Lumbricus terrestris is a large, reddish worm species thought to be native to Western Europe, now widely distributed around the world, particularly in temperate to mild boreal climates. In some areas where it is an introduced species, some people consider it to be a significant pest for out-competing native worms. It has an odd habit of copulating on the surface at night, making it more visible than most other earthworms.
A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber. In addition to Tuber, many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, Leucangium, and over a hundred others. These genera belong to the class Pezizomycetes and the Pezizales order. Several truffle-like basidiomycetes are excluded from Pezizales, including Rhizopogon and Glomus. Truffles are ectomycorrhizal fungi, so are usually found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. These fungi have significant ecological roles in nutrient cycling and drought tolerance.
Tribulus terrestris is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to grow in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive. It is native to warm temperate and tropical regions in southern Eurasia and Africa. It has been unintentionally introduced to North America and Australia. An aggressive and hardy invasive species, T. terrestris is widely known as a noxious weed because of its small woody fruit – the bur – having long sharp and strong spines which easily penetrate surfaces such as the bare feet or thin shoes of crop workers and other pedestrians, the rubber of bicycle tires, and the mouths and skin of grazing animals.
The Clavariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Collectively, they are commonly known as coral fungi due to their resemblance to aquatic coral, although other vernacular names including antler fungi, finger fungi, worm mold, and spaghetti mushroom are sometimes used for similar reasons.
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping. Fruit bodies (mushrooms) are yellow–orange, with a funnel-shaped cap up to 8 cm across that has a felt-like surface. The thin, often forked gills on the underside of the cap run partway down the length of the otherwise smooth stipe. Reports on the mushroom's edibility vary – it can serve as food, though not a particularly flavorful one, or it can be slightly poisonous.
The Hygrophoropsidaceae are a family of mushrooms that are gilled in appearance but lie within the Boletales. The family contains 18 species within two genera: Leucogyrophana and Hygrophoropsis, with the best-known member being the "false chanterelle", Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca. Hygrophoropsidaceae was circumscribed by French mycologist Robert Kühner in 1980, with Hygrophoropsis as the type genus. Unlike most members of the Boletales, Hygrophoropsidaceae species are saprophytic wood-rotting fungi that cause brown rot in their hosts. The genera Austropaxillus and Tapinella, once placed in this family, are now classified in the Serpulaceae and Tapinellaceae, respectively.
The Morchellaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi in the order Pezizales. According to a standard reference work, the family has contained at least 49 species distributed among 4 genera, but in 2012, 5 genera producing the sequestrate and hypogeous ascoma were added. The best-known members are the highly regarded and commercially picked true morels of the genus Morchella, the thimble morels of the genus Verpa, and a genus of cup-shaped fungi Disciotis. The remaining four genera produce the sequestrate fruit bodies.
The Helvellaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi, the best-known members of which are the elfin saddles of the genus Helvella. Originally erected by Elias Magnus Fries in 1823 as Elvellacei, it contained many genera. Several of these, such as Gyromitra and Discina, have been found to be more distantly related in a molecular study of ribosomal DNA by mycologist Kerry O'Donnell in 1997, leaving a much smaller core clade now redefined as Helvellaceae. Instead, this narrowly defined group is most closely related to the true truffles of the Tuberaceae. Although the Dictionary of the Fungi considered the Helvellaceae to contain six genera and 63 species, genetic analysis has shown that Leucangium, previously classified in this family, is more closely related to the Morchellaceae.
The Albatrellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Russulales. The family contains 9 genera and more than 45 species.
Atheliaceae is a family of corticioid fungi placed under the monotypic order Atheliales. Both the order and the family were described by Walter Jülich in 1981. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 20 genera and approximately 100 species. However, many genera formerly considered to belong in the Atheliaceae have since been moved to other families, including Amylocorticiaceae, Albatrellaceae, and Hygrophoraceae. Despite being a relatively small group with inconspicuous forms, Atheliaceae members show great diversity in life strategies and are widespread in distribution. Additionally, being a group strictly composed of corticioid fungi, they may also provide insights on the evolution of fruiting body forms in basidiomycetes.
Rhizopogonaceae are a family of fungi in the order Boletales. The family, first named and described by botanists Ernst Albert Gäumann and Carroll William Dodge in 1928, contains 2 genera and 151 species. The genus Fevansia, formerly thought to belong in the Rhizopogonaceae, was found to belong in the Albatrellaceae in a molecular phylogenetics study.
Hygrophoropsis is a genus of gilled fungi in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It was circumscribed in 1888 to contain the type species, H. aurantiaca, a widespread fungus that, based on its appearance, has been affiliated with Cantharellus, Clitocybe, and Paxillus. Modern molecular phylogenetic analysis shows that the genus belongs to the suborder Coniophorineae of the order Boletales.
Thelephora is a genus of fungi in the family Thelephoraceae. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains about 50 species. Fruit bodies of species are leathery, usually brownish at maturity, and range in shape from coral-like tufts to having distinct caps. Almost all species in the genus are thought to be inedible, but Thelephora ganbajun is a gourmet fungus in Yunnan province of southwest China.
Tomentella is a genus of corticioid fungi in the family Thelephoraceae. The genus is ectomycorrhizal, and widespread, with about 80 species according to a 2008 estimate, although many new species have since been described. Tomentella was circumscribed by French mycologist Narcisse Théophile Patouillard in 1887.
Fevansia is a fungal genus in the family Albatrellaceae. A monotypic genus, it contains the single rare truffle-like species Fevansia aurantiaca, found in old-growth forests of Oregon. The name Fevansia honors Frank Evans of the North American Truffling Society, who collected the holotype specimen. Aurantiaca is Latin for "pale orange", referring to the color of the peridium.
Leucangium is a genus of ascomycete fungi. The genus was circumscribed by French mycologist Lucien Quélet in 1883. Although classified in the Helvellaceae in the past, molecular analysis indicates it is closely related to the genus Fischerula and Imaia, and therefore must be placed in the Morchellaceae. The genus includes two species, Leucangium ophthalmosporum Quél. and L. carthusianum Paol., and both of them produce sequestrate ascoma, globose to ellipsoidal ascus, and dark olive-colored to grayish green, smooth, fusiform ascospores.
Endogone is a genus of fungi in the family Endogonaceae of the class Zygomycota. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and contains about 20 species.
Discinella terrestris is a species of fungus in the family Helotiaceae. It was first described as Helotium terrestre by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome in 1882, from collections made in Brisbane. R.W.G. Dennis transferred it to the genus Discinella in 1958.
Leucogaster is a fungal genus in the family Albatrellaceae. The genus, widespread in northern temperate regions, contains about 20 truffle-like species. Some, such as L. rubescens, are edible.
