A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstool generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The Russulaceae are a diverse family of fungi in the order Russulales, with roughly 1,900 known species and a worldwide distribution. They comprise the brittlegills and the milk-caps, well-known mushroom-forming fungi that include some edible species. These gilled mushrooms are characterised by the brittle flesh of their fruitbodies.
Hypomyces lactifluorum, the lobster mushroom, contrary to its common name, is neither a mushroom nor a crustacean, but rather a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on certain species of mushrooms, turning them a reddish orange color that resembles the outer shell of a cooked lobster.
The blusher is the common name for several closely related species of the genus Amanita. A. rubescens, or the blushing amanita, is found in Europe and eastern North America, and A. novinupta, also known as the new bride blushing amanita, is found in western North America. Both their scientific and common names are derived from the propensity of their flesh to turn pink upon bruising or cutting.
Lactarius deterrimus, also known as false saffron milkcap or orange milkcap, is a species of fungus in the family Russulaceae. The fungus produces medium-sized fruit bodies (mushrooms) with orangish caps up to 12 centimetres wide that develop green spots in old age or if injured. Its orange-coloured latex stains maroon within 30 minutes. Lactarius deterrimus is a mycorrhizal fungus that associates with Norway spruce and bearberry. The species is distributed in Europe, but has also found in parts of Asia. A visually similar species in the United States and Mexico is not closely related to the European species. Fruit bodies appear between late June and November, usually in spruce forests. Although the fungus is edible—like all Lactarius mushrooms from the section Deliciosi—its taste is often bitter, and it is not highly valued. The fruit bodies are used as source of food for the larvae of several insect species. Lactarius deterrimus can be distinguished from similar Lactarius species by difference in the mycorrhizal host or latex colour.
Russula is a very large genus composed of around 750 worldwide species of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored – making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushroom collectors. Their distinguishing characteristics include usually brightly coloured caps, a white to dark yellow spore print, brittle, attached gills, an absence of latex, and absence of partial veil or volva tissue on the stem. Microscopically, the genus is characterised by the amyloid ornamented spores and flesh (trama) composed of spherocysts. Members of the related genus Lactarius have similar characteristics but emit a milky latex when their gills are broken. The genus was described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1796.
Chalciporus piperatus, commonly known as the peppery bolete, is a small pored mushroom of the family Boletaceae found in mixed woodland in Europe and North America. It has been recorded under introduced trees in Brazil, and has become naturalised in Tasmania and spread under native Nothofagus cunninghamii trees. A small bolete, the fruit body has a 1.6–9 cm orange-fawn cap with cinnamon to brown pores underneath, and a 4–9.5 cm high by 0.6–1.2 cm thick stipe. The flesh has a very peppery taste. The rare variety hypochryseus, found only in Europe, has yellow pores and tubes.
Xerocomellus chrysenteron, formerly known as Boletus chrysenteron or Xerocomus chrysenteron, is a small, edible, wild mushroom in the family Boletaceae. These mushrooms have tubes and pores instead of gills beneath their caps. It is commonly known as the red cracking bolete.
Helvella lacunosa, known as the slate grey saddle or fluted black elfin saddle in North America, simply as the elfin saddle in Britain, is an ascomycete fungus of the family Helvellaceae. It is one of the most common species in the genus Helvella. The mushroom is readily identified by its irregularly shaped grey cap, fluted stem, and fuzzy undersurfaces. It is usually found in Eastern North America and in Europe, near deciduous and coniferous trees in summer and autumn.
Russula brevipes is a species of mushroom commonly known as the short-stemmed russula or the stubby brittlegill. It is widespread in North America, and was reported from Pakistan in 2006. The fungus grows in a mycorrhizal association with trees from several genera, including fir, spruce, Douglas-fir, and hemlock. Fruit bodies are white and large, with convex to funnel-shaped caps measuring 7–30 cm (3–12 in) wide set atop a thick stipe up to 8 cm (3 in) long. The gills on the cap underside are closely spaced and sometimes have a faint bluish tint. Spores are roughly spherical, and have a network-like surface dotted with warts.
