Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that bursts on impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores when mature. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass several genera, including Calvatia, Calbovista and Lycoperdon. True puffballs do not have a visible stalk or stem. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage.
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi. They can appear either below ground (hypogeous) or above ground (epigeous) where they may be picked by hand. Edibility may be defined by criteria that include 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.
Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, mushroom foraging, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild, typically for culinary use. This practice is popular throughout most of Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea, parts of the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, as well as the temperate regions of Canada and the United States.
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.
Lactarius is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid ("latex") they exude when cut or damaged. Like the closely related genus Russula, their flesh has a distinctive brittle consistency. It is a large genus with over 500 known species, mainly distributed in the Northern hemisphere. Recently, the genus Lactifluus has been separated from Lactarius based on molecular phylogenetic evidence.
Lactarius deliciosus, commonly known as the saffron milk cap and red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus Lactarius in the order Russulales. It is found in Europe and has been accidentally introduced to other countries under conifers.
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.
The Fungi of Australia form an enormous and phenomenally diverse group, a huge range of freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats with many ecological roles, for example as saprobes, parasites and mutualistic symbionts of algae, animals and plants, and as agents of biodeterioration. Where plants produce, and animals consume, the fungi recycle, and as such they ensure the sustainability of ecosystems.
Candy cap or curry milkcap is the English-language common name for several closely related edible species of Lactarius; L. camphoratus, L. fragilis, and L. rubidus. These mushrooms are valued for their highly aromatic qualities and are used culinarily as a flavoring rather than as a constituent of a full meal.
Gastón Guzmán Huerta, a Mexican mycologist and anthropologist, was an authority on the genus Psilocybe.
Lactarius blennius is a medium-sized mushroom of the genus Lactarius found commonly in beech forests in Europe, where it is mycorrhizal, favouring the European beech. It was first described by Elias Magnus Fries. Though its colour and size vary, it is distinctive because it is slimy when wet and exudes copious amounts of milk. It has been the subject of some chemical research, and it can be used to produce pigments and blennins. Blennins, some of which have shown potential medical application, are derived from lactarane, a chemical so named because of their association with Lactarius. The edibility of L. blennius is uncertain, with different mycologists suggesting that it is edible, inedible or even poisonous.
Lactarius quietus is a mushroom of the genus Lactarius. It is easily identified by its oily scent and the concentric bands on its cap. It is brown, and is probably named after its matt, "quiet" surface and colouration. It is found exclusively under oak trees in Europe, where it grows solitarily or in scattered groups in autumn months. In North America, the variety L. quietus var. incanus is fairly common in the same habitat. The mushroom's edibility is disputed.
Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, indigo milky, the indigo lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. A widely distributed species, it grows naturally in eastern North America, East Asia, and Central America; it has also been reported in southern France. L. indigo grows on the ground in both deciduous and coniferous forests, where it forms mycorrhizal associations with a broad range of trees. The fruit body color ranges from dark blue in fresh specimens to pale blue-gray in older ones. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken — a feature common to all members of the genus Lactarius — is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. The cap has a diameter of 5 to 15 cm, and the stem is 2 to 8 cm tall and 1 to 2.5 cm thick. It is an edible mushroom, and is sold in rural markets in China, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Honduras the mushroom is called a chora, and it's generally eaten with egg; generally as a side dish for a bigger meal.
Silvia N. Blumenfeld is an expert on mycology. From 1986 to 2004, she was a Professor of Mycology and Biotechnology of Filamentous Fungi at the National University of Comahue, in Río Negro, Argentina. She emigrated to Israel in 2002, where she became the curator of the Tel Aviv University fungi collection, specializing in medicinal mushrooms. She has over 50 articles, books, and patents to her name, and has received academic honours. In 1995, she was awarded the Argentine National 'José Antonio Balseiro' Prize for her work.
Saproamanita thiersii, commonly called Thiers' lepidella, is a North-American saprotrophic basidiomycete fungus in the genus Saproamanita. It is a white mushroom originally described from Texas but today found in nine states of North America. It was named after Harry Delbert Thiers. The cap of this small mushroom is white and convex, measuring 35–100 mm (1.4–3.9 in) and covered by volval remnants. It is sticky to the touch when wet. The gills are variable in length and number and are densely packed in some specimens and widely spaced in others. They are not attached to the stipe, which is 8–20 cm (3–8 in) long and about 1 cm (0.4 in) thick, with a white ring. The spores measure 7.8–9.8 by 7.3–9.0 µm and are roughly spherical in shape. The spore print is white.
Doi Suthep–Pui National Park is a national park in Chiang Mai Province in Thailand. It includes Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple, and Bhubing Palace, the winter residence of the Thai royal family. The park is a protected area for flora, fauna, and habitat.
Amanita zambiana, commonly known as the Zambian slender Caesar, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Amanita. An edible mushroom, it is found in Africa, where it is commonly sold in markets.
Calostoma cinnabarinum is a species of gasteroid fungus in the family Sclerodermataceae, and is the type species of the genus Calostoma. It is known by several common names, including stalked puffball-in-aspic and gelatinous stalked-puffball. The fruit body has a distinctive color and overall appearance, featuring a layer of yellowish jelly surrounding a bright red, spherical head approximately 2 centimeters (0.8 in) in diameter atop a red or yellowish brown spongy stipe 1.5 to 4 cm tall. The innermost layer of the head is the gleba, containing clear or slightly yellowish elliptical spores, measuring 14–20 micrometers (µm) long by 6–9 µm across. The spore surface features a pattern of small pits, producing a net-like appearance. A widely distributed species, it grows naturally in eastern North America, Central America, northeastern South America, and East Asia. C. cinnabarinum grows on the ground in deciduous forests, where it forms mycorrhizal associations with oaks.
Amanita ochrophylla is a fungus of the family Amanitaceae native to southeastern Australia. Its large and distinctive buff fruit bodies are common after rainfall.
Amanita augusta is a small tannish-brown mushroom with cap colors bright yellow to dark brown and various combinations of the two colors. The mushroom is often recognizable by the fragmented yellow remnants of the universal veil. This mushroom grows year-round in the Pacific Northwest but fruiting tends to occur in late fall to mid-winter. The fungus grows in an ectomycorrhizal relationship with hardwoods and conifers often in mixed woodlands.
