# sac fungi

[500-moths-in-a-trenchcoat]

kingdom winner: FUNGI!!

[floragender]

[ID 1: A flag with 7 horizontal stripes. The stripes from top to bottom are bright red, bright green, pale pink, white, pale pink, bright green, bright red.]

[ID 2: A flag with 7 horizontal stripes. The stripes from top to bottom are pink, pale pink, dark magenta, magenta, dark magenta, pale pink, pink.]

[ID 3: A flag with 7 horizontal stripes. The stripes from top to bottom are orange gold, orangish brown, pale pink, white, pale pink, orangish brown, orange gold.]

Panangiospermae: a gender related to every flower in existence Calyptriformisae: a gender related to pink waxcap mushrooms Panascomycotae: a gender related to all sac fungi

[mushroomgay]

Lincolnshire, UK, Novemeber 2023

Collared earthstar (Geastrum triplex)

These gorgeous fungi emerge initially as a globe-like fruiting body consisting of a spore sac (the bulbous part on top) and an outer layer that will quickly split and spread outwards, pushing the spore sac higher and forming the star shape underneath. These fungi are known as 'collared' because of the 'arms' of this species having a tendency to crack as they bend backwards, forming a sort of 'collar' that the spore sac sits on, as you can see in this photo.

[lichenaday]

Lecanora intricata

Lichens have a few different ways to reproduce (they're just awesome like that) but most lichen symbioses include an ascomycete fungi, AKA a sac fungi. These fungi create spores in internal sacs known as asci (singular: ascus), and lichenized ascomycetes often house these sacs in their apothecia, or fruiting bodies. So you see those dark spots on the surface of our pal L. intricata here? Those are its apothecia, or its fruiting bodies, from which fungal spores will be ejected to go out and hopefully form their own little lichens someday. Pretty neat, huh? L. intricata is a crustose lichen with a verrucose (wart-like)-areolate (tile-like) thallus. It has a gray-green to yellow-green surface sitting atop a dark prothallus (a layer of fungal hyphae). It should look something like puzzle-pieces on a dark surface. It has blackish-green to brown, irregularly shaped apothecia immersed in the thallus surface. L. intricata grows on silicious rock and occasionally wood in montane, boreal, and arctic habitats.

images: source | source | source | source

info: source | source | source

[floragender]

[ID: A flag with 9 horizontal stripes. The stripes from top to bottom are jewel green, greenish blue, blue, periwinkle, royal blue, periwinkle, blue, greenish blue, jewel green.]

Aerix: A gender related to green elfcup mushrooms

The name comes from the scientific name for green elfcup mushrooms,  Chlorociboria aeruginascens

The colors are inspired by green elfcup mushrooms

[deepzekrom]

Beast Month 2024, Day 11: Fantastic UB-??Exhaust aka Mykhelium the Strong Wind Pokemon Type: Fairy Flying Abilities:Unburden/Beast Boost HA: Mycelium Might "They are capable of walking on air, as their body is entirely hollow. As they inhale vast amounts of air, the air sacs swell until they expel a massive storm filled with spores. " Basis: Pink Hibiscus Mealybug, Muntjac Deer, Lion Mane Fungi

[seabeck]

Here’s the new Bird’s Nest fungi I saw today! Seek initially called it common birds nest but the spore sacs didn’t look the right color and I couldn’t find any examples of them on site actually turning into the iconic nest shape. inaturalist says they are amorphous birds nest

[maxparkhurst]

Druxy

During my tenure with the Seventh Son’s Trading Company, I specialized in mycology. Fungi are adaptive. They flourish in nearly any terrain; however, this particular species is resilient unlike variants found in places such as the Zaralek Caverns. These caverns below the Isle of Dorn house a myriad of lifeforms co-existing alongside the founts of residual magic left behind by Dalaran’s fall. The mycobloom has not only adapted but evolved with it. The mycelium, left untouched for thousands of years, seems to have fed on this teeming energy. It is a wonder what their limitations might possibly be… - from the field notes of Maxinora Parkhurst

