» 2006 » October
Eating the Chicken of the Woods
Chicken-of-the woods is hard to miss in the forest, being bright orange on top and yellow underneath. It’s a good beginner’s mushroom, has a texture like chicken, and apparently it makes a tasty omelet too.
Cabbage monstrosities
The things that were once called Fungi but aren’t anymore are legion. Here’s one of them, a little swimmy thing that causes clubroot of cabbage. It gives cabbage monstrously clubbed roots, and as a bonus, acts as a vector for other diseases. Although we love its monstrous cruelty, we have banished it from the kingdom of Fungi. Be gone!
Ganoderma lucidum and G. tsugae
Reishei mushrooms have long been respected and renowned for their healing powers. Despite their fame, you might be able to find them in your neck of the woods.
Daedaleopsis confragosa and the Minotaur
Mycologists are fond of naming things after mythological characters, like Daedalus, an engineer who built a maze to hold that ill-tempered Minotaur. Our fungus has a maze-like spore-bearing surface worthy of Daedalus. His later work on Icarus’ wings wasn’t as successful…
Giant puffballs, Calvatia gigantea
Giant puffballs are seldom confused with anything but soccer balls, so they’re a good beginner mushroom. However, to me they taste a bit like styrofoam packing chips, but not everyone agrees with me…
Hypholoma sublateritium–edible?
Brick caps have a mixed reputation, in terms of their edibility. Here one brave student reports on his experience eating Hypholoma sublateritium.
Lemon lapse time rot
Moldy lemons aren’t victims of just any mold–they have their own specific pair of evil parasites. Here a lemon succumbs to one of those evil Penicillium twins, in time lapse.
Complementary Colors–Hemlock rust
Poplar and hemlock can together support a happy population of rust fungi. Either one alone? No rust. Rusts are weird.