-
Acrid (taste)
causing a biting sensation on the tongue, intensely burning and/or sharp
-
Adnate (gills)
bluntly attached to the stalk, when the gills are directly attached to the stalk
-
Adnexed (gills)
when the gill is notched just at the stalk
-
Aerolate
being finely cracked
-
Agaric
mushroom term for any gilled mushroom
-
Allantoid
having a sausage shape
-
Ammonium Hydroxide
- NH4OH
- used as a mushroom detection reagent; cleaning ammonia may also be used
-
Amyloid
turning blue, violet, or black when an iodine reagent is used such as Melzer's Reagent
-
Angular (spores)
the 4 to 6 sided spores found in the genus Entoloma
-
Annulus
the ring of tissue left on the stalk from the breaking of the veil, most often the partial veil
-
Apical Pore
a pore or the thin spot at the apex of a spore
-
Apiculus
the projection on some basidiospores that bears the scar which was left when the spore was discharged from the basidium, the small projection that attaches the spore to the basidium
-
Appendiculate
margin of a cap that has patches of veil tissue and/or fibrils hanging from it
-
Appressed
flattened or flat lying against the surface like in appressed hairs
-
Areolate
cracked into more or less hexagonial areas (areolae) almost looking like a dried out mud flat
-
Asco
prefix used to indicate association with an ascus or ascus-bearing fungus eg. Ascomycete, Ascospore
-
Ascus
a cell in which spores are formed following fusion of two nuclei and division of the resulting nucleus, the saclike cell that produces the spores of the Ascomycetes
-
Attached (gills)
gills that touch the stalk at some point in their development and are attached to it; "free" is the opposite of "attached"
-
Azonate (cap)
having no concentric zones or bands
-
Basidio
prefix used to indicate association with a basidium or basidium bearing fungus, eg. Basidiomycete, Basidiospore
-
Basidium
a special cell on which spores are formed following the fusion of two nuclei and division of the resulting nucleus
-
Bay (color)
Reddish Brown
-
Bolete
mushroom term for any member of the Boletaceae
-
Boletinoid
- tube mouths on a bolete
- elongated along the radii of the cap as in Suillus pictus
-
Brittle (stalk)
Breaking with a clean snap
-
Broad-Leaved (type of tree)
not like conifers, pines, and needlelike leaves
-
Buff (type of color)
pale yellow with touch of gray, a dingy pale yellow
-
Bulbous (of the stalk)
when the base of bottom of the mushroom stalk has an abrupt enlargement like a bulb
-
Button (of a mushroom)
a young mushroom still having the veil intact, when the cap has not expanded
-
Calyptrate (spore)
the loose covering around one end of some basidiospores
-
Campanulate (cap)
Bell shaped
-
Cap
- The umbrella-like structure of the mushroom that has the gills or tubes.
- The cap is at the apex of the stalk.
- The technical term for the cap is "Pileus"
-
Carbonaceous
like burned wood or charcoal leaving black stains on skin
-
Caustic Potash
another name for KOH
-
Cell
The living protoplasmic unit into which hyphae braks down to
-
Cellular Cuticle (cap)
pear or round shaped cells that form the outer layer of the mushroom's cap
-
Cespitose
growing in clusters with the bases of all the mushroom stalks attached to one another
-
Cheilocystidium
A cystidium on the edge of the mushroom's gill or tube
-
Chrysocystidium
a cystidium that has yellow and coagulated contents when revived in KOH
-
Clamp Connection
a specialized hyphal branch that attaches to other hyphal strands. This condition only occurs in some mushrooms, not all
-
Clavate
when the stalk is club shaped or thickened evenly to the base
-
Cleft Foot
the deeply dissected base of Amanita brunnescens
-
Close (gills)
when the spacing of the gills is close
-
Conidiospore
a spore that is formed with no nuclear fusion, and is produced externally
-
Conifer
a tree that has cones
-
Coniferous
having cones, pine fir and hemlock
-
Conk
a term used for the large wood destroying fruiting bodies of hydnums and polypores on trees
-
Context
the flesh of the mushroom, both stalk and cap
-
Corrugated
having deep wrinkles
-
Cortina
when the veil is cobweb like and composed of loosely placed silky fibrils
-
Cortinous
the weblike appearance of some partial veils like on Inocybe and Cortinarius
-
Cristate
crested like a rooster's comb
-
Crowded (gills)
whent he gills are very close together
-
Crustose
like small flat scabs, crust like
-
Cuticle
when the surface tissue zone is differentiated, sometimes this zone can actually be separated from the mushroom cap or stalk, the outer layer or skin. Pileipellis is another term for this same condition
-
Cutis
when the cuticle is made by dry interwoven hypae
-
Cystidium (also cystidia pl.)