It mattered surprisingly little to Maxinora where the Alliance embassy stationed her. Stored and transported in a velveteen coffer, her alchemy equipment was portable. Her and her work were bound by no border nor boundary; the only limitation was the conflict between ravenous curiosity and overwhelming apathy. Whichever won over the other dictated where the Alchemist would burrow. In the week following her arrival in Gundargaz, Maxinora found herself to possess an insatiable hunger…

By the misfortune of an Earthen innkeeper, Max charmed her way into a spacious room. Clever words and disarming smiles are a foxes key tools, after all. She retreated there after grueling days spent drudging through the Ringing Deeps. Her muzzle soddened in red as she drug the prizes of her hunt home - venom sacs and deepflayer glands, orbinid bulbs and luredrop heads, leyline ash and effervescent spores. A bounty of secrets and truths waiting to be gutted and devoured. And in the cool shadows of a slumbering hearth, she could digest in peace.

The carnage of Maxinora’s curiosity laid waste to any order the room might’ve possessed. Books and parchment, scrolls and maps, gurgling beakers and boiling admixtures. It was an organized chaos understood only by the Alchemist. She found it to be a welcomed comfort. A facsimile that echoed close to home. Enough for her to remember why she sank her teeth into her work, and how to emerge as human once she picked her molars clean. A stalk of mycobloom harvested from the Waterworks was her most recent prize. It lay on a metal tray beneath a the halo of an alchemical lantern. She breathed a slow hum as she cut into the flesh of the decapitated bloom. A skilled incision from the scalpel divided the gills from the cap. Irradiated spores oozed from the wound, drenching the air in a pungently sweet and metallic scent. It was inorganic. Electrical, even.

Max substituted her scalpel for a pair of tweezers. She worked the tip under plant tissue and coaxed the wound open enough to take a peek. She released an nonplussed whistle. Inside - clusters of spores made bulbous and fat from the arcane energy swirling inside them.

“And still I continued to be amazed.”

“What is it? Lemme see…”

The voice. Familiar yet different. Always continuing to be different. Somehow sounding exactly like her brother, and yet not at all. It possessed neither weight nor texture as it reverberated from the shadows, nestling close to Maxinora’s ear. The shadows at her shoulder shifted. A feline shape emerged from the dark, paper-flat and semi-translucent. Its gaze, lament eyes burning bright as green-glass fire, widened then narrowed.

“A mutation!”

Maxinora licked that morsel of truth from a canine as she worked the tweezers tips around an irradiated spore. With a great degree of care and deliberation, she coaxed it from the fungi’s fibers and placed it in an awaiting dish. “The mycelium must have absorbed the arcane energy from Dalaran’s fall.”

“This far underground?” The shadow cat glided from Max’s shoulder, collecting onto the table like a cloud of smoke. Its head canted as it watched her slide the dish under a scope’s lens. A moment of silence passed. Then its eyes brightened like midsummer fireflies. “Oh. The water channels… They’re all connected .”

Maxinora rewarded the shade with a toothy grin as she peered down the scope’s eye piece. It took adjusting the turret to a higher lens and a bit of fine tuning with the focus knobs to bring forth a clear image. The spore was composed of agglomerating pockets encased in a clear, keratin coat. Housed in the core of each pocket was a cortex of spiraling arcane mana. “Ah,” she laughed, the sound equal parts mirthful as it was sly, “You are capable of clever moments, little brother.”

Her jest was met with an unexpected fold of silence that momentarily curbed her appetite. She stole a glance up at the shadow cat to find its eyes gone dark and its form nearly transparent. It wavered. Struggled. Then lingered like an autumnal fog. She tempered her smile as she waited. A moment passed into a minute before the shade darkened and its eyes suddenly reignited.

“Ah! Sorry…” The voice sounded warped. Guttural. Pitch black. Wrong. The distortion lasted only a brief second before being corrected. Her brother’s voice spoke in sync with the shadow cat, “It is hard to keep the connection across such a great distance. What were you saying?”

