Mushroom Glossary

Front 1

ABNORMAL specimen

Back 1

not property developed. Used to describe a difference which is very pronounced but not inherited,such as the develop­ ment of gills on top of a cap in a gilled mushroom.

Front 2

ABRUPT

Back 2

terminating suddenly or sharply differentiated. Used to describethe base of a stalk or apex of a bulb.

Front 3

ACRID

Back 3

(taste of a raw mushroom) causing a biting or prickling sensation on the tip of the tongue.

Front 4

ACUTE

Back 4

pointed;(of gills) sharp-edged.

Front 5

ADNATE

Back 5

(of gills) bluntly attached to the stalk; (of the pellicle on the cap)not separable.

Front 6

AGARIC

Back 6

a fruiting body of a gilled mushroom (used as a short term for a member of the Agaricales).

Front 7

ALVEOLATE (surface)

Back 7

with shallow broad pits.

Front 8

AMYLOID (spores or tissues)

Back 8

bluish to violet when treated with iodine.

Front 9

ANASTOMOSING (gills, ridges, wrinkles)

Back 9

connecting crosswise toform angular areas or pits bounded by connecting lines.

Front 10

ANNULUS

Back 10

the ring of tissue left on the stalk from the breaking of the partial veil.

Front 11

APEX (pl. apices)

Back 11

the tip of the part described.

Front 12

APICAL PORE

Back 12

see germ pore.

Front 13

APOTHECIUM

Back 13

the generally cuplike or saucerlike fruiting body of Disco­mycetes.

Front 14

APPENDICULATE (cap margin)

Back 14

with pieces of the veil hanging along the margin.

Front 15

APPRESSED (fibrils or hairs on cap or stalk)

Back 15

lying flat against thesurface.

Front 16

AREOLATE

Back 16

cracked into more or less hexagonal areas, much like a dried­out mud flat.

Front 17

ASCOSPORE

Back 17

a spore produced in an ascus.

Front 18

ASCUS (pl. asci)

Back 18

a cell in which spores are formed following fusion of two nucleiand division of the resulting fusion nucleus.

Front 19

AVELLANEOUS (color)

Back 19

pale gray tinged with pink.

Front 20

AZONATE (surface of cap)

Back 20

lacking concentric bands of a different appearance than the remainder of the cap.

Front 21

BASIDIOCARP

Back 21

a fruiting body which bears its spores on basidia.

Front 22

BASIDIUM (pl. basidia)

Back 22

a structure on which spores are formed following fusion and division of the nucleus;usually asingle cell in most mushrooms.

Front 23

BEADED (gills)

Back 23

the condition in which the gill edges have droplets of a clear liquid on them.

Front 24

BROAD (gills)

Back 24

a relative term used to describe the depth of the gills.It is contrasted with moderately broad and narrow .

Front 25

BUFF (color)

Back 25

pale yellow toned with gray,i.e., a dingy pale yellow.

Front 26

BULBOUS (stalk)

Back 26

having an ovalto abrupt enlargement (bulb) at thebase.

Front 27

CAMPANULATE (cap)

Back 27

bell-shaped.

Front 28

CANESCENT

Back 28

havinga bloom or appearingas if coatedwithalighthoarfrost.

Front 29

CAP

Back 29

the umbrellalike expansion on the apex of the stalk in a mushroom. It bears the gills, teeth, or pores on the underside. Pileus is the technical term for it.

Front 30

CAPILLITIUM

Back 30

the threadlike elements mixed in with the spores in a ripe puffball

Front 31

CAPITATE

Back 31

provided with a cap or head.

Front 32

CARPOPHOROIDS

Back 32

fleshy masses of fungous tissue of irregular size and shape and lacking a true hymenium.

Front 33

CAULOCYSTIDIA

Back 33

sterile cells occurring on the surface of the stalk.

Front 34

CAUSTIC POTASH

Back 34

see KOH.

Front 35

CELLS (fungi)

Back 35

the living protoplasmic units into which the hyphae are divided.

Front 36

CELLULAR

Back 36

made up of cells.

Front 37

CESPITOSE (or caespitose)

Back 37

growing in clusters with the bases attached to each other.

Front 38

CLAVATE

Back 38

club-shaped;as applied to the stalk it means thickened evenly to the base.

Front 39

CLAVATE-BULBOUS (of a stalk)

Back 39

with a more abrupt thickening at the base than is indicated by just clavate.

Front 40

CLOSE (of gills)

Back 40

a relative term to indicate the spacing of gills-6ee crowded.

Front 41

COLLAR

Back 41

a close-fitting roll of universal veil tissue around the apex of the bulb in an Amanita.

