Wild Edible Plants & Mycology - Terminology

Mycorrhizal

Beneficial, symbiotic fungi that connect with plant roots to expand the root zone, improving water and nutrient uptake (especially phosphorus) by up to 10-100 times

Saprophyte

An organism, typically a fungus or bacterium, that obtains nutrients by absorbing dissolved organic material from dead or decaying plants and animals

Gilled Mushrooms (Agaric)

What they look like:

• Classic “umbrella” shape

• Thin gills under the cap (like pages of a book)

Function:

• Gills increase surface area to release spores efficiently

Examples:

• Button mushroom, shiitake, fly agaric

Key idea:
👉 Most familiar mushrooms = gilled

Puffballs

What they look like:

• Round or pear-shaped

• No visible cap, stem, or gills

Function:

• Spores form inside; released in a “puff” when disturbed (rain, animals, touch)

Examples:

• Giant puffball

Key idea:
👉 Like a spore “dust bomb”

Polypores (Bracket Fungi)

What they look like:

• Shelf-like, often growing on trees

• Underside has tiny pores instead of gills

Function:

• Release spores through pores

• Break down wood (important decomposers)

Examples:

• Turkey tail, reishi

Key idea:
👉 Tree recyclers with pores

Chanterelles and Allies

What they look like:

• Funnel or trumpet-shaped

• Blunt ridges underneath (not true gills)

Function:

• Spores released from ridged surfaces

• Often form symbiotic relationships with trees (mycorrhizal)

Examples:

• Golden chanterelle

Key idea:
👉 “Fake gills” + often symbiotic

Coral Fungi

What they look like:

• Branching like coral or tiny trees

Function:

• Spores produced on the surface of branches

Examples:

• Ramaria species

Key idea:
👉 Looks like underwater coral on land

Spined (Tooth Fungi)

What they look like:

• Underside has teeth/spines instead of gills or pores

Function:

• Spores drop from these hanging spines

Examples:

• Lion’s mane, hedgehog mushroom

Key idea:
👉 “Icicle” or tooth-like spore surface

Jelly Fungi

What they look like:

• Soft, gelatinous, often translucent

• Can dry out and rehydrate

Function:

• Produce spores on smooth surfaces

• Adapted to survive drying and re-wetting

Examples:

• Wood ear, witch’s butter

Key idea:
👉 Squishy, rubbery survival specialists

Boletes

What they look like:

• Thick, fleshy mushrooms with a cap and stem

• Underside has spongy pores (like a soft sponge), not gills

• Often look “bread-like” or chunky

Function:

• Spores released through the pore surface

• Many form mycorrhizal relationships with trees (they help roots, like we talked about earlier)

Examples:

• King bolete (porcini)

• Suillus (slippery jacks)

Key idea:
👉 Like polypores, but soft, ground-growing, and chunky

Cap/Pileus

Top part of the mushroom

Gills (Hymenophore)

Thin plates under the cap where spores are produced

Ring/Annulus

Remnant of a partial veil around the stem

Stem/Stipe

Stalk supporting the cap

Volva

Cup-like base from a universal veil

Basidiomycota (“club fungi”)

• Produce spores on structures called basidia

• Includes:

  • Gilled mushrooms

  • Boletes

  • Polypores

  • Puffballs

  • Coral fungi

  • Jelly fungi

• Examples: button mushrooms, shiitake, bracket fungi

👉 Key idea: Most visible, familiar mushrooms = Basidiomycota

Ascomycota (“sac fungi”)

• Produce spores inside sacs called asci

• Includes:

  • Morels

  • Truffles

  • Cup fungi

  • Some yeasts and molds

👉 Key idea: Often less “classic mushroom shape,” but still important

Zygomycota

Bread Molds

Glomeramycota

Mycorrhizal Fungi

Chytridiomycota

Mostly aquatic fungi with flagellated spores