microscopic sterile cell with a feature such as thicker wall, large size, different contents, or eye catching shape. When they are classed by location they are termed cheilo and pleuro, hence pleurocystidia. If classed by contents they are known as macro and chryso, hence macrocystidia.
-
Deciduous
referring to trees that lose their leaves seasonally, not like pines or other evergreens
-
Decurrent (gills)
when the gills extend downward on the stalk
-
Deliquescing (gills)
when the gills dissolve into an inky fluid like in Coprinus
-
Dextrinoid
when the mushroom material becomes a reddish brown in Melzer's reagent or other types of iodine solution. See also Amyloid.
-
Dichotomous
when one divides into two
-
Disc (cap)
this is the center part of the surface going out about halfway to the margin
-
Distant (gills)
when the gills are not close together but widely spaced, well separated
-
Divergent Gill Tissue (gill)
in cross section the cells seem to sweep outward from the center when viewed with the microscope
-
Eccentric
when the stakl is not attached in the center of the cap, off center
-
Echinate
having small pointed spikes or spines
-
Echinulate
having very small pointed spokes or spines
-
Evanescent
disappearing or vanishing
-
Farinaceous
when the taste and/or odor is mealy, like that of fresh ground wheat
-
-
Ferric Sulphate
- FeSO4
- when 3% solution in water is placed on certain mushroom flesh a green color reaction is noted.
-
Fertile
when the mushroom is capable of producing spores and/or the mushroom spores themselves are capable of good genetic growth
-
Fetid (smell)
having the odor of rotted meat, an ill-like smell
-
FeSO4
Ferrous Sulphate, a reagent solution used in certain macrochemical tests that contains 10% ferrous sulphate and 90% water
-
Fibril
a soft or think thread like strand, a minute hair
-
Fibrillose
when covered with appressed threads and/or hairs
-
Filamentous Cuticle (cap)
the thread-like cells which form the outer layer of some mushroom caps
-
Floccose
Woolly or cottony like hairs
-
Free (gills)
when the gills are not attached to the stalk
-
Fruiting Body
the entire mushroom
-
Fungus
a plant organism that reproduces by spores and lacks chlorophyll
-
Fungoid
very close to fungus, fungi like
-
Furfuraceous
when there is a rough look like that of bran like small particles
-
Fuscous (color)
a dusky brown
-
-
Fusoid
when both ends are tapered like the shape of a spindle
-
Gelatinous Cuticle (cap)
the gelatin-like slimy substance forming the outside layer of the mushroom cap
-
Genus
the next highest grouping in biology that is above the species grouping. The Genus is always capitalized, and it is always used just before the species. If the mushroom is in the Genus Psylocybe and it is the cubensis species, it is placed as "Psylocybe cubensis"
-
Germ Pore (spore)
the very thin spot on the wall of the spore through which the tiny sprout of hyphae comes out when the spore germinates. Most of the time it is at the apex of the spore and for this reason it is also called an apical pore.
-
Gill
the knife-blade like structures radially going out from the stalk's attachment to the underside cap of the mushroom (gilled mushrooms). Also know as lamellae (lamella sng.)
