What is a Mushroom?
A mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungus, it is the part of the fungus that generally appears above ground and contains the spores. The vegetative part of the fungus, the mycelium, is composed of many tiny threads called hyphae that extract nutrients from the substrate. The fungal hyphae make up by far the largest part of the fungus but it is also the part we generally don't ever see until we see a rotting log that has been recently broken apart by a bear or other animal digging for grubs and then you see hundreds of tiny white threads throughout the log, this is the fungal hyphae.
Mushrooms are composed of several parts:
Cap: The cap is the most conspicuous part of the mushrooms, caps may be convex, bell shaped, or conical; the tops may be flat, sunken or knobbed, surfaces may be smooth, velvety or fibrous or hairy, and the tops may have raised scales, flat scales or patches (bumps). They may also be cup shaped or vase shaped, shelf - like, coral like, and more! Margin may be wavy, smooth, straight, torn, or upturned. Some species have veil remnants hanging along their margins. Caps may be moist, sticky, dry or slimy, surface may be powdery, granular, with radial lines, hairs or scales. The flesh of the cap is what lies beneath the outer surface; it may be thick or thin, soft or tough, white or pigmented.
Gills: Mushrooms often contain Gills - these are platelike structures found on the underside of caps, they radiate out fromt he stalk and produce the spores. They may be attached to the stalk directly at a 90 degree angle (adnate) or obliquely at a 45 degree angle (adnexed), others are notched just short of where attached to the stalk. Gills may pull away from the gills as it grows (receding gills). Some gills may not be attached to the stalk at all (free gills). Slice in half longitudinally to observe gill attachment. Gills may be crowded to distant and may be fringed, toothed or coloured. Many genera and species however do not contain gills.
Stalk: Most gilled mushrooms have a stalk, usually located at the center of the cap, but may be off-center or absent (stalkless) where it is often found growing on wood. Stalks may be even in shape from tip to tip, or they may be club shaped (fatter on bottom), or bulbous, they may even taper to a root or have several runners (rhizomorphs) growing out of it. Stalk surface may be smooth, dotted, lined, scaly, powdery or hairy; they may be hollow, solid, or filled with cottony tissue. Many have a ring or partial veil left on the stalk (veiled mushrooms), while others may have a cup or bits of tissue around the stalk base.
Veils: Veils are membranes that protect either the entire immature mushroom or the immature gills. When the mushrooms grows he membrane ruptures leaving traces of it on the cap or stalk. Universal veils cover the entire mushroom and leave remnants on the cap or around the base. Partial veils protect the gills and leave remnants on cap or stalk, often as a ring or skirt around the stalk. The veil may be single or double layered.
Reproduction: Mushrooms produce millions of spores , microscopic reproductive units. When a spore germinates it developes into many hyphae (threadlike strands), or collectively mycelium. When two genetically compatible mycelium come into contact they form a mycelium with 2 nuclei and forms the vegetative portion of the fungus that extracts nutrients. When the conditions are just right, in a process not yet understood, the mycelium develops into a knot of hyphal tissue to form immature fruiting bodies which then develop into mushrooms which then disperse spores and repeat the cycle. Different genera and species each have variations in this reproductive cyle that are characteristic of that genera.
Mushrooms Covered on This Site:
Small Fragile Gilled Mushrooms - Alcohol Inky Cap (Coprinus atramentarius), Bitter Pholiota (Pholiota astragalina), Bleeding Mycena (Mycena haematopus), Western Blue Mycena (Mycena amicta), Pink Mycena (Mycena pura), Spotted Mycena (Mycena maculata), Dispersed Nematoloma (Naematoloma dispersum), Sulfur Tuft (Naematoloma fasciculare), Fringed Tubaria (Tubaria furfuracea), Witches' Hat (Hygrophorus conicus), Conifer Psilocybe (Psilocybe pelliculosa)
Mushrooms With Attached Gills - Emetic Russula (Russula ematica), Variable Russula (Russula variata), Sticky Gray Trich (Tricholoma portentosum), Decorated Mop (Tricholomopsis decora), Fragrant Clitocybe (Clitocybe suaveolens), Smoky Brown Clitocybe (Clitocybe avellaneialba), Larch Waxy Cap (Hygrophorus speciosus), Silvery Violet Cort (Cortinarius alboviolaceus) Early Spring Entoloma (Entoloma vernum), Amethyst Laccaria (Laccaria amethystea), White Marasmius (Marasmius albuscorticis), Pine Mushroom Tricholoma magnivelare
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children
In Wilderness is the preservation of the World. - Henry David Thoreau
The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives. - Chinese Proverb
Mushrooms of BC
Lyrae has a BSc in Environmental Sciences and studies biological diversity in BC, she is also the founder of Lyrae's Naturals, manufacturer of a wide range of all natural body and bath products, please visit her business website below:
