Theprinceofmycologia - The Prince Of Mycologia - Tumblr Blog

I forgot to mention, this species of fungi is actually edible when young.

Beefsteak mushroom - Fistulina hepatica

Which slasher got to this mushroom? Michael Myers? Ghostface?

Fruitbody

The cap is 7 to 20 centimetres across and 7 to 14 centimetres deep, it is irregularly shaped but often semicircular, fan-shaped, or tongue-like, with a lobed and wavy margin. The surface is wet and sticky when fresh, finely bumpy and bald. The cap has a liver red, reddish orange, or brownish red colour.¹

The pore surface is white to pale pinkish in colour, becoming yellowish and eventually reddish brown in age, bruising brown. The tubes are up to 1.5 centimetres long and distinctly separated with circular mouths.¹ This is unlike most polypores in which the pores are bonded together.²

The stipe is absent, or rudimentary and lateral. It is colored like the cap above, covered with the pore surface and firm in texture.¹

The flesh is whitish, streaked with reddish areas. It has a thick, soft and watery texture, exuding a reddish juice when squeezed.¹

Microscopic features and spore print.

The spores (seen below) are ovoid, smooth and about 4.5-6 x 3-4µm.² The spores are also hyaline to yellowish in KOH. The basiadia are 4-sterigmate, the hyphal system is monomitic and clamp connections are present.¹

The spore print is pale pinkish to yellow in colour.²

Ecology

This species saprobic and sometimes weakly parasitic on the wood and deadwood of oaks and other hardwoods, causing a brown rot. Fistulina hepatica is annual, growing from summer to fall. It grows alone or in small groups near the bases of trees and on stumps.¹

Distribution

It is widespread throughout Britain and Ireland and is found throughout the mainland of Europe and is widely distributed throughout North America.²

Note: the links to the images are in the image discription.

References

1.

2.

Mutuals

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Apples with chimeral stripes . . .

They are really neat imo!

Beefsteak mushroom - Fistulina hepatica

Which slasher got to this mushroom? Michael Myers? Ghostface?

Fruitbody

The cap is 7 to 20 centimetres across and 7 to 14 centimetres deep, it is irregularly shaped but often semicircular, fan-shaped, or tongue-like, with a lobed and wavy margin. The surface is wet and sticky when fresh, finely bumpy and bald. The cap has a liver red, reddish orange, or brownish red colour.¹

The pore surface is white to pale pinkish in colour, becoming yellowish and eventually reddish brown in age, bruising brown. The tubes are up to 1.5 centimetres long and distinctly separated with circular mouths.¹ This is unlike most polypores in which the pores are bonded together.²

The stipe is absent, or rudimentary and lateral. It is colored like the cap above, covered with the pore surface and firm in texture.¹

The flesh is whitish, streaked with reddish areas. It has a thick, soft and watery texture, exuding a reddish juice when squeezed.¹

Microscopic features and spore print.

The spores (seen below) are ovoid, smooth and about 4.5-6 x 3-4µm.² The spores are also hyaline to yellowish in KOH. The basiadia are 4-sterigmate, the hyphal system is monomitic and clamp connections are present.¹

The spore print is pale pinkish to yellow in colour.²

Ecology

This species saprobic and sometimes weakly parasitic on the wood and deadwood of oaks and other hardwoods, causing a brown rot. Fistulina hepatica is annual, growing from summer to fall. It grows alone or in small groups near the bases of trees and on stumps.¹

Distribution

It is widespread throughout Britain and Ireland and is found throughout the mainland of Europe and is widely distributed throughout North America.²

Note: the links to the images are in the image discription.

References

1.

2.

Mutuals

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Candy apple bolete - Exsudoporus frostii

I made this post in response to this poll.

Fruitbody

The cap is 3.5 ¹ to 15 ² centimetres across and initially convex shaped, later becoming broadly convex. The bright red, bald cap is sticky when fresh and its margin is often pale yellow and overhanging slightly.¹

The pore surface is dark red, becoming dirty brownish red and sometimes becoming faintly yellowish near stem and cap margin. The underside of the cap has 2 to 3 circular pores per millimetre at maturity, these tubes are up to 1 centimetre deep.¹ In young specimens yellow droplets can be seen leaking from the pores.³

The stipe is 4 ¹ to 12 ² centimetres long and 1 to 1.5 centimetres thick. It is coarsely reticulate overall with a red reticulum, yellow underneath the red. The basal mycelium is whitish.¹

The flesh is whitish to pale yellow overall and red in the stipe base, turning pale blue when sliced.¹

Microscopic features and spore print

The spores (seen below) are 13–22 x 4–5 µm, fusoid and smooth. The hymenial cystidia are about 40 x 10 µm, fusiform or lageniform, smooth, thin-walled and hyaline in KOH.¹

The spore print is olive brown.¹

Ecology

This species is mycorrhizal with oaks and other hardwoods, growing alone, scattered, or gregariously. It can be found in summer and fall.¹

Distribution

It is widely distributed in Eastern North America, Southwest America, Mexico, and Central America.¹

References:

1.

2.

en.wikipedia.org

Exsudoporus frostii - Wikipedia

3.

Mushroom Appreciation

Frost's Bolete: Identifying, Foraging, and Edibility

With its mesmerizing blood-red cap, red pores, and webbed stalk, Frost's bolete is a true spectacle in the mushroom world. Frost's bolete (E

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Tiger sharks . . .

My favourite trash compactors ♡

But on a more serious note . . . all of the trash polluting the oceans is horrible.

Spooky Fungi

I put all of the links to the images in the image description:)

If anyone wants me to make a more elaborate post on one or more of these species, just leave a comment or an ask:))

CW: if you do not like pictures of bugs, do not scroll further than the heading "Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps".

Devils's fingers - Clathrus archeri

Dead man's fingers - Xylaria polymorpha

Witches' butter - Tremella mesenterica

Black witches' butter - Exidia glandulosa

Devil's tooth fungus - Hydnellum peckii

Candy apple bolete - Exsudoporus frostii

Purple jellydisc fungus - Ascocoryne sarcoides

Bleeding fairy helmet - Mycena haematopus

Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps

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Mutuals

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@sickbugdude this is a lot of fun to do! :)

If you want to do this, I would recommend using paint markers because they dry faster and are imo easier to use than brushes.

If you are going to use it as a plant pot, you might want to put a hydrophobic layer on the in- and outside of the pot because otherwise the paint will droop.

I painted a plant pot today! It was awesome!

The beetles were based on pine chafers a.k.a. Polyohylla fullo, but because of the colours and the vertical stripes on the wings they don't really look like them.

Below a photograph of a pine chafer I made some time ago:)

The 'bleeding tooth fungus' in the new HBO series 'The Penguin' . . .

It is literally Hydnellum peckii a.k.a devil's tooth fungus, or, well it is based on it . . .

Visually they are pretty much the same, but in 'The Penguin' the 'bleeding tooth fungus' has psychoactive properties, which is why they are used for drugs. The actual Hydnellum peckii does not have psychoactive properties, it does however have other medically relevant compounds.

In my post about Hydenllum peckii, I wrote:

" The red sap contains a chemical compound called atromentin, which has anticoagulant properties and is commonly used to help prevent blood clots from forming. The pigment-producing compound found in several fungi species, atromenin also acts as a smooth muscle stimulant and has antibacterial and antineoplastic (anticancer) properties. "

I must say, this is not medical advice of any kind and it should not be treated as such.

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Mutuals

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I painted a plant pot today! It was awesome!

The beetles were based on pine chafers a.k.a. Polyohylla fullo, but because of the colours and the vertical stripes on the wings they don't really look like them.

Below a photograph of a pine chafer I made some time ago:)

Note: I already made a post on devil's tooth fungus or Hydnellum peckii.

Mutuals

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@emmakapla

Spooky Fungi

I put all of the links to the images in the image description:)

If anyone wants me to make a more elaborate post on one or more of these species, just leave a comment or an ask:))

CW: if you do not like pictures of bugs, do not scroll further than the heading "Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps".

Devils's fingers - Clathrus archeri

Dead man's fingers - Xylaria polymorpha

Witches' butter - Tremella mesenterica

Black witches' butter - Exidia glandulosa

Devil's tooth fungus - Hydnellum peckii

Candy apple bolete - Exsudoporus frostii

Purple jellydisc fungus - Ascocoryne sarcoides

Bleeding fairy helmet - Mycena haematopus

Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps

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Mutuals

@squidsandthings

@fungus-gnats

@fairy-tales-of-yesterday

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@lovelyalicorn

@writingraccoon

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@emmakapla

White elfin saddle - Helvella crispa

The white elfin saddle is visually the polar opposite twin of the black elfin saddle (discussed in this post), it has a ghost- and skeleton-like appearance.

Fruitbody

The cap is typically 3 to 8cm across and 1 to 4cm high. The saddle-shaped cap is irregularly lobed and has a cream to a pale ochre colour. The upper surface is smooth¹, while the underside is pale ochre and very finely fuzzy. The cap does not attach to the stem where they meet.²

The stipe is 2 to 4 centimetres in diameter and 4 to 8 centimetres long.¹ The stipe is robust, densely ribbed, chambered and have a white to pale yellow colour.²

The flesh of the white elfin saddle is very thin and brittle.²

Microscopic features

The asci (seen on the left below) are typically 300 x 18 μm. Each ascus contains eight spores.¹

The spores (seen on the right below) are ellipsoidal, 18-20 x 10-13 µm and hyaline. The spore print is white.¹

Ecology

Helvella crispa is probably mycorrhizal and can be found growing singularly or gregariously under broadleaf trees, particularly under beeches and oaks, and very often beside paths. It most often emerges from the ground but might also grow from humid hardwoods, meaning it.¹

This mushroom grows from the late summer into the autumn. Sometimes it appears in the winter in warmer regions.²

Distribution

This species can be found growing decidious woodlands in Britain and Ireland, the mainland of Europe and many parts of North America.¹

Note: the links to the images are in the image discription.

References

1.

2.

Mushroom Appreciation

White Elfin Saddle: Identification Guide

Helvella Crispa, also known as the White Saddle or White Elfin Saddle, is a mushroom that has captivated people for centuries. Its unique sh

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Black elfin saddle - Helvella lacunosa

Another post for the spooky season . . . the black elfin saddle's chambered stipe gives it a skeletal and a somewhat spooky appearance. It might be found in burnt or disturbed grounds.

Fruitbody

The cap is 2 to 4 centimetres across and about 4 to 10 centimetres high.¹ The saddle-shaped cap is irregularly lobed and convoluted, attached to the stipe in several places and has a black to dark brown colour.² It is the smooth outer surface of the cap that bears spores, while the inner surface is sterile.¹

The stipe is 1.5 to 4 centimeters long and 5 to 15 millimetres thick. It might have a whitish colour when young, but soon turns a gray to dark gray colour. The stipe is deeply and ornately ribbed and pocketed, the ribs are rounded, or sometimes sharp and double-edged.²

The flesh of the fruitbody is thin, brittle and chambered.²

Microscopic features

The asci (seen on the bottom left) are typically 340 μm long x 16 μm diameter, each ascus contains eight spores. The paraphyses are about 5 μm diameter, cylindrical¹ and hyaline.² Some paraphyses have capitata apices.¹

The spores (seen on the bottom right) are smooth², ellipsoidal, 15 - 19 x 10 - 13 μm and hyaline. The spore print is white.¹

Ecology

Black elfin saddles can typically be found among leaf litter in all types of woodland, they are often found on burnt ground or in otherwise disturbed woodland clearings.¹ The species is probably mycorrhizal, growing alone, scattered or gregariously.² Helvella lacunosa grows between summer and autumn.¹

Distribution

This species can be found throughout Britain and the throughout the mainland of Europe, it can also be found in North America.¹

Note: the links to the images are in the image discription.

References

1.

2.

Mutuals

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PESTO THE PENGUIN HAS A WIKIPEDIA PAGE!!!!