-
Glabrous
having no hair, bald
-
Glandular Dots
when the stalk has slightly sticky spots as with boletes
-
Glaucous
having the appearance of being frosted
-
Gleba
the mass of spores inside a puffball
-
-
Gluten
the viscous liquid that makes some mushrooms feel slimy
-
Glutinous
the slimy ooz that hangs from the margin of the cap especially during wet weather
-
Gregarious
when mushrooms are found growing in groups of clusters and the stalks to do not connect at the base. It is the condition in the middle of scattered and cespitose
-
Habit
how the mushroom appears - cespitose, gregarious, scattered, or solitary
-
Habitat
what type of environment the specific mushroom likes, or is found
-
Hardwood
referring to the wood or actual trees of most deciduous trees. The wood is hard and heavy
-
Heteromerous
when there are two types of tissue cells like in cases of the Genus Russulaceae
-
Horns
the microscopic projection on the cystidia, most of the times at teh apex
-
Hyaline (spore)
having the appearance of translucent or being transparent, having no color
-
Hymenophore
the part of the mushroom that has the hymenium
-
Hyphae (hypha sng)
the single thread of growth that comes from the spore of vegetative part of the mushroom or it's mycelium
-
Imbricate (cap)
when the caps are found growing one just above the other
-
Inamyloid
when the mushroom material does not turn blue or dark rusty orange to red in any of the iodine reagents
-
Inferior (annulus)
Located at the base of the stalk
-
Interwoven Gill Tissue
when cross section is prepared the cells of the gill are entwined and have no pattern when viewed under the microscope
-
KOH
Chemical symbol for Potassium Hydroxide. Usually used as 3% in water to prepare specimens for microscopy as with spores. Also used to check color reactions to mushroom material, and to prepare specimens for mounting under the microscope.
-
Lacerate
having a torn appearance
-
Lamella
the gill of a mushroom - technical term
-
Lamellate
Like that of a gill
-
Latex
the liquid that comes forward when some mushrooms are cut
-
Lattice
when the cuticle is made up of hypae that ascends and is interwoven
-
Leptocystidium
when the cystidium has a thin wall
-
Leathery (cap and/or stalk)
will not break easily, hard to tear apart, tough
-
Long Striate (spores)
the furrows or lines that go down the full length of the spore and/or the stalk
-
Lubricous
when the mushroom has a buttery feeling
-
Macrocystidium
when the cystidium is big and have oily contents like the ones found in the Genus Russulaceae
-
Margin
the most outer part and edge for either the gill or cap of the mushroom, the outer or edge part
-
Melzer's Reagent
an iodine type reagent used to test for the presence of starch in spores and other mushroom tissue. It contains 1.5 grams of potassium iodide, 21 grams of chloral hydrate, and 20 grams of water. The positive reaction is reffered to as "amyloid" This blue-black color change. If it changed to rusty red it is called "dextriniod", if no color change it is called "inamyloid"
-
Membranous
like that of a membrane or thin covering
-
Micron
a very small unit of measure, 3000 microns are in a 1/8th inch, used to give the size of spores
-
Mycelium (pl mycelia)
a mass of hyphae, the vegetative tissue portion, the normal physical growing state of the mushroom plant
-
Mycology
the study of all fungi
-
Mycophagist
a person who eats mushrooms or other fungi, a mushroom lover, one who is a mushroom fancier
-
Mycophagy
the act of eating fungi
-
Mycorrhizae
the relationship between mushrooms and other fungi with the root tip systems of specific trees or other plants
-
Ochraceous (color)
dingy yellow to dull brownish yellow
-
Operculate
this is an ascus that opens by a lid (the lid is known as the opercuium) this enables tha spore to discharge
-
Order
the next major biological grouping above the "family" grouping, eg. Agaricales, all mushrooms end with "ales"
-
Ornamentation
microscopic feature on certain spores which looks like sculpturing on their wall and may appear as lines, ridges, dots, or warts
-
Overlapping
imbricate mushrooms growing right above eachother closely
