mushroom

     

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting boy of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap just as do store-bought white mushrooms. However, "mushroom" can also refer to a wide variety of gilled fungi, with or without stems, and the term is used even more generally to describe both the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota and the woody or leathery fruiting bodies of some Basidiomycota, depending upon the context of the word. Forms deviating from the standard form usually have more specific names, such as "puffball", "stinkhorn", and "morel", and gilled mushrooms themselves are often called "agarics" in reference to their similarity to Agaricus or their placement in the order Agaricales. By extension, "mushroom" can also designate the entire fungus when in culture or the thallus (called a mycelium) of species forming the fruiting bodies called mushrooms.

Trivia about mushroom

  • From the Latin for "cup", a chanterelle is one of these edible fungi
  • From the Latin for "cap", the pileus is the circular cap on one of these fungi
  • Collective name for the various spore-producing fungi of the Basidiomycetes class
  • It's easy to see why the wood ear type of this is so named
  • Ancient Romans prized the shaggy mane, an ink cap type of this fungus
  • A toadstool is an inedible kind of this fungus
  • The morel is Minnesota's state one of these
  • The portobello, a type of this which can measure 6" in diameter, makes a great stuffed appetizer
  • Named for its resemblance to a cheerleading accessory, the pom pom is a white type of this fungus
  • For centuries the Japanese have been using the maitake, a type of this fungus, to improve overall health
  • The name of this fast-growing fungus can also mean to grow or develop rapidly
  • They have no flavor or aroma, but cloud ears, a type of this, are used in many Chinese dishes for their texture
  • In Wonderland, Alice comes across a large one of these with a snooty caterpillar atop it
  • Could I interest you in a big, fat portobello sandwich, the portobello being a type of this?
  • You'll be such a fungi if you know a morel is one of these
  • Champignon is the French word for an edible one of these
  • A true delicacy, the morel is Minnesota's state one of these

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