By Dianna Smith

(Illustrations are from Gary Lincoff’s Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America)

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This is a glossary – a list of terminology commonly used by authors of articles and books of mycology when describing characteristic features of a fruiting body or mushroom. Rather than guess what they may mean or skip over them, familiarize yourself with the words and their meanings. Doing so will enable you to better understand the descriptions and empower you to use these words when describing your finds to others. Know more – see more – comprehend more.

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Mycology: Greek mukēs = fungus + "ology" = study of) = scientific study of fungi

Mycologist: typically a biologist who specializes in mycology

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Mycophile: someone who loves fungi

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Mycophobe: someone who is afraid of fungi

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Mycophagist: one who eats fungi, fungi foodie

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Amateur mycologist: typically studies macro-fungi, (the ephemeral visible fruiting bodies of much larger organisms that have been actively growing within their substrates sometimes for years), initially at least for the purpose of foraging for edible food.

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Macro Fungi: Visible above ground fungi with large spore-bearing bodies

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Taxonomic ranks: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

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Domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya

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Eukarya: defined as having a nucleus in every cell

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Kingdom level taxons: Depending on the classification scheme, there are at least 5 kingdoms of groups of living things: Chromista (diatoms, giant kelps, oomycote or water molds); Protozoa (a grab bag of unrelated organisms, including amoebas and slime molds); Plants; Animals and Fungi

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Chromists and plants both photosynthesize, but are unrelated = autotrophs (create their own food)

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Animals and fungi live by digesting (live or dead) plants and animals that eat plants = heterotrophs (must find and digest food to survive)

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Fungi, unlike animals, first dissolve their food via enzymes and then absorb them

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A more recent method of organizing information on earth’s living things is to divide the Eukarya into 6 different monophyletic "supergroups" (rather than kingdoms), showing they derive from a common ancestor

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Animals, fungi and choanoflagellates are in the Opisthokonta

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Plants, being more distantly related, are in the Archaeplastida (with red and green algae and glaucophytes = microscopic fresh water algae)

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The most recent way of ranking organisms is to place them all into 7 kingdoms: Archaea, Bacteria, Protozoa, Chromista, Plantae, Fungi and Animalia. Life is complicated, so methods of organizing our knowledge are subject to ongoing changes!

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The most basic way of referencing any organism is by using the binomial system made popular by Carl Linneaus in the early to mid-eighteenth century.

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Genus: taxonomic rank below family; always capitalized and italicized

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species: lowest rank in taxonomy; never capitalize, but always italicize. Both the genus and species need to be italicized, for example Morchella punctipes.

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TYPES OF FUNGI NUTRITION & ECOLOGICAL ROLES

arbuscular = Glomeromycota fungi which penetrate the roots of plants to exchange nutrients

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mycorrhizal = fungal structures by which fungi and plants exchange nutrients and water

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ectomycorrhizal (EM) = fungi form a sheath around plant rootlets and grow between cells of with root without penetrating the plant cells. Fungi provide water and nutrients to plants in exchange for sugars.

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endomycorrhiza = fungi hypha that penetrate root cells of host plants

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endophyte = fungus that lives within a plant without causing harm

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saprotrophic = fungi that obtains nutrients from dead organic matter

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parasitic = organism feeds on substrate at the expense of the host

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pathogen = capable of causing disease in host(s)

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mycoparasite = fungus that parasitizes another fungus (e.g., Hypomyces lactifluorum, the "lobster mushroom")

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thermophiles = fungi able to thrive at high temperatures

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TREE ASSOCIATION EXAMPLES

Specific or cosmopolitan

Dead wood or living wood

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WHAT ARE FUNGI MADE OF?

hypha = single-celled-filamentous thread of mycelium

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hyphae = many threads interwoven

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mycelium = entire body of a fungus, most of which is underground or in other substrate such as wood; branching network of fungi

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septum, septate = cross walls in hyphae that separate hypha thread filaments

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fruiting body = term for spore-bearing structures of fungi

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carpophore = fungal fruiting body

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sporophore = fungal fruiting body

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ascocarp = fruiting body of an ascomycete

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basidiocarp = basidio means "small pedestal"

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sporocarp = fruiting body of a fungus

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spore = reproductive structure of fungi, single cell typically

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MACROFUNGI: 2 Groups of Macrofungi: Ascomycota and Basidiomycota

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ASCOMYCETES (asco meaning "open")

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ascocarp = fruiting body of an ascomycete

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ascus, asci = sexual reproductive cells or sacs in which ascospores are produced

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ascospores = sexual spores of ascomycetes within asci (usually 8)

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apothecium = cup shaped fruiting body with fertile layer inside of cup

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pyrenomycete = flask fungi

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perithecium = flask-like chambers that contain asci

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BASIDIOMYCETES

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basidio = "small pedestal"

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basidiocarp = fruiting body of a basidiomycete

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basidium, basidia = sexual cells in which basidospores (usually 4)are produced

basidiospores = sexual spores of basidiomycetes

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FUNGAL MORPHOLOGY = "Study of shapes"

What questions do you have to ask yourself in order to adequately describe a fungus, so you can identify it to genus and species