Saturday, August 9, 2008

Never judge a fungus by it's skin


The top of this fungi was almost level with the sandy soil in Tilligerry Peninsula and would not be noticed unless you were on your own personal Fungi Foray as I was. The outside was a creamy-white skin surrounding a layer of opaque "jelly". Even better was the highly folded interior which I an guessing contains the spore. It dropped no spore that I could see, and as I didn't have a microscope I couldn't check that any had been deposited on a slide or on black or white paper. A big scoop of the sandy soil under it was taken out, but I couldn't see that it was attached to anything in particular, just the bits and pieces of roots and grass and other debris in disturbed soil. The texture was soft and blubbery.
The first reaction that many people have to Fungi Foraying is that it is to seek out edible fungus. No joke, the first question is "what does it taste like?" Rule no. 1 to Rule No Infinity is - regard all fungi as poisonous. If you want to eat fungus then go to a supermarket or greengrocers shop or Farmers Market - and even there avoid the older shrivelly ones as fungi undergo chemical changes over their short life as fruiting body, not all of them good for YOUR body. There is a wise saying - "You can eat any fungus. It may kill you or it may not, but either way you are going to be very very sorry!!" Mushrooms and Toadstools are just two names for the same thing, the fruiting body of a fungus.

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