Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: bolete

#055: The Old Man of the Woods, Strobilomyces floccopus 1

Fungus Fact

#055: The Old Man of the Woods, Strobilomyces floccopus

This bolete is easily distinguished by the prominent tufts of black “hair” that cover the otherwise greyish cap and stipe. Despite the old man imagery, floccopus is probably one of the most beautiful mushrooms.  It at least deserves to be counted among the best dressed mushrooms due to its showy scales.  The scales are the most striking feature of the Old Man of the Woods.  They are soft, black, and wooly, which makes them stand out from the whitish to grayish pileus.  The wooly fibers are long and often hang over the edge of the convex pileus, giving the mushroom an unkempt appearance.  On top of that, the cap’s margin often sports the remnants of a whitish to grayish partial veil.  The stipe is similarly covered with dense, black fibers, which obscure the whitish to grayish color of the stipe surface.  When you flip the mushroom over, you will notice...

#028: Mushroom Morphology: Boletes 6

Fungus Fact

#028: Mushroom Morphology: Boletes

The bolete morphology is one of two morphologies characterized by a hymenium (spore-bearing surface) covered with pores. Although boletes and polypores share this characteristic, the similarities end there.  In fact, they look different enough for them to be commonly referred to by to different names.  Boletes always share the following characteristics: the stipe (stalk) is central, the hymenium is on the underside of and is distinct from the pileus (cap), the pore surface easily separates from the pileus, the pore tubes are relatively long, and the flesh is fleshy to tough.  From above, boletes tend to look a lot like agarics.  However, bolete caps are often cracked or eaten away, making it possible for experienced mushroom hunters to tell boletes and agarics apart without picking them up.  Most boletes are mycorrhizal with trees, so boletes are usually found growing on the ground around specific trees.  Polypores never share all of...