To be fair this is going to be kind of an off-shoot of Fungal word friday but more species centric. My goal is to pick a new mushroom on the first of every month. I will then run it through a key,this could be an actual Dichotomous key, or maybe just an online visual key (this month), and give you the defining steps along the way.
For our first ever specimen I give you:
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| What am I? |
1. The mushroom is not growing on another mushroom.
2. There aren't any visible gills.
3. There are also no pores on it.
4. And it also does not show any teeth. (last weeks Fungal Word Friday)
5. It is clear of the foul-smelling slime that would lead us down the Stinkhorn path.
6. It is shaped like a cup, saucer, goblet, standing rabbit ear, or bowl. Which points us in the direction of the Bird's Nest Fungi of Cup fungi.
7. It; however, lacks the famous "egg" shaped spore packs that would say Bird's Nest, therefore we will pursue it as a Cup Fungus.
At this point the mushroom expert clarifies that "Cup Fungi" are not an actual scientific term, and that many of those that get put into this group are hard to key out without microscipic traits being analyzed. But we can still give it a go based off of the provided "incomplete" key:
1. The mushroom does not appear like a bird's nest with eggs. (A revisit of our last step.)
2. The cups do not grow partially underground when young. And do not peel back as they mature in star-like rays.
3. They do are not growing in areas of recent burning, such as as campfire pit, or recently burned forest floor.
4. The margins of the cup lack any kind of eyelash or fringe. Also the underside of the cup appears smooth.
5. The cup has a definite stem at it's base.
6. The cup is growing from a stick, or woody debris. It is goblet shaped; having a black inner lining and a mottle brown and black outside. The cup tapers down to the stem base.
This sounds like our mushroom to me. The winner is... Urnula craterium, The Devil's Urn!
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| The Devil's Urn |
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