The fox faded from Maxinora’s smile as she turned towards her work. “Oh, yes,” she offhandedly remarked as she opted for a pair of point tip forceps, “Simply that you are very clever, Augustine.” In a different time, different place, she would be all but certain of his puckish grin. Of the delight shining so bright in wonder-struck eyes. But things were inexplicably different, now. She did not dare to even glance at the shadow cat, afraid to catch a glimpse into its starved gaze. Instead, she pierced the spore and dug beneath its keratin skin. Electricity jolted up her arm as the tines clasped a thread of coalescing arcane, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to bristle. She gritted her teeth and uncoiled a cluster of cores with a single tug.

Nothing but a ringing in her ears.

And a sudden flash of white. A lightning strike.

Blood roared in her ears like the distant roll of thunder as her vision cleared. She possessed no recollection of the interim between extraction and now, though during such time she deposited the volatile thread into a separate tray. Her gaze momentarily flicked to the fiber, watching as it oxidized and was slowly reduced to shimmering dust. “Leyline residue,” she concluded, tossing the forceps onto the worktable, “How… Shocking.”

“Perhaps it would be best,” spoke the shadow cat, eyes following Max as she rose and crossed the room to a leaning tower of books, “If I were to travel there, too.” Its tail swayed from shoulder to shoulder, eyes narrowed in a display of concern. “I worry for you, you know.”

Max dismissed his concern with an offhanded wave. Her gaze scanned the tower’s titles: Letters of Avaloren, Coreway Catalysts, Curse of the Flesh, Observational Reports: Mycology, The Order of Azeroth. “Your concern is appreciated,” she remarked, casting the first tome aside and cracking open the second, “But misplaced. Mishka is a formidable combatant and a serviceable escort.” Coreway Catalysts had been devoured and digested within the first few hours of Max’s arrival, yet she found it worthy of a second glance as a sudden thought piqued her interest. The book spoke of the varying magical lifeforms inhabiting Khaz Algar, particularly those with close proximity to the Coreway. The link shared between them and the World Soul have caused some herbs to partially crystallize. This made Max exceptionally curious: If such creations were capable of adapting to both arcane and life energy, what else might they absorb?

“You know that’s not what I- Hm. Listen. Your methodology is a bit… Well, it lends itself to the extreme.”

“Oh-ho. So said the pot to the kettle.” Max plucked Curse of the Flesh from the tower and added it to her growing stack. Stepping over a moor of discarded notes and theories, she meandered back to the worktable. The tray of shimmering dust was scooted closer, and a fresh piece of parchment was drawn from an awaiting stack. “A bit of sacrifice is necessary, especially when unraveling mysteries as complex as the wilds of Khaz Algar.” She found a quill amidst the cluttered table and dipped it in a half-dried inkwell. There was enough pigment to draw up a legible draft.

“Sacrifices…” echoed the shadow cat.

“Yes. Such is the First Law.”

“I am aware of Equivalent Exchange…”

There was a momentary pause during which Maxinora refused to look up despite having not written a single word.

“But you must know that there are people who value you more than your work? Surely some part of you does.”

Max barked an arsenic-sharp laugh as she set the quill aside. Such a vulpine sound. Her lips twitched up into a sly grin, breath drawn in retort, when she looked up to find the shadow cat gone. Naught left but an ever-dissipating trail of smoke.

Alone again.

Max suddenly dropped her gaze, hands clasped in her lap. Sitting amidst the massacre of her ravenous curiosity, ink drying like blood on her fingers, cannibalized theories and speculations stuck in her teeth, mouth salivating for more and more and more… She suddenly felt very abashed. “I am my work…” she whispered, gossamer soft.

If Maxinora did not possess a shimmering spark for alchemy, an insatiable hunger for knowledge… Then what remained other than a husk of a mycobloom dying dark on a metal tray?

Prologue | Previous chapter |

[justkidneying]

Shit in the Lungs

I'm gonna give some examples of what you can give your characters if you want them to have a little cough, and one example of a disease that you probably don't want to use.