Front 42

COLUMELLA

Back 42

a column or vein of sterile tissue extending into or through the spore-bearing tissue; mostly in the Secotiaceae where the upper part of the stalk is termed the columella or the whole a "stipe-columella."

Front 43

CONFLUENT (of stalk and cap)

Back 43

continuous with each other; merging with no perceptible differentiation.

Front 44

CONTEXT

Back 44

the flesh of the cap and stalk (regardless of whether the consistency is soft, tough, or woody).

Front 45

CONVEX (of a cap)

Back 45

rounded like an inverted bowl.

Front 46

CONVOLUTED

Back 46

wrinkled into large folds.

Front 47

CORTINA

Back 47

a cobwebby partialveilmade up of loosely arranged silky fibrils.

Front 48

CROWDED (of gills)

Back 48

spaced very close together. Crowded , close, subdis- tant, and distant are the four relative terms used to describe gill spacing.

Front 49

CUTICLE (of a cap)

Back 49

the differentiated surface zone. Not all species have such a layer.

Front 50

CUTIS

Back 50

a type of cuticle on a cap or stalk composed of dry interwoven hyphae.

Front 51

CYSTIDIUM (pl. cystidia)

Back 51

a sterile cell with some special feature such as size, thickened wall, content, or shape. Cystidia are common in the hy­ menium of many species but may appear on other parts of Basidiomycete mushrooms as well.

Front 52

DECURRENT (of gills)

Back 52

extending downward on the stalk.

Front 53

DEPRESSED (of a cap)

Back 53

having the central part sunken slightly below the margin.

Front 54

DEXTRINOID

Back 54

taking on a reddish brown to vinaceous red color in Melzer's solution or other iodine-containing solutions.

Front 55

DISC (of a cap)

Back 55

the central part of the surface of the cap extending roughly halfway to the cap margin.

Front 56

DISCOMYCETE

Back 56

those Ascomycetes with fleshy fruitingbodies that are gen­ erally cup-shaped or saucer-shaped.

Front 57

DISTANT (of gills)

Back 57

spaced far apart. See a/so crowded.

Front 58

ECCENTRIC

Back 58

to one side of center, off center.

Front 59

EGG (of a fungous fruiting body)

Back 59

the somewhat egg-shaped button stage enclosed by a universal veil,as in a stinkhorn or Amanita.

Front 60

ELEVATED (of a cap margin)

Back 60

raised slightly so it is above the disc of the cap.

Front 61

ELLIPSOID

Back 61

a three dimensional object with an elliptic outline.

Front 62

ELLIPTIC

Back 62

shaped like a compressed circle with curving sides. Contrasts with oblong, where the sides are parallel.

Front 63

ENTIRE (of gill edges)

Back 63

even,the edge not cutinto smallprojectionsor teeth.

Front 64

EVEN (of cap surface)

Back 64

with no depressions or elevations.

Front 65

FAIRY RING

Back 65

a naturally occurring circle of fruiting bodies of any mushroom.

Front 66

FALSE VEIL

Back 66

a tissue that grows out from the margin of the cap but does not become intergrown with the stalk,though the remains of the veilmay form a ring around the stalk.Found principally in the Boletaceae.

Front 67

FARINACEOUS (of odor or taste)

Back 67

like that of fresh meal.

Front 68

FeS04

Back 68

the chemical abbreviation for an iron salt. The usual concentration used for spot tests is about-ten percent ferrous sulphate in water. A posi­ tive reaction on the tissue of the fruiting body is green to olive, olive gray, or, in some fungi, pinkish. A strong reaction is olive black.In age the solu­ tion will become rusty orange and have a precipitate, but is still useful.

Front 69

FETID (of odor)

Back 69

disagreeable, repulsive,resembling rotting meat. FIBRILLOSE

Front 70

FIBROUS (of stalk)

Back 70

composed of tough stringy tissue.

Front 71

FILIFORM

Back 71

threadlike.

Front 72

FLESH (of a mushroom)

Back 72

the tissue of the fruiting body; also called context.

Front 73

FLESH COLOR

Back 73

the color of caucasian skin.

Front 74

FLESHY

Back 74

soft in consistency and decaying readily; contrasts with woody and membranaceous.

Front 75

FLOCCOSE-SCALY (of a cap)

Back 75

provided with tufts of a woolly nature, usually remains of the universal veil.

Front 76

FLORA

Back 76

the species of plants occurring naturally in a region. The flora of a region includes all the plants. However, we often speak of the agaric flora, the moss flora, the fern flora, etc. Students of the seed plants often misuse the term by saying the flora of such and such a place when they mean only the vascular-plant flora.