-
Ovoid
not really round but more egg shaped
-
Pedicel
a narrow stalk or base
-
Pleurocystidium
the cystidium when it appears on the side of the gill
-
Plicate
having the look of being pleated
-
Polypore
a mushroom that has no gills bur has a pariod hymenophore, Aphyllophorales
-
Pore
a small hole in the hymenophore under the cap, the tube's opening
-
Poroid
that which has pores
-
-
Pruinose
Looks as if it is powdered or lightly frosted, reflecting light from very tiny particles cause this appearance
-
Pseudorhiza
the process of a root like structure that comes up from deep in the ground to the surface and bares the fruited body
-
Raphanoid
when the taste and/or small is that of a radish
-
Reticulate
when the spore of stalk have a pattern of lines or ridges
-
Rhizomorphic
when the mycelium has small rope-like or string-like appearance among the regular cotton look. It is solid aggregation of hyphae
-
Rimose
having the appearance of being cracked
-
Ring
the common term for the membranous annulus around the stalk
-
Rugose
having the appearence for being wrinkled
-
Saprophyte
a mushroom that lives on dead organic matter
-
Scattered
when the fruiting of a mushroom is scattered and over a good distance
-
Scurf
small scales many times like of bran
-
Septum (the pl speta)
the crosswall within hypha which divides the cells from each other
-
Sphaerocysts
globose like cells inside the mushroom fruit, the Russulaceae have this characteristic
-
Spathulate
spoon shaped, expanded upper portion with a narrow base
-
Spawn
a large mass of mycelium that can be used to inoculate fruiting substrate
-
Species
the last biological grouping of individual life forms that all have certain features in common
-
Specific Epithet
this is the 2nd part of species name
-
Spine
a small cone shape with a point
-
Spore
serves same purpose as "seeds" but microscopic and measured in Microns
-
Squamule
a very small scale
-
Squamulose
having small scales
-
Sterile
- a cell that does not produce spores, a mushroom that produces no spores or it's spores will not reproduce a mushroom
- also meaning "contamination free"
-
Stalk
the stem-like structure that supports the cap, also known as the stipe
-
Striate
having grooves, ridges, or lines
-
Sulcate
having grooves or is grooved
-
Taxon (pl is taxa)
the taxonomic group of any genus, family, order or species
-
Terrestrial
when the mushroom is gound growing from the ground
-
Toadstool
a common term used for poisonous mushrooms
-
Tomentum
when there is a covering of soft hair, tomentose is the term meaning covered with soft hair
-
Trichodermium
a cuticle that is composed of erect hyphae and is longer than one cell
-
Truncate
abruptly sliced off leaving a flat apex, like that caused by an apical pore
-
Tube
the bolete's basic hymenophore unit, single tubes hang parallel by the force of gravity and open by a pore
-
Tube Mouth
the tissue material around the pore of a tube
-
Tuberculate
having tubercles, as wart-like or knob-like structures of growth
-
Turf
when the cuticle is composed of erect long and narrow cells
-
Type
exact element of specimen, illustration, or collection whereby the name of a taxon is also attached. It does not have to be typical or representative of the taxon
-
Umbo
a raised convex or conic area in the center of the mushroom cap
-
Variant
a term designated to a mushroom that differs only slightly from the formal designated proper mushroom name. Another variation from the normal
-
Variety
the subdivision of a species
-
Veil
a think layer of tissue, the partial veil and the universal veil
-
Ventricose
when the middle of the stalk is swollen or enlarged
-
Viscid
slimy or sticky to the touch
-
Volva
a cup-like structure under the ground level that holds the stalk, what remains of the universal veil around the base of the stalk after the veil has ruptured
-
Wart
small pyramidal or squatted chunks of tissue on the cap or similar shapes on a spore
-
Zonate
having different zones
-
Zone
a concentric zone or band that is of different appearance from the rest of the surface of the cap
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