Contents
Saprophytic and parasitic fungi
WARNING:
The author and publisher do not assume any responsibility for sickness, death or other misfortune suffered by any person resulting from eating any mushroom described in this book.
It is illegal to collect mushrooms in South African State Forests without a permit, which can be obtained from the relevant parks authority in your area. Permission is also necessary to collect from private forests and nature reserves.
Only eat mushrooms that have been positively identified as edible. This book is an introduction to mushrooms and not a complete guide, so if a specimen does not fit a description in this book exactly, consult an expert or further references.
REMEMBER:
There are old mushroom hunters
And bold mushroom hunters
But there are no
Old, bold mushroom hunters
Introduction
In Africa, mushrooms were once celebrated as a feast given by the rains before the crops matured, but in medieval Europe they were shrouded in mystery. This is not surprising: mushrooms pop up in dank, dark places as though from nothing. Some can cause death or hallucination, others glow in the dark. Some were named after toads, witches or fairies. The mysteriously sudden appearance of mushrooms was explained when scientists discovered that microscopic spores grow into a network of fine hairs to produce fruit-bodies; and that, after rain, these fruit-bodies absorb water, swell, burst to the surface and rapidly expand into mushrooms. A new cycle of spores is then shed, perpetuating the process.
Mushrooms are a type of fungus. The Fungi Kingdom includes mushrooms, brackets, yeasts, rusts and moulds. Unlike green plants, fungi cannot make their own food by photosynthesis. Instead, they obtain their nourishment from plant or animal material, which is dissolved by enzymes and ingested. While many fungi are small and simple in structure, mushrooms are the fruit-bodies of complex fungi. This guide introduces some larger fungi: mushrooms, brackets, puff-balls and stinkhorns.
Fungal activity has a great impact on our lives, both positively and negatively. Many fungi play important roles as decomposers, and return nutrients to the soil. Others, such as yeast, are useful for the production of bread, beer, cheese or yoghurt. Penicillin is a fungus that attacks bacterial diseases and is thus a commonly used medicine. Some fungi, however, are destructive and cause disease, like black spot on roses and athlete’s foot in humans.
A mushroom arises from the fine hairs that form the myceliumG.
Types of fungal fruit-bodies
Gilled mushrooms typically have a cap on a stalk. Beneath the cap hang the gills like the pages of a book. The gills are covered with a spore-producing hymeniumG. A partial veil encloses the gills at the bud stage, which later becomes the ring. In some species a universal veil encloses the whole bud. As the bud grows this veil splits and leaves a cup (volvaG) at the base of the stem and scales on the cap.
Pored mushrooms of the family Boletaceae have tubes beneath the cap, creating a sponge-like layer.
Bracket fungi usually grow on trees or dead wood. The spore-bearing surface may be gilled, pored, smooth or spined.
Puff-balls are soft-skinned balls filled with spores.
Stinkhorns grow from soft-skinned balls. Sticky, foul-smelling spores coat their tips.
Cup fungi produce spores in cups.
Gilled mushroom
Pored mushroom
Bracket fungus
Puff-ball
Cup fungus
Stinkhorn
Saprophytic and parasitic fungi
Saprophytic fungi grow on dead organic material. Different species are adapted to grow in different conditions. Some grow on dead grass or leaves, while others thrive on partly digested dung. Many bracket fungi and some mushrooms cause rot in dead wood. (Pages 31–33 and 44–48)
The Mottle-gill, Panaeolus papilionaceus, grows saprophytically on dung.
Parasitic fungi attack living plants or animals and cause diseases such as leaf spot, downy mildew, thrush and ringworm. The Artist’s Fungus and Chicken of the Woods (page 44) are bracket fungi that cause trunk-rot in living trees.