Front 77

FREE (of gills)

Back 77

not attached to the stalk at any time during their development.

Front 78

FRUITING BODY

Back 78

the part of the fungous plant which produces and liberates the spores. We use the term mushroom to mean the same thing in this book.

Front 79

FURFURACEOUS

Back 79

roughened with branlike particles.

Front 80

FUSCOUS (a color)

Back 80

the color of a storm cloud varying to a dark smoky brown, with variable amounts of violet present.

Front 81

GELATINOUS

Back 81

jellylike in consistency.

Front 82

GENUS (pl. genera)

Back 82

the first major grouping above the rank of species in plant classification, e.g., Cortinarius , He/vella . Genera are composed of species having certain characteristics in common, or they may consist of single unique species.

Front 83

GERMINATE (of a spore)

Back 83

to begin vegetative growth by sending out a hypha.

Front 84

GERM PORE

Back 84

in some species of fungi (particularly those with thick-walled spores), a specialized area through which germination occurs; often seen as a lighter area at or near the apex of the spore.

Front 85

GILLED FUNGI

Back 85

mushrooms with gills.

Front 86

GILLS

Back 86

the knifeblade-like, radially arranged plates of tissue on the underside of gilled mushroom caps. The technical term for these is lamellae (sing. lamella).

Front 87

GLABROUS

Back 87

bald, without hair. The term smooth is not necessarily an equivalent.

Front 88

GLANDULAR DOTS (on stalks of some boletes)

Back 88

slightly sticky spots of a darker color (usually) than the rest of the stalk.

Front 89

GLEBA (of puffballs)

Back 89

the mass of spores plus some filaments of sterile tis­ sue (capillitium) which make up the main volume of most puffballs. In fungi related to puffballs, the mass of spore-bearing tissue which is usually enclosed during part or all of its development.

Front 90

GLOBOSE

Back 90

globular, spherical.

Front 91

GLUTINOUS

Back 91

covered with a slimy or sticky layer.

Front 92

GRANULOSE

Back 92

covered with granules, either free or attached.

Front 93

GREGARIOUS

Back 93

growing in groups but with the specimens separate at the base; a relative term describing a condition between scattered and ces­ pitose .

Front 94

HABIT

Back 94

manner of growth, i.e., solitary, scattered, gregarious, or cespitose. HABITAT

Front 95

HYALINE

Back 95

transparent or translucent.

Front 96

HYGROPHANOUS (of a cap)

Back 96

changing color markedly on fading.

Front 97

HYMENIFORM

Back 97

with the cells arranged in a palisade, as in a hymenium.

Front 98

HYMENIUM

Back 98

the spore-bearing layer of tissue on the surface of gills, teeth, tubes,·etc., the spore-bearing cells being arranged Ln a palisade.

Front 99

HYMENOPHORE

Back 99

the part of the fruiting body that bears the hymenium.

Front 100

HYPHAE (sing. hypha)

Back 100

the collection of individual threads of the vegetative part of the fungous plant and the fruiting bodies.

Front 101

IMBRICATE (of scales)

Back 101

overlapping one another like shingles on a roof. INAMYLOID

Front 102

INEQUILATERAL (of spores)

Back 102

a subfusiform spore in which the two halves, as seen in profile view, are not of the same configuration.

Front 103

INFERIOR

Back 103

below another part.

Front 104

INNATE (of fibrils or scales)

Back 104

attached, not readily removable.

Front 105

INOPERCULATE (of Ascomycetes)

Back 105

the situation in which the asci lack a lid or operculum;they may open by a pore to release the spores.

Front 106

INTERVENOSE (of gills)

Back 106

with conspicuous veins between the gills.

Front 107

IRON SALTS

Back 107

see FeS04.

Front 108

IXO-

Back 108

prefix meaning slimy.

Front 109

KOH

Back 109

Potassium hydroxide. We use a 2.5 percent to 3 percent aqueous solution. It can be applied directly to the fruiting body to ascertain color changes, or used as a mounting medium to revive dried material. It is also used to ascertain color changes of spores, hypha! walls, and pigment deposits.

Front 110

LACUNOSE

Back 110

with broad pits or holes.

Front 111

LAMELLAE

Back 111

technical term for the gills of a mushroom.

Front 112

LARVAE

Back 112

immature wormlike stages of insects such as flies;often found in mushrooms. They make small tunnels or holas in the flesh. LATERAL

Front 113

LATEX

Back 113

a juice, often milky but sometimes colored, which is extruded when the fruiting body is injured (at least when young and fresh).

Front 114

LIGNICOLOUS

Back 114

wood-loving, growing on wood.

Front 115

LUBRICOUS

Back 115

having a buttery feel.

Front 116

MARGIN

Back 116

the edge, i.e., the outermost part of the cap near the edge and including it;the free edge of a cap, or the free edge of a gill.

Front 117

MELZER'S SOLUTION (reagent)

Back 117

an iodine solution used to test spores and tissue. Composed of 1.5 gms potassium iodide (KI), 0.5 gm iodine, 22 gms chloral hydrate, and 20 gms water.

Front 118

MILD (of taste)

Back 118

lacking a distinct taste, bland.

Front 119

MUSHROOM

Back 119

the somewhat umbrellalike fruiting body of fleshy fungi, or, as used here, any fleshy fungus fruiting body. The term (in North America) applies to both edible and poisonous species. Poisonous species else­ where are sometimes called toadstools.

Front 120

MYCELIOID

Back 120

moldy in texture, as if covered with mycelium.

Front 121

MYCELIUM

Back 121

the collective term for all the threads making up the vegetative part of an individualfungous plant.

Front 122

NAKED (of a cap or stalk)

Back 122

devoid of any type of covering;glabrous.

Front 123

NARROW (of gills)

Back 123

a relative term, the opposite of broad, indicating the depth of gills.

Front 124

NON-AMYLOID

Back 124

not amyloid,i.e.,not becoming bluish to violet in iodine.

Front 125

OBTUSE

Back 125

blunt,not pointed.

Front 126

OPERCULATE (of an ascus)

Back 126

having the opening or mouth covered by a lid. ORNAMENTATION (of spores)

Front 127

PALLID (a color)

Back 127

very pale; when used alone it means an off-white.

Front 128

PARASITIC

Back 128

the condition of one organism (the parasite) living on and get­ ting nourishment from another (the host) to the detriment of the host.

Front 129

PARTIAL VEIL

Back 129

the inner veil which extends from the margin of the cap and at first covers the gills or pores. Contrasted to the universalveil.

Front 130

PEDICEL

Back 130

a narrow base or stalk.

Front 131

PELLICLE

Back 131

a thin gelatinous skin over the cap of some mushrooms. PENDANT

Front 132

PERIDIOLE (in bird's nest fungi)

Back 132

the small pill-like structures in the "nest" consisting of a group·of spores with a wall around them.

Front 133

PERIDIUM (of puffballs)

Back 133

the wall,often layered,of the spore sack.

Front 134

PERITHECIA (sing. perithecium)

Back 134

in Ascomycetes, the flask-shaped struc­ tures,opening by a pore at the apex of a neck,in which ascidevelop.The spores from the asci are ultimately forced through the neck and out through the pore.

Front 135

PILEUS

Back 135

the technical term for the cap of a mushroom. PITTED

Front 136

PLIANT

Back 136

flexible.

Front 137

PLICATE

Back 137

folded, pleated like a fan.

Front 138

PORES

Back 138

the minute to distinct holes in the layer of tissue on the underside of the cap, lined with hymenium. They contrast with gills and spines.

Front 139

POROID

Back 139

having pores.

Front 140

POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE

Back 140

see KOH.

Front 141

PRUINOSE

Back 141

appearing as if frosted lightly by minute particles.

Front 142

PSEUDORHIZA

Back 142

a rootlike process which often extends deep into the ground (in actuality it grows up to the surface; the fruiting body then forms on top of it).

Front 143

RAPHANOID (of taste)

Back 143

radishlike.

Front 144

RHIZOMORPH

Back 144

a stringlike or thin ropelike aggregation of hyphae; part of the spawn of the mushroom plant.

Front 145

RING

Back 145

same as an annulus.

Front 146

RIVULOSE

Back 146

having fine wavy grooves or cracks.

Front 147

RUGOSE

Back 147

wrinkled.

Front 148

SAPROPHYTIC

Back 148

the condition of an organism living on and being nourished by dead organic matter. Contrast with parasitic.

Front 149

SCALES (of cap or stalk)

Back 149

torn portions of cuticle or veil.

Front 150

SCATTERED (of habit)

Back 150

fruiting bodies growing scattered over a relatively wide area, not grouped together.

Front 151

SCROBICULATE

Back 151

having large, shiny, depressed spots or areas, as on the stalk of some species of Lactarius.

Front 152

SECOTIOID

Back 152

a fruiting body resembling an unexpanded agaric or bolete fruit­ ing body but not forcibly discharging its spores; resembling the fruiting body of a species of Secotium .

Front 153

SESSILE

Back 153

lacking a stalk.

Front 154

SERRATE

Back 154

notched or toothed on the edge.

Front 155

SHEATH

Back 155

boot, usually referring to veil remnants on the lower part of the stalk. When such a covering is present, the stalk is said to be peronate.

Front 156

SHELVING (of fruiting bodies)

Back 156

arranged in an overlapping fashion like shelves. SIMPLE (of fruiting bodies)

Front 157

SMOOTH (of a surface)

Back 157

even, lacking wrinkles or projections.

Front 158

SORDID

Back 158

dirty or dingy in appearance.

Front 159

SPAWN

Back 159

same as mycelium.

Front 160

SPECIES

Back 160

populations of individual organisms representing a single kind; that is, having certain characters in common which distinguish those popu­ lations from all other organisms.

Front 161

SPINES

Back 161

pointed conelike teeth.

Front 162

SPONGY (offlesh)

Back 162

soft and tending to be water-soaked.

Front 163

SPORE DEPOSIT

Back 163

a mass of spores deposited naturally (or from a mush­ room so set up that it will shed spores), which is visible to the naked eye.

Front 164

SPORES

Back 164

the reproductive bodies of fungi and other lower plants. They per­ form the same reproductive function as seeds but are completely different structurally.

Front 165

SQUAMULES

Back 165

small scales.

Front 166

STALK

Back 166

the stemlike portion of a mushroom; if a stalk is present, it supports the cap. The technical term is stipe.

Front 167

STERIGMATA (sing. sterigma)

Back 167

the prongs of the basidium on the apex of which the spores are formed.

Front 168

STERILE BASE

Back 168

the basal region of somepuffballs which does not produce spores; it is often chambered.

Front 169

STIPE

Back 169

technical term for stalk.

Front 170

STIPITATE

Back 170

having a stipe or stalk.

Front 171

STRIAE

Back 171

radiating lines or furrows on a mushroom cap, or the longitudinal lines on a stalk.

Front 172

STRIATE

Back 172

having striae.

Front 173

STRIGOSE

Back 173

having long,coarse hairs.

Front 174

STUFFED (of a stalk)

Back 174

having the center filled with a distinct pith which may break down leaving a hollow.

Front 175

SUB-

Back 175

a prefix meaning almost, somewhat,or under.

Front 176

SULCATE

Back 176

rather deeply grooved but not plicate.

Front 177

SUPERFICIAL

Back 177

merely resting on the surface, not attached.

Front 178

SUPERIOR (ring or annulus)

Back 178

attached above the middle of the stalk.

Front 179

TAWNY (a color)

Back 179

about the color of a lion.

Front 180

TERRESTRIAL

Back 180

growing on the ground, contrasts with lignicolous.

Front 181

TOADSTOOL

Back 181

a name commonly applied to mushrooms;toadstools may be either edible or poisonous according to American usage.

Front 182

TOMENTUM

Back 182

a covering of soft hair.

Front 183

TRAMA

Back 183

internaltissues, as of the cap, stalk,or hymenophore;the technical term used for such regions when discussing the anatomy of a fruiting body.

Front 184

TUBE MOUTH

Back 184

the tissue around the opening of a tube on the underside of the cap of pore fungi.

Front 185

TUBERCLE

Back 185

a wartlike or knoblike outgrowth.

Front 186

UMBER (a color)

Back 186

tobacco brown or darker.

Front 187

UMBO (of a cap)

Back 187

a raised conic or convex area at the center of the cap.

Front 188

UMBONATE

Back 188

furnished with an umbo.

Front 189

UNEQUAL (of gills)

Back 189

of different lengths-some reach the stalk, others do not.

Front 190

UNIVERSAL VEIL

Back 190

the veil which envelops the young fruiting body in some mushrooms; it is an outer layer of tissue which is distinct from the cap and stalk.

Front 191

VARIANT

Back 191

an unofficial designation for a collection differing slightly from the type but for which the user of the term does not want to use a formaldesig­ nation. One may speak of variants of a species or of a variety.

Front 192

VEIL

Back 192

a layer of tissue-see partialveil and universalveil.

Front 193

VENTRICOSE

Back 193

swollen at the middle.

Front 194

VERRUCOSE

Back 194

warty.

Front 195

VINACEOUS (a color)

Back 195

the color of a red wine or a paler red.

Front 196

VIRGATE

Back 196

streaked.

Front 197

VISCID

Back 197

sticky to the touch.

Front 198

VOLVA

Back 198

the remains of the universal veil left around the base of the mush­ room after the veil has broken.

Front 199

WARTS (on a cap or stipe)

Back 199

small squatty or pyramidal chunks of the u.ni­ versal veil tissue.

Front 200

ZONATE

Back 200

marked with concentric bands (zones) of a different appearance from the remainder of the surface.