Tuberculosis: this is that classic one when you're watching a Western and someone coughs up blood into a hankie.

caused by a mycobacterium and can be found in about 1/4 of the world's population (but only 5-10% of those people will ever become symptomatic)

one of the most interesting features of this disease is the fact that someone can get it and not have an active infection for DECADES (but don't worry, they can't spread it either)

the immune system can't kill it to well, so instead it makes these nice granulations around it in the lungs, which is called caseating necrosis (looks like soft cheese - but tastes horrible)

TB can spread to the kidneys (pissing pus), spine, and brain (meningitis). The last one causes fever, headache, coma, and then you die

for regular TB in the lungs: fever, night sweats, weight loss (that's why it was once called consumption), coughing, hemoptysis (coughing up blood), chest pain, tiredness, and malaise

Pneumonia: this is really broad, but in general means the lungs are filling with fluid and you can't breathe

this can be caused by several viruses, fungi, and bacteria. Go look up the specific cause you want, or maybe I'll cover it in the next decade

you have these little air sacs (called alveoli) in your lungs, and if they are filled with crap, they can't exchange CO2 and O2 with your blood and the atmosphere

basic symptoms are coughing, chest pain, fever, chills, nausea, fatigue, headache

there's also walking pneumonia, in which you don't feel shitty enough to stay home so you're out and about while your lungs fill with fluid. usually pretty mild

Lung Cancer: this is the cancer with the highest mortality, and is more common in people who smoke or work in certain manufacturing plants

this can present similar to other types of lung diseases

main symptoms include chest pain, weight loss, tiredness, coughing, hemoptysis, shortness of breath, and constant lung infections

the main types are small-cell and non-small-cell, with the latter usually having a worse prognosis. All stages combined, NSCLC has a 5-year survival rate of about 28%, while SCLC has one of about 7%

Finally, the one I've seen in fics but in a context that doesn't make sense: cystic fibrosis. This is a genetic mutation, guys (CFTR gene to be specific). You can't catch this and it isn't caused by a microorganism. People with this disease produce especially thick mucus, leading to an inability to clear the lungs (plus some stuff with the small intestines, pancreas, and kidneys). They also have very salty sweat which is actually a way people can get diagnosed (parents will kiss their kids foreheads and taste the salt, lol). Because of the lung issues, people with CF will be at risk for certain and frequent lung infections. There is no cure and in the USA they usually live to be about 50 years old.

I hope I have given you guys some good info, feel free to ask questions in the comments if there is something I did not touch on. I just hope I never see someone "catching" CF again (please <3)

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

This might be a weird question, but what inorganic pokemon, would you say, are the best parents?

Hmmmmm.... I had to look up the Mineral Egg Group and give the Only In This Group listing a hard look

My gut is telling me that Golurk would probably be the best parent 🤔 there were others solely in the Mineral Egg Group but then I realized they were all technically organic so didn't count. I'm uncertain if Steelix/Onix would be a good parent... Parenting is often reflective of a species role in the ecosystem (but not necessarily). A species that provides good parenting often have relatively fewer babies in a year, like birds, elephants, cats, penguins, humans, etc. But there's also cases like octopuses where they dedicate their lives to protecting their eggs and then die of starvation, but they have HUNDREDS of eggs. And few would argue that was anything less than truly stellar and dedicated parents. And there are spiders who will vigorously protect their egg sacs until they hatch, then go on with their lives afterwards, often facing immense starvation, even death. But there's also frogs and bugs and other such species. And then there's plants and fungi! Or corals (an animal). All this to say, that having not thought too hard yet about the ecology of Steelixes and Onixes, I can't say for sure if they'd actually be good parents, or if they'd be like many animals and abandon their eggs to fend for themselves... But I have a gut feeling that Steelixes/Onixes would be good parents. As for Golurks, well obviously they'd be great parents! They're golems! Golems are protectors! And Golurks with their protective natures and human-like resemblance, lends me to believe that would they would be marvelous parents.

