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.
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi. Edibility may be defined by criteria including the absence of poisonous effects on humans and desirable taste and aroma. Edible mushrooms are consumed for their nutritional and culinary value. Mushrooms, especially dried shiitake, are sources of umami flavor.
Cerioporus squamosus aka Polyporus squamosus is a basidiomycete bracket fungus, with common names including dryad's saddle and pheasant's back mushroom. It has a widespread distribution, being found in North America, Australia, Asia, and Europe, where it causes a white rot in the heartwood of living and dead hardwood trees. The name "dryad's saddle" refers to creatures in Greek mythology called dryads who could conceivably sit and rest on this mushroom, whereas the pheasant's back analogy derives from the pattern of colors on the bracket matching that of a pheasant's back.
Centrophorus is a genus of squaliform sharks. These deep-water sharks, found in temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world, are characterized by grey or brown bodies, large green eyes, and spines on both dorsal fins. These spines give them their name, from Greek κεντρον, kentron meaning "thorn" and φέρειν, pherein meaning "to bear".
The leafscale gulper shark is a dogfish of the family Centrophoridae. C. squamosus is reported to have a lifespan of approximately 70 years, based on otolith ring counts. It was the first described species in the genus Centrophorus, which now contains 13 species.
The Thelephorales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes corticioid and hydnoid fungi, together with a few polypores and clavarioid species. Most fungi within the Thelephorales are ectomycorrhizal. None is of any great economic importance, though Sarcodon imbricatus is edible and commercially marketed, whilst several species have been used for craft dyeing.
A dryad is a form of mythological Greek nymph associated with trees.
Paxillus is a genus of mushrooms of which most are known to be poisonous or inedible. Species include Paxillus involutus and Paxillus vernalis. Two former species—Tapinella panuoides and Tapinella atrotomentosa—have now been transferred to the related genus Tapinella in the family Tapinellaceae
The genus Stropharia is a group of medium to large agarics with a distinct membranous ring on the stipe. Well-known members of this genus include the edible Stropharia rugosoannulata and the blue-green verdigris agarics. Stropharia are not generally regarded as good to eat and there are doubts over the edibility of several species. However the species Stropharia rugosoannulata is regarded as prized and delicious when young, and is now the premier mushroom for outdoor bed culture by mycophiles in temperate climates.
Leratiomyces ceres, commonly known as the Redlead Roundhead, is mushroom which has a bright red to orange cap and dark purple-brown spore deposit. It is usually found growing gregariously on wood chips and is one of the most common and most distinctive mushrooms found in that habitat. It is common on wood chips and lawns in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. The name Stropharia aurantiaca has been used extensively but incorrectly for this mushroom.
Typhlophis is a monotypic genus created for the blind snake species, Typhlophis squamosus, found along the Atlantic coast of South America from the Guianas to Pará in Brazil, as well as in Trinidad. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Psilocybe subaeruginosa is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae described in 1927 and known from Australia and New Zealand. As a blueing member of the genus Psilocybe it contains the psychoactive compounds psilocin and psilocybin.
Sarcodon imbricatus, commonly known as the shingled hedgehog or scaly hedgehog, is a species of tooth fungus in the order Thelephorales. The mushroom is edible. Many sources report it has a bitter taste, but others have found it delicious and suspect that the bitter specimens may be similar related species. The mushroom has a large, brownish cap with large brown scales and may reach 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. On the underside it sports greyish, brittle teeth instead of gills, and has white flesh. Its spore print is brown. It is associated with spruce (Picea), appearing in autumn. It ranges throughout North America and Europe, although collections from the British Isles are now assigned to the similar species Sarcodon squamosus.
Leratiomyces is a genus of mushroom-forming basidiomycetes first proposed three times under invalid names, and finally validated in 2008. It includes several formerly described, variously, from the genera Stropharia, Hypholoma, and Weraroa. It was formerly classified as Stropharia section Stropholoma, though some authorities placed this section in the genus Hypholoma, as these species often have features that are intermediate between the two genera.
The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr., or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores inside their basidiocarps rather than on an outer surface. However, the class is polyphyletic, as such species—which include puffballs, earthstars, stinkhorns, and false truffles—are not closely related to each other. Because they are often studied as a group, it has been convenient to retain the informal (non-taxonomic) name of "gasteroid fungi".
Leratiomyces erythrocephalus, commonly known as the red pouch fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Strophariaceae. First described scientifically as Secotium erythrocephalum by Louis René Tulasne in 1845 and later transferred to Weraroa by American mycologists Rolf Singer and Alexander H. Smith in 1958, it was given its current name in 2008. It is found in New Zealand.
Sarcodon squamosus is a species of fungus in the genus Sarcodon.
Royoporus badius or Picipes badius, commonly known as the black-footed polypore or black-leg, is a species of fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It causes a white rot of hardwoods and conifers. The species is found in temperate areas of Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. It has a dark brown or reddish-brown cap that reaches a diameter of 25 cm (9.8 in), and a stipe that is often completely black or brown at the top and black at the base.
Bogbodia is a bog-inhabiting agaric fungal genus that colonizes peat and Sphagnum and produces tan-colored fruit bodies. The only species in the genus is Bogbodia uda. Characteristically it forms chrysocystidia and rather large, finely roughened, violaceous basidiospores each with a poorly defined germ pore. The genus differs from Hypholoma which has smaller, smooth basidiospores and typically have cespitose fruit bodies and decay wood. Phylogenetically, Bogbodia is distinct from Hypholoma, Pholiota, and Leratiomyces.
Cerioporus is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The type species is Cerioporus squamosus. Many species in Cerioporus were formerly placed in the genus Polyporus, however phylogenetic analysis shows that Cerioporus is a separate genus. It has been reported that mushrooms have significant antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.