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS UNTILL NOW!?!?!

PESTO IS SUCH A CUTIEEE!!! AAAAAAAAA

Spooky Fungi

I put all of the links to the images in the image description:)

If anyone wants me to make a more elaborate post on one or more of these species, just leave a comment or an ask:))

CW: if you do not like pictures of bugs, do not scroll further than the heading "Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps".

Devils's fingers - Clathrus archeri

Dead man's fingers - Xylaria polymorpha

Witches' butter - Tremella mesenterica

Black witches' butter - Exidia glandulosa

Devil's tooth fungus - Hydnellum peckii

Candy apple bolete - Exsudoporus frostii

Purple jellydisc fungus - Ascocoryne sarcoides

Bleeding fairy helmet - Mycena haematopus

Zombie fungus - Ophiocordyceps

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mutuals

@squidsandthings

@fungus-gnats

@fairy-tales-of-yesterday

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This music is amazing! I'll probably listen to this the whole autumn! To this and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

This song is so good! I'm dying! I love the halloween vibes! I'm legit counting the days 'till halloween.

Ghost pipe - Monotropa uniflora

I made this post about Monotropa uniflora to kick off the spooky season! While this post is not about a type of fungus, I could not resist writing about it. Besides its ghostly (lack of) colour, its dried out seed heads also look akin to pumpkins, which is just awesome!

Monotropa uniflora or ghost pipe does not contain chlorophyll (which gives most plants a green colour) and forms symbiotic relationships with fungi.

Description

The plant is waxy white with some black flecks, but some specimens have been described as having a pale pink colour and verey rarely having a deep red colour. The white variants have black flecks on their stems.

The ghost pipe ranges in height from 5 to 30 centimeters, sheathed with highly reduced leaves 5 to 10 millimetres long, which look akin to scales. These structures are small, thin, translucent and do not have petioles but instead extend in out of the stem.

The stem bears a single flower, which is 10 to 20 millimetres long, with 3 to 8 translucent petals, 10 to 12 stamens and a single pistil. The fruit, an oval capsule-like structure, grows and becomes upright when the seeds mature. After reaching maturity the stem and capsule look dark brown or black with a brittle texture.

The seeds of M. uniflora are small, ranging between 0.6 to 0.8 millimetres long. Once the plant has been pollinated, the seeds are pushed through the petals in a tiny slit and dispersed by the wind.

Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll. Instead of generating food using the energy from sunlight a.k.a photosynthesizing, it is parasitic, and more specifically a mycoheterotroph. Most fungi are mycorrhizal and through the fungal web of mycorrhizae, M. uniflora roots ultimately tap food from where the host fungi are connected to the photosynthetic trees. The roots of this plant are covered in hairs called cystidia, which allow easy attachment to fungi hyphae. Its hosts are in the Russulaceae family.

Distribution and genetics

M. uniflora is found in three general distribution areas: Asia, North America, and Central and northern South America. DNA analysis has shown that these three populations are genetically distinct from one another. The species has 48 chromosomes.

Ecology

M. uniflora as a mycoheterotrophic plant asscociates with a small range of fungal hosts, all of them members of Russulaceae. It is often found growing neer beech trees in clumps of two or more with its fungal source nearby. Since it is not dependent on sunlight to grow, it can grow in very dark environments like in the understory of dense forests.

It flowers from early summer to early autumn, often a few days after rainfall.

The flowers of the ghost pipe are frequented by various species of bees and flies, most commonly bumblebees. By crawling into the flower for pollen, bumblebees play a role as an important pollen dispersal agent.

References:

1.

en.wikipedia.org

Monotropa uniflora - Wikipedia

2.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/mycotrophic/monotropa_uniflora.shtml

Images:

1.

jungledragon.com

MONOTROPA UNIFLORA. - by mossy rock studio - JungleDragon

MONOTROPA UNIFLORA.. Indian Pipe

2.

en.wikipedia.org

Monotropa uniflora - Wikipedia

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I wanted to take pictures of the ink caps today and I kid you not . . . they mowed the grass and took the mushrooms with it! WHY!?!?!?!?

