Horrace

A place for all things fungi! (And sometimes protists)

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Im pretty sure these are trooping funnels (Infundibulicybe geotropa)

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Mushrooms from a trip to the local wetlands centre

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mushrooms from the summer

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a collection of mushroom pictures ive taken during the autumn

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A false puffball slime mould my guitar teacher found while walking their dog.

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I have learnt things!

Slime moulds are not actually fungi and are instead protists in the class Myxogastria.

Slime moulds grow in similar areas to fungi (in the damp and on rotting wood) as well as reproducing via spores. Due to this they were originally classified as fungi however slime moulds have very different cellular structures from fungi.

Their lifecycle works in two main stages. In the first, the mobile stage where they are able to move at about the rate of one millimetre per hour on pseudopods in search of food such as bacteria, yeast, moulds and fungi. During the second stage they form a spore case when the spores are mature the cases wall dries out and disintegrates, allowing air currents to release the spores.

Slime mold | Physarum Polycephalum, Cellular Slime Molds

Slime mold, any of about 500 species of primitive organisms containing true nuclei and resembling both protozoan protists and fungi. The ter

Myxomycetes

Myxomycetes The Myxomycetes, or slime moulds, also known as Mycetozoa or Myxogastria, are a group of ameboid protists, considered for many

What Is Slime Mold?

The world is home to hundreds of slime mold species in a wide range of colors, but are they actually a fungus? If not, what the heck are the

Slime moulds occasionally cause concern when they appear on plants, but they do not attack or kill the plant.  They vary greatly in their co

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Stereum hirsutum

Common names: false turkey tail, hairy stereum and hairy curtain crust

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Cortinarius triumphans - Birch Webcap

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Sorry i havent posted anything in a while, my cat died and ive been dealing with a lot of exam stress. Thankfully my mental health has improved enough this week that ive begun to research some new fungi to begin posting once again!

I also plan to begin adding citations at the bottom of my mushroom facts for any further reading. Heres to hoping tumblr will let me!

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A false puffball slime mould my guitar teacher found while walking their dog.

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some reasonably unrealistic mushrooms i drew while bored in class.

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A collection of Mycena galericulata or common bonnets i found while on holiday.

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My aunts dog joined me while i was hiking and helped me find them so he deserves a shout out!

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A collection of Mycena galericulata or common bonnets i found while on holiday.

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Entoloma hochstetteri

Also known as the blue pinkgill or sky-blue mushroom.

Entoloma hochstetteri grow in the leaf litter and soil of forests in New Zealand. It is the country’s national fungus as of a 2018 poll. It is featured alongside the kōkako bird on the 50 dollar note. This is due to the myth that the bird gained its blue wattles from rubbing its cheek against the mushroom.

Examples of the bird, banknote and a stamp from a set of 6 different native fungi issued in 2002. The banknote is the only banknote in the world that features a mushroom!

It is debated if a similar mushroom found in Australia is also the same species.

The fungus is a member of the Entoloma genus which means its spores are a reddish pink colour.

It is unknown if the mushroom is toxic or not but many other members of the genus are poisonous.

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Daldinia concentrica

Commonly referred to as King Alfred's cake, cramp balls, and coal fungus.

The reasons for these names are as follows:

Due to their burnt appearance their common name King Alfreds cake is a reference to the Anglo-Saxon king of England in the 9th century. There is a myth that after being given shelter by a peasant woman Alfred was reputed to have inadvertently allowed her cakes to burn, having promised that he would watch them cooking in return for the shelter.

People used to believe that carrying the fruiting body of one of these mushrooms would cure having cramp, hence the name cramp balls.

The fruiting body is also said to resemble a lump of coal due to its colour and size. The fungi can also be used as tinder for lighting fires, and may have been used as far back as the stoneage!

Daldinia concentrica are common in Europe, North America and Australia but they can be found all over the earth in temperate climates. They are found on dead or decaying wood, most often on ash and beech trees.

The fungi is a member of the Daldinia genus this means that inside the fruitbody there are concentric silver/grey and black layers, like tree rings these layers are related to seasonal growth. Many insects and small animals make their homes in the fungus.

Growing members of this species are a pinkish brown, turning black once they are fully grown. 

Some examples of young Daldinia concentrica:

Examples of the rings:

This fungus is inedible.

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I dont have the spoons to write mushroom facts today so have this cool drawing my wonderful friend @artacetinker drew for me.

It was the first image i put on my wall when i redecorated my room three years ago and will always have a special place in my heart.

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Trametes versicolor

Also known as Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor, but more commonly called turkey tail.

Trametes versicolor is a polypore mushroom (plate fungus) that is found worldwide, growing on dead wood and tree stumps.

There has been research into the use of a protein bound polysaccharide: Polysaccharide-K, that can be extracted from the mushroom for its use cancer treatment.

Its name means “of many colours” this is due to its colourful markings:

Look they’re so pretty!

These mushrooms are inedible. However in Southeast Asian countries Trametes versicolor have been used for various health issues since 2nd century BC in the form of tea.

Many sites would recommend checking with health professionals incase it has any affects on health issues as well as ensuring you cook it for at least 30 minutes if you want to try making tea out of it.

If you do want to make tea from it i would suggest doing more research on the mushroom than the facts here so that you are confident in what you are doing and able to make an informed decision about what you are doing.

I also don’t want any mushroom induced illnesses being due to this blog! /j

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A lovely collection of fungi i found while walking in the woods a few days ago.

I believe the plate fungus to be Trametes versicolor commonly known as Turkey tail, they’re pretty common in my country and have a very distinctive ring patten similar to the rings of trees.

The black bulbous fungi is a Daldinia concentrica or King Alfred’s cake. It was the first type of fungi i learnt how to identify so its always nice to see them.