clusters l On ground Edible Amanita rubescens The Blusher Jack O’ Lantern (Omphalous illudens) l True gills Amanita muscaria l On wood or buried roots Poisonous Fly Agaric l Grows in big clusters (two color variants) Agaricus Xanthoderma The Yellow Stainer A. campestris A. xanthodermis Field Mushroom The Yellow Stainer Edible Poisonous Cortinarius Scleroderma citrinum Common Earth Ball Cortinarius speciossimus Deadly Rusty spores Web-like veil Cortinarius iodes Gemmed Puffball – Spotted Cort - not Lycoperdon perlatum poisonous, not Poisonous Edible recommended Field Guides Want to know more? • Buy some field guides • Lots to choose from • Join a club • Buy more than one • Use the web - carefully • Check the area covered Just out: A Field Guide to Mushrooms of the Carolinas Bessette, Bessette & Hopping .