Hope that answer was satisfactory :)

[lair-master]

Dryad Poisoner’s Kit. This poisoner’s kit, made of bark and leaves, includes the sacs, fungi, and other equipment necessary for the creation of poisons. Proficiency with the kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to craft or use poisons. Also, when a poison you crafted with this kit imposes the poisoned condition on a creature, you have advantage on all ability checks to interact socially with the creature until the condition ends.

[es46]

Another carapaceon, this time based on emperor scorpions. - EMVERION Title - Ignition scorpion Monster class - Carapaceon Known locales - Deserts and savannah Element/Ailment - Fire + Defence Down Elemental weakness - Fire (3), Dragon (3), Thunder (2), Ice (1), Water (1) Ailment weakness - Sleep (3), Blast (3), Poison (2), Paralysis (1), Stun (1) Emverion is a carapaceon adapted to surviving in harsh desert conditions, often found roaming in what grassland and savannah endures the droughts. It is distinguished from other carapaceons by its scorpion-esque appearance, notable bearing large malleable sacs beneath its chelae and stinger. As expected, its segmented limbs are diverse; the first pair are for handling, whilst its second and third pair are for walking. The fourth pair varies between sexes; males have small grasping limbs, while the females have large spade-like limbs. Its black carapace is resilient against heat and sand blasts, allowing Emverion to scour its habitat for food in even extreme conditions. Befitting its opportunistic lifestyle, Emverion is an omnivore. It can feed on most anything, whether flora, fruit, tubers, fungi, fauna or even a few mineral forms. As a result, it can flourish where most other monsters can struggle, and is usually expected to be a dominant presence even if it is not necessarily the most powerful monster around. Field workers must be wary around Emverion; while it does not make a point of preying on humans, they are still potential meals if the carapaceon is feeling peckish. Emverion is sensitive to motion and smell, so field workers are advised to stay still and make use of scented mantles to avoid their attention. Emverion is a brutal monster to face in combat. Though physically apt with its hard exoskeleton and powerful pincers, the secret to its success lies in a special acidic chemical produced and stored in the sacs adhered to its chelae and stinger. This acid is released in two forms; the pincers emit it as a gas whilst the stinger launches it as a liqud in high-pressure streams. The corrosive properties are more intense in liquid state, making an effective ranged weapon. In addition, Emverion's chelae have flint-like protrusions that, when snapped, ignite the gaseuous form and thus create a flamethrower. It can also ignite the liquid state, often trapping prey between burning patches of corrosive flame. Evidence of Emverion's cunning can be found in a hunting strategy where it deliberately starts fires and spreads them through its acid to corral prey. This can lead to enviromental discord if allowed to perpetuate, so hunters are advised to maintain a close watch on Emverion activity. As aforementioned, Emverion's sex can be determined by its fourth limbs. Males use theirs for handling spermatophores to present to females, while the females use theirs to dig nests. The female zealously guards her brood to the point of refusing to hunt or forage, and will take care of her young upon hatching until they are old enough to fend for themselves. Their fathers play no part in their lives and are known to cannibalise juveniles, and even their mothers may see them as prey once the maternal bond is broken. Emverion proves a powerful foe for hunters to face (Low Rank - 4, High/Master Rank - 3). Its hardy carapace and combination of ailments and strength are difficult to overcome, but the carapaceon is not without its weaknesses. Piercing the sacs will disrupt its production of the acidic chemical, severely limiting its offensive potential and making it easier to focus on the joints. Emverion tends not to be fazed by larger predators, whom it can scare off by setting the ground around it aflame. It is notably a nemesis to monsters like Serencabra, whose slimy skin is seared by acid and fire, and the neopteran Wyradial, which fights valiantly to try and stop Emverion raiding its food stores. That said, Emverion must be wary of monsters like Seregios, who can outmanoeuvre it and strikes at its vulnerable joints. - Thank you for reading and take care.

