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.
Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, oyster fungus, hiratake, or pearl oyster mushroom is a common edible mushroom. It is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media.
Psilocybe tampanensis is a very rare psychedelic mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. Originally collected in the wild in a sandy meadow near Tampa, Florida, in 1977, the fungus would not be found in Florida again until 44 years later. The original Florida specimen was cloned, and descendants remain in wide circulation. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) produced by the fungus are yellowish-brown in color with convex to conic caps up to 2.4 cm (0.9 in) in diameter atop a thin stem up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long. Psilocybe tampanensis forms psychoactive truffle-like sclerotia that are known and sold under the nickname "philosopher's stones". The fruit bodies and sclerotia are consumed by some for recreational or entheogenic purposes. In nature, sclerotia are produced by the fungus as a rare form of protection from wildfires and other natural disasters.
Fungiculture is the cultivation of fungi such as mushrooms. Cultivating fungi can yield foods, medicine, construction materials and other products. A mushroom farm is involved in the business of growing fungi.
Pleurotus eryngii is an edible mushroom native to Mediterranean regions of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but also grown in many parts of Asia.
Pleurotus is a genus of gilled mushrooms which includes one of the most widely eaten mushrooms, P. ostreatus. Species of Pleurotus may be called oyster, abalone, or tree mushrooms, and are some of the most commonly cultivated edible mushrooms in the world. Pleurotus fungi have also been used in mycoremediation of pollutants, such as petroleum and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Hericium erinaceus is an edible mushroom belonging to the tooth fungus group. Native to North America, Europe, and Asia, it can be identified by its long spines, occurrence on hardwoods, and tendency to grow a single clump of dangling spines. The fruit bodies can be harvested for culinary use.
Omphalotus nidiformis, or ghost fungus, is a gilled basidiomycete mushroom most notable for its bioluminescent properties. It is known to be found primarily in southern Australia and Tasmania, but was reported from India in 2012 and 2018. The fan or funnel shaped fruit bodies are up to 30 cm (12 in) across, with cream-coloured caps overlain with shades of orange, brown, purple, or bluish-black. The white or cream gills run down the length of the stipe, which is up to 8 cm (3 in) long and tapers in thickness to the base. The fungus is both saprotrophic and parasitic, and its fruit bodies are generally found growing in overlapping clusters on a wide variety of dead or dying trees.
Pleurotus pulmonarius, commonly known as the Indian oyster, Italian oyster, phoenix mushroom, or the lung oyster, is a mushroom very similar to Pleurotus ostreatus, the pearl oyster, but with a few noticeable differences. The caps of pulmonarius are much paler and smaller than ostreatus and develops more of a stem. P. pulmonarius also prefers warmer weather than ostreatus and will appear later in the summer. Otherwise, the taste and cultivation of the two species is generally described as largely the same. Another similar species, North America's Pleurotus populinus, is restricted to growing on aspen and cottonwood.
Phyllotopsis nidulans, commonly known as the mock oyster or the orange oyster, is a species of fungus in the family Phyllotopsidaceae, and the type species of the genus Phyllotopsis. It is widely dispersed in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on decaying wood. The fungus fruit body consists of a fan-shaped, light orange fuzzy cap up to 8 cm (3 in) wide that grows singly or in overlapping clusters. On the cap underside are crowded orange gills. Mock oyster mushrooms have a strong, unpleasant odor, and are regarded as inedible though nonpoisonous.
Pleurotus citrinopileatus, the golden oyster mushroom, is an edible gilled fungus. Native to eastern Russia, northern China, and Japan, the golden oyster mushroom is very closely related to P. cornucopiae of Europe, with some authors considering them to be at the rank of subspecies. In far eastern Russia, P. citrinopileatus, they are called iI'mak, is one of the most popular wild edible mushrooms.
Pleurotus populinus, the aspen oyster mushroom, is a gilled fungus native to North America. It is found on dead wood of aspen and cottonwood trees. Although morphologically similar to Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius, it has been shown to be a distinct species incapable of cross-breeding. P. populinus is reported to be edible. Unlike P. ostreatus, which fruits in the autumn and winter, P. populinus fruits in late spring and summer.
Pleurotus tuber-regium, the king tuber mushroom, is an edible gilled fungus native to the tropics, including Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It has been shown to be a distinct species incapable of cross-breeding and phylogenetically removed from other species of Pleurotus.
Pleurotus cornucopiae is a species of edible fungus in the genus Pleurotus, It is quite similar to the better-known Pleurotus ostreatus, and like that species is cultivated and sold in markets in Europe and China, but it is distinguished because its gills are very decurrent, forming a network on the stem.
Pleurotus opuntiae is a species of Agaricales fungus that grows in the semi-arid climate of central Mexico and in New Zealand, whose mushroom is edible and considered a delicacy in the cuisine of indigenous peoples of Mexico. It is known as hongo de maguey común in Mexican Spanish, seta de chumbera/nopal in Peninsular Spanish, and kjoo'wada in Otomi language. Phylogenetic research has shown that while it belongs to P. djamor-cornucopiae clade, it forms its own intersterility group, but it has also been claimed to be genetically inter-incompatible with P. australis, P. ostreatus (extra-limital), P. pulmonarius and P. purpureo-olivaceus of New Zealand.
Pleurotus albidus is a species of edible fungus in the family Pleurotaceae. Found in Caribbean, Central America and South America, it was described as new to science by Miles Joseph Berkeley, and given its current name by David Norman Pegler in 1983. It grows on trees such as Salix humboldtiana, other willows, Populus and Araucaria angustifolia, and can be cultivated by humans. Phylogenetic research has shown that while it belongs to P. ostreatus clade, it forms its own intersterility group.
Pleurotus calyptratus, is a species of fungus from the family Pleurotaceae. It has a distinctive delicate veil on young fruiting bodies. Phylogenetic research has shown that while it belongs to P. djamor-cornucopiae clade, it forms its own intersterility group.
Pleurotus abieticola is an edible species of fungus in the family Pleurotaceae, described as new to science by mycologists R.H. Petersen & K.W. Hughes in 1997. It grows on rotten wood of Picea in subalpine forests dominated by it. It has been reported first in far‐eastern Russia, and then northeastern China and northwestern Russia. It can be cultivated. Phylogenetic research has shown that while it belongs to P. ostreatus clade, it forms its own intersterility group.
Pleurotus parsonsiae, also known as velvet oyster mushroom, is a species of edible fungus in the genus Pleurotus, endemic to New Zealand.