Lactifluus piperatus, commonly known as the blancaccio, is a semi-edible basidiomycete fungus of the genus Lactifluus. Despite being edible, it is not recommended by some because of its poor taste, though can be used as seasoning when dried. The fruiting body is a creamy-white mushroom which is funnel-shaped when mature, with exceptionally crowded gills. It bleeds a whitish peppery-tasting milk when cut. Widely distributed across Europe and eastern North America, Lactifluus piperatus has been accidentally introduced to Australia. Mycorrhizal, it forms a symbiotic relationship with various species of deciduous tree, including beech, and hazel, and fruiting bodies are found on the forest floor in deciduous woodland.
Xerocomellus zelleri, commonly known as Zeller's bolete, is an edible species of mushroom in the family Boletaceae. First described scientifically by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1912, the species has been juggled by various authors to several genera, including Boletus, Boletellus, and Xerocomus. Found solely in western North America from British Columbia south to Mexico, the fruit bodies are distinguished by their dark reddish brown to nearly black caps with uneven surfaces, the yellow pores on the underside of the caps, and the red-streaked yellow stems. The fungus grows in summer and autumn on the ground, often in Douglas fir forests or on their margins. The development of the fruit bodies is gymnocarpic, meaning that the hymenium appears and develops to maturity in an exposed state, not enclosed by any protective membrane.
Dendrocollybia is a fungal genus in the family Tricholomataceae of the order Agaricales. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Dendrocollybia racemosa, commonly known as the branched collybia or the branched shanklet. The somewhat rare species is found in the Northern Hemisphere, including the Pacific Northwest region of western North America, and Europe, where it is included in several Regional Red Lists. It usually grows on the decaying fruit bodies of other agarics—such as Lactarius and Russula—although the host mushrooms may be decayed to the point of being difficult to recognize.
Hypomyces chrysospermus, the bolete eater, is a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on bolete mushrooms, turning the afflicted host a whitish, golden yellow, or tan color. It is found in Eurasia and North America, as well as southwest Western Australia.
Amanita exitialis, also known as the Guangzhou destroying angel, is a mushroom of the large genus Amanita. It is distributed in eastern Asia, and probably also in India where it has been misidentified as A. verna. Deadly poisonous, it is a member of section Phalloideae and related to the death cap A. phalloides. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) are white, small to medium-sized with caps up to 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter, a somewhat friable ring and a firm volva. Unlike most agaric mushrooms which typically have four-spored basidia, the basidia of A. exitialis are almost entirely two-spored. Eight people were fatally poisoned in China after consuming the mushroom in 2000, and another 20 have been fatally poisoned since that incident. Molecular analysis shows that the species has a close phylogenetic relationship with three other toxic white Amanitas: A. subjunquillea var. alba, A. virosa and A. bisporigera.
Lactifluus deceptivus, commonly known as the deceiving milkcap, is a common species of fungus in the family Russulaceae. It is found throughout eastern North America on the ground in coniferous forests near hemlock or deciduous forests near oak, and in oak-dominated forests of Costa Rica. It produces large mushrooms with funnel-shaped caps reaching up to 25 cm (9.8 in) in diameter, on top of hard white stems that may reach 4–10 cm (1.6–3.9 in) long and up to 3 cm (1.2 in) thick. The gills are closely spaced together and yellowish-cream in color. When young, the cap is white in all parts, but the depressed center becomes dull brownish in age and breaks up into scales. The edge of the cap has a roll of cottony tissue that collapses as the cap expands. The surface of the stem—especially near the base—has a velvety texture. The mushroom "bleeds" a milky white acrid latex when it is cut or injured. Similar milk-cap species with which L. deceptivus might be confused include Lactifluus piperatus, L. pseudodeceptivus, L. caeruleitinctus, L. subvellereus, Lactarius arcuatus and Lactarius parvulus.
Xerocomus illudens is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Described as new to science in 1898, it is found in Asia and North America, where it grows in a mycorrhizal association with oak.
Hypomyces hyalinus is a species of parasitic fungi that attacks fungi of the genus Amanita.
Hypomyces cervinigenus is a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on elfin saddle (Helvella) mushrooms in Europe and North America.
Sutorius eximius, commonly known as the lilac-brown bolete, is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. This bolete produces fruit bodies that are dark purple to chocolate brown in color with a smooth cap, a finely scaly stipe, and a reddish-brown spore print. The tiny pores on the cap underside are chocolate to violet brown. It is widely distributed, having been recorded on North America, South America, and Asia, where it grows in a mycorrhizal relationship with both coniferous and deciduous trees.