[liminalhymnal]

Going off my prior Dungeon post, I gotta say I love fantasy biology so much that its honestly a special interest of mine. It's seldom encountered but Dungeon Meshi really does wonders with it for world-building. Other fantasy stories don't really tell you why a certain creature developed its unique quirks or how they work other than the baseline of ~magic~. Yes, dragons can breathe fire, but how? And why? While DM doesn't exactly go into depth at the latter, it still shares a lot of biological information by explaining how to cook certain creatures.

Of course if you're gonna eat a Walking Mushroom you're still gonna want to know how to tell toxic fungi apart from the actual friendly fungi. Of course that suit of armor isn't really haunted, it's instead used as a shell for a soft-bodied creature who otherwise is like a hermit crab. Yeah this creature isn't meant to be eaten but if you remove the poison sacs, cut around the extremely combustible liver, and cook out the flammable juices from its skin you can still enjoy this rare delicacy.

[theprinceofmycologia]

Mycological terms and practical vocabulary

I would recommend against reading all of this (except if you want to ofc), I made this post with the purpose of being able to look up what certain terms mean in my posts.

I have not yet used all of these terms, however I did think these were important terms. Whenever I use a new term in a post, I will add it to this list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A

acute - (refers to the shape) sharp

amyloid - turns blue, grey or black when stained with Meltzer’s reagent

annulus - ring of tissue on a mushroom stem left by a torn partial veil

ascomycetes - a class of fungi that produces their spores in sac-like cells called asci

B

basidiomycetes - a class of fungi that produce their spores on basidia

basidiospores - sexual spores produced on the basidia of basidiomycetes fungi

basidia - (sing. basidium) spore-producing cells of a basidiomycete fungus

biotrophic - feeding on living cells of other organisms

bulbous - (describes a stipe) with a swollen base

C

caespitose - crowded together in a tuft or a cluster but not attached to each other

caulocystidium - a cystidium on the stem of a mushroom

cheilocystidium - a cystidium on the edge of a mushroom gill

chlamydospores - asexual spores formed by the breaking up of fungal hyphae

clamp connection - swollen area formed around septum in a hypha during cell division

clavate - (often describes a stipe) club-shaped

coprophilous - growing on dung

cystidium - special sterile cell among the basidia on some fungi

D

deuteromycetes  - obsolete term for a group fungi not known to reproduce sexually

dextrinoid - staining brick red or brown with Meltzer’s reagent

dichotomous - forking/divided into pairs

dikaryon - a pair of closely associated, sexually compatible nuclei

E

ectomycorrhiza (EM) - where the fungus forms sheathes around plant rootlets (often of a tree), growing between but not penetrating the cells of the plant root, and providing the plant with water and nutrients while the plant supplies sugars to the fungus

endomycorrhiza - mycorrhiza in which fungal hyphae penetrate cell walls of host plant

endophyte - fungus living within a plant without causing visible symptoms of harm

F

foetid - with a strong and offensive odour

fusiform - (describes a stipe) spindle-shaped, tapering at top and bottom

G

gleba - spore-bearing tissue enclosed within fruitbodies of gasteromycetes

guttation - the exudation of water and some metabolic byproducts produced by fungal cells

guttule - a small oil-like drop microscopically visible inside a fungal spore

H

hirsute - hairy

hyaline - clear/colourless when viewed under a microscope

hymenium - fertile spore-bearing tissue (e.g. on mushroom gill or pore surfaces)

hypha - (pl. hyphae) filamentous thread of fungal mycelium

I

inamyloid - not changing colours with Melzer's reagent

L

lamellae - gills

latex - milky fluid that oozes from cut surfaces of Lactarius species

lichen - organism comprising a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium

lignicolous - growing on wood

M

monomitic - monomitic systems only have one type of hyphae: generative hyphae

mycelium - body of a fungus, most of which is underground or hidden within wood

mycobiont - the fungal component of a lichen or of a mycorrhizal partnership

mycorrhiza - structure by which a fungus and a plant exchange nutrients mutually

myxomycetes - a large and commonly encountered group within the slime moulds

N

necrotrophic - feeding by killing and consuming (part of) another organism

nonamyloid - not turning blue, grey or black when stained with Meltzer’s reagent

O

organelle - a differentiated structure within a cell

P

parasitism - process whereby an organism feeds at the expense of another (host)