It's that time of the season again . . . . .

Coprinus comatus a.k.a the shaggy ink cap has returned!

Where I live they're in nearly every grassy meadow! It's awesome! A great start to October:)

Planned post

I will make a post on the ghost pipe a.k.a. monotropa uniflora soon. With its ghostly colour and dried out seed heads ressembling pumpkins it seems like a great way to kick off the spooky season!

The post :)

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The images are from wikipedia btw:)

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I'm obsessing over this song! I only started listening to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard yesterday, but it's awesome!

It's that time of the season again . . . . .

Coprinus comatus a.k.a the shaggy ink cap has returned!

Where I live they're in nearly every grassy meadow! It's awesome! A great start to October:)

Thank you for tagging me! ♡

This is wildly accurate lolll!

Tagging: @squidsandthings @lameotello @edukincon @belis86 @pissass11 + anyone else who wants to join:)

No pressure btw!:)

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this:

Make this picrew of yourself

Take this uquiz (How Fandom Would See You If You Were A Fictional Character)

Thank you for the tag @machiavellli !

A NEW SPECIES OF GHOST SHARK JUST DROPPED!!! AAAAAAAAAA

LOOK AT IT!!! AAAAAAA!!! IT'S CALLED HARIOTTA AVIA!!! IT'S SO PRETTY AND COOL!!!

Dr. Brit Finucci, who discovered this species, said :

“Harriotta avia is unique due to its elongated, narrow and depressed snout; long, slender trunk; large eyes; and very long, broad pectoral fins. It is a lovely chocolate brown colour."

and

“Ghost sharks like this one are largely confined to the ocean floor, living in depths of up to 2,600m. Their habitat makes them hard to study and monitor, meaning we don’t know a lot about their biology or threat status, but it makes discoveries like this even more exciting."

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Note: despite the common name, ghost sharks aren't actually sharks, they are chimaeras. They are a group of cartilaginous fish closely related to sharks and rays.

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You can read more about Harriotta avia here:

NIWA

New species of NZ ghost shark discovered

Scientists have found a new ghost shark that lives exclusively in the deep waters of Australia and New Zealand. 

And here:

CNN

New species of ghost shark discovered by New Zealand scientists | CNN

Scientists have discovered a new species of ghost shark that lives in deep ocean waters near Australia and New Zealand.

Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 1

I am currently working on a shark teeth ID project. It is a personal project I am working on because I got gifted a multitude of fossil shark teeth of various species.

I am fairly sure that the teeth (seen in the two pictures below) belong to the family Lamnidae and are from the species Cosmopolitodus hastalis.

If these teeth are in fact the teeth of Cosmopolitodus hastalis they ought to date back to the Miocene and Pliocene (which are the two epochs of the Neogene). Although the species was still alive during the Pleistocene, fossils found of Cosmopolitodus hastalis in Cadzand (in the Netherlands) date back to the Miocene and Pliocene.

One of the shark teeth (the left picture below) gifted to me is so severely eroded that I cannot visually identify it, however it is still a gorgeous fossil.

Between the various shark teeth I also found what I suspect to be a part of a fossilised chela (claw/pincer of a crab) (seen in the right picture below). Considering the location of the find I think it might be from Carcinus maenas and could date back to the Pliocene.

Fossil Shark Teeth ID Project - Part 2

I am currently working on a shark teeth ID project. It is a personal project I am working on because I got gifted a multitude of fossil shark teeth of various species.

Up untill now I have only been able to identify one shark species, because the teeth are so characteristic. The teeth (seen in the picture below) belong to the species the Broadnose Sevengill Shark or Notorynchus cepedianus.

The Broadnose Sevengill Shark belongs to the family of Cow Sharks or Hexanchidae, which are considered the most primitive of sharks.

I actually just recently watched a documentary covering Broadnose Sevengill Sharks with Forrest Galante. It was called 'Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds', it was from Sharkweek 2023 and it was really good!

I also have two different teeth which I am having a lot more difficulties with identifying (see the two pictures below). If anyone has any clue of which species these teeth may belong to, please let me know:)