26
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What is a fungus formally?
Formal definitions aren't really a thing in Biology or anywhere outside of mathematics.
For cladistics, the closest you will get is that species are arranged based on common ancestry. Fungi are a ...
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13
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Are there any documented cases of extinction of a species of fungus?
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List there are many endangered fungi, but none that are documented to have become extinct within the time frame of interest to you....
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13
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circular pattern of mold on quince
Looks like you may have Monilinia fructigena, brown rot, or at something similar (possibly also called brown rot, but from a different species). This pattern isn't special to quince, but to this ...
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12
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Fungivore that feeds specifically on spores
This paper:
Smelansky, I.E., 2006. Some population characteristics of oribatid mites in steppe habitats. Acarina, 14(1), pp.123-130.
includes analysis of the gut content of some mites, recognizing ...
- 9,093
11
votes
What is this red mushroom with the "inverted" cap?
Looks like Sarcoscypha Austriaca (scarlet elfcup). It's actually used in many textbooks as a representative species for the Ascomycetes.
Details from Wikipedia and Messiah.edu both confirm that this ...
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10
votes
Are there any documented cases of extinction of a species of fungus?
Yes. One example is of a fungus named Prototaxites. It was originally thought to be a tree, but it was a massive, tree-like fungus.
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10
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Is it true to say that the genome of trees includes or at least "encapsulates" the genome of mushrooms?
No.
Evidence: If you go to the TreeGenes site and examine those tree genomes that have been sequenced you won’t find any fungal chromosome sequences. (And vice versa.)
Reason: Although trees and ...
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9
votes
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What is this fungus that is growing on my plant, and is it dangerous?
My answer won't apply if your plant isn't a cycad (a species from the genus Cycas) as only cycads are affected. Cycad aren't native to the Dominican Republic but have been planted as ornamentals in ...
- 1,136
9
votes
Do Traits Have to be Adaptive in Order to Survive?
Good question. And good analysis. I have little to add! I'll simply provide my own list of thoughts to complement your ideas, which are not mutually exclusive.
The fact that it wasn't discarded ...
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7
votes
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What is happening to this tree?
The tree is dying. From what you say, it has no leaves wduring a time it should, it has saprophitic growth along the trunk; it looks like there's a crack in the bark on the right, and there are ...
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7
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Is identifying the genus of a fungus (mushroom specifically) enough?
Again, I would say: no, genus is not enough.
Another example: boletes (specifically, genus Boletus).
According to Wilderness College:
One of the most common and well-known groups of edible wild ...
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7
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What is this white fluff growing in my basement?
Might as well make this an answer.
...it seems to collapse when I rub my foot on it.
As @tyersome stated, it appears to be salt, not mold. Salt crystals would definitely collapse easily underfoot, ...
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7
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In lichen, do the fungi consume the oxygen produced by algae?
Exchange of gases between lichen symbionts has been demonstrated for Flavoparmelia caperata. Note that this is a foliose lichen species, though the findings may be generalizable to marine lichen.
We ...
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6
votes
Where do mushrooms get their energy from?
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi. Fungi get their energy by decomposing dead or decaying organic material, such as fallen leaves or dung.
Some background: spores of fungi germinate forming ...
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6
votes
What is so difficult about mushroom cultivation?
What makes some mushrooms easy to cultivate is that they grow profusely, they aren't tree symbionts, where as sponge gilled culinary musrhooms are symbionts. Cheap mushrooms can easily be controlled ...
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6
votes
What happens to the mold spores we inhale?
Mold spores are capable of landing and becoming dormant. Unless conditions are severe enough, mold spores will not just simply die off; they will essentially wait for conditions to improve and once ...
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6
votes
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ID of a purple fungus in Virginia
This is not a moss, but a fungus of the family Clavariaceae. Most likely this is Clavaria zollingeri, commonly known as violet coral, but there are a few resembling species. Microscopy might be needed ...
- 3,685
6
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Is it true to say that the genome of trees includes or at least "encapsulates" the genome of mushrooms?
A symbiotic relationship is entirely unrelated to the genetic origins of the participating organisms. Symbiosis only requires that the organisms interact in a manner that benefits both parties. There ...
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6
votes
What organism is this?
That looks to me to be non-biological but rather the result of using an expanding foam filler product to fill in gaps, as might occur in the wallboard where a sink is mounted. Here's an example of ...
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6
votes
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What are the white eggs growing from a black stem on the Napa cabbage plant?
I'm no expert in slime molds, but your specimens do in fact look a lot like the sporangia, or spore-producing reproductive structures (i.e., fruiting bodies), of a Mycetozoan slime mold in the class ...
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5
votes
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What kind of lichen is it?
I'm pretty sure that it is a cup lichen from the genus Cladonia. A probable species is Cladonia pyxidata, which is relatively common across Europe. My lichen knowlegde is rusty though, and Cladonia is ...
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5
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Is identifying the genus of a fungus (mushroom specifically) enough?
It seems like the simple version of your question is: can anyone come up with even one example of 2 fungi species in the same genus in which one is edible and the other is not?
Here's one example:
...
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5
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Is this a form of *LaetIporous sulfurous*? Tree is in north central Virginia
This is indeed Chicken-of-the-Woods - and a nice specimen! However, there are multiple species that closely resemble each other, all called "Chicken-of-the-Woods." Based on your location and ...
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4
votes
How to measure surface area of plated bacteria?
You can count the individual colonies on the plate, with this number being the number of "Colony Forming Units" (CFU), as theoretically, only a single cell is needed to spawn a colony.
To do this ...
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4
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What is the name of this brown, "flat hat", fungus?
Pretty sure (but not 100% certain) that it is a Amanita porphyria bk9845, which in german is called a "Porphyrbrauner Wulstling"
Cap: 3-12 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex, often with a central ...
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4
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What is the purpose of the brown louver-like structure on the underside of a mushroom?
These thin, closely-spaced structures are commonly called gills (in more formal contexts a gill is called a lamella). Our most familiar mushrooms have gills, but there are other species that do not ...
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4
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Why should benzalkonium chloride (an antifungal agent) be used during your laundry machine's "rinse" cycle, not its "wash" cycle?
The label of the veterinary product Fung-A-Way, which is Benzalkonium Chloride 0.15%, states that "Efficiency is neutralized by soap or detergent residues."
The website http://www.mpbio.com has the ...
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