partial veil - protective membrane covering gills during development of a fruitbody

pellicle - the outer layer of a mushroom, often viscid (sticky, gelatinous) and easily peels off

peridioles - egg-like spore capsules in bird’s-nest fungi (Nidulariaceae)

peridium - outer wall of a fungus, especially a gasteromycete (e.g. a puffball)

perithecium - flask-shaped chambers containing asci within pyrenomycetes fungi

photobiont - photosynthesizing component (alga or cyanobacterium) of a lichen

pileus - (pl. pilei) the cap on the top of a mushroom stem

pleurocystidium - a cystidium on a gill surface

pores - the orifices of the tubes of polypore fungi via which spores emerge

pseudorhiza - a tap-root-like extension at the base of a mushroom stem

Q

---

R

resupinate - fruitbody that lies flat on the substrate with its hymenium outermost

rhizomorph - a root-like mycelial strand comprising bunched parallel hyphae

ring - membranous remains of the partial veil attached to a stem

S saprophyte - an organism that obtains its nutrients from dead organic material

septate - (describes hyphae) partitioned by cross walls known as septa

septum - (pl. septa) a cross wall separating cells of a hyphal thread

serrate - (describes gill margins) with saw-toothed edges

sessile - without a stalk

slime moulds - a group of fungus-like organisms that use spores to reproduce

sphaerocysts - globose hyphal cells in the Russulaceae and certain other fungi

spore - reproductive structure of a fungus, usually a single cell

sporophore - fungal fruitbody

stellate - star-shaped

sterigma - (pl. sterigmata) prong at top of basidium on which a spore develops

sterile - does not produce spores, either sexually or asexually

stipe - stem of a mushroom

stipitate - (describes a fruitbody) having a stem

striate - (describes a cap) with fine radiating lines or furrows around margin

T

thallus - (pl. thalli) the body of a fungus or a lichen

tomentose - seemingly thickly covered in wool or soft hairs

trama - the flesh or context of a fungal fruitbody’s cap, gills or stem

tubes - spore-bearing cylindrical structures of boletes and polypores

U

universal veil - a protective membrane that initially surrounds an entire fruitbody

Uredinales - rust fungi (an order within the Basidiomycota)

ustilaginomycetes - smut fungi (a class within the Basidiomycota)

V

viscid - slimy or sticky

volva - remains of the universal veil found at stem base of some fungi

W

---

X

---

Y

---

Z

Zygomycota - a class of simple fungi whose hyphae generally lack cross walls

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References

First Nature

The University of Adelaide

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Mutuals

@squidsandthings

@fungus-gnats

@fairy-tales-of-yesterday

@flamingears

@lameotello

@lovelyalicorn

@writingraccoon

@edukincon

@emmakapla

Hiyaaa:) This is another part of Mycology 101, it will be linked in my pinned post.

[thatmentallystablechick]

Continuing on with the malicious shrooms for #Funguary …today’s prompt is the super-creepy Clathrus Archeri (also known by names like Devil’s Fingers or Octopus Stinkhorn)!

I swear, it seems like everything in the Clathrus family of fungi looks like it’s straight out of some sci-fi horror film - none of them look like anything you’d find on our planet! Clathrus Archeri are a particularly weird species, imo: they grow inside an egg-like sac before emerging and spreading out into the red fungus that you see. They aren’t actually poisonous, either, from what I understand - but they apparently smell so bad that you probably wouldn’t even want to bother trying one!

Fun fact: in my first few sketches for this mushroom girl, I originally had her looking a bit MORE devilish, if that’s even possible (i.e., red skin, black dress, the whole deal)! I always planned to have the fungi growing out of her body as fingers, horns, and tentacles, but somewhere along the way, I got to thinking: “What if her body was like the sac that the fungus grows out of?” And this was the result! Not sure what that means for her when the fungus completely finishes growing, though…probably best not to think too hard about it.

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons