Fungipedia

Fungi is a wild and diverse kingdom, with many unturned stones. To many it is unexplored ground. The Fungi Foundation’s Fungipedia will give you a good understanding of the language of Mycologists, biologists, scientists and other interested in Fungi.

This will give you the tools to digest reading, videos and other material on Fungi, and not get lost. Some terms might sound familiar but could mean something completely different in the context of Fungi. Come back here anytime you come across an unfamiliar word and we will happily guide you!

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Adnate

Refers to fills/pores/wrinkles/teeth, broadly attached to top of stem

Adnexed

Refers to gills/pores/wrinkles/teeth, partially attached to top of stem

Annulus

A remnant of the partial veil left as the mushroom matures. It often leaves a ring of membranous tissue around the stem (stipe)

Ascomycetes

A class of fungi that produce their spores in sac-like cells called asci

Basidiocarp

Fruit body of a basidiomycete fungus

Basidiomycetes

A fungus whose spores develop in basidia. Basidiomycetes include the majority of familiar mushrooms and toadstools.

Biotrophic

Feeding on living cells of other organisms

Cap

Top part of a basidiomycete mushroom that carries the fertile tissue

Carpophore

Complete fruit body of the fungus (ie. cap, stem, gills, etc). Sporophore and sporocarp are other names also used

Coprophilous

Growing on dung

Cortina

A cobweb-like partial veil consisting of fine silky fibers

Deliquescent

Liquefying at maturity, common among Ink caps

Ectomycorrhiza

Mycorrhizal type where the fungus forms sheathes around plant rootlets (often of a tree), growing between but not penetrating the cells of the plant root, and providing the plant with water and nutrients while the plant supplies sugars to the fungus

Endomycorrhiza

Mycorrhiza type in which fungal hyphae penetrate cell walls of host plant

Gill

Spore-bearing structure of mushrooms

Mycelial Disc

Disc-like structure found at base of stem, consisting of a compact mass of mycelium

Mycelium

Body of a fungus, most of which is underground or hidden within wood

Mycorrhiza

The association between the mycelium of a fungus and the rootlets of plants. Little is known of the associations between funga and plants in Australia; hence, the important questions on habitat and nearest tree/plant in the mapping scheme

Partial Veil

Covering of the gills while very young that breaks open, often leaving remnants on the stem (stipe)

Spore

A reproductive cell (usually single-cell) capable of developing into a new individual without fusion with another reproductive cell, and released by fungal fruit body

Spore Print

Spore material left on paper when the cap is left for a period of time — the colour can be an important identifying characteristic

Stipe

Stalk or stem of the fruiting body of the fungus

Universal Veil

A protective membrane that initially surrounds an entire fruitbody

Volva

The remnant of the universal veil which is sometimes left at the base of the stipe

Amanita muscaria mushroomYellow Fungi
Picture Credit Here

Fungus of the day

Sowerbyella rhenana

This bright orange species is aptly named "Stalked Orange-peel Fungus". It belongs to a group known as cup fungi and is common in autumn all over the world, namely the Patagonia region, south eastern Australia, and the Pacific Northwest.