Polyporus cf meridionalis .- Cyprus

Family Polyporaceae

Photos Agios Sozomenos 1/3/2010 by George Konstantinou

False Puffball - Enteridium (Reticularia) lycoperdon (Bull.) M.L. Farr, 1976 - Cyprus

The False Puffball, Enteridium lycoperdon, is one of the more obvious species of slime mould or Myxogastria, typically seen in its reproductive phase as a white 'swelling' on standing dead trees in the spring, or on large pieces of fallen wood. Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is a common host
E. lycoperdon grows typically on dead alder branches, logs, and stumps in wet places beside rivers, streams and wetlands; it is also found growing on dead elm, beech, poplar, hawthorn, elder, hornbeam, hazel, and pine trees often after late frosts in spring and in the autumn.

The slime mould has two phases to its life cycle: an actively feeding plasmodial stage and a reproductive sporangial stage.

The plasmodial phase is mobile and is multi-nucleate, formed by the fusion of single cells and typically amoeboid in its movements, through cytoplasmic streaming.

The sporangial or aethalial phase of this slime mould is spherical, elongate or globular, 50 to 80 mm, and is at first highly glutinous in appearance, resembling small slug eggs. Later a smooth white and silvery surface develops, which eventually splits to expose a brown spore mass beneath. An aethalium is a term relating to slime moulds, referring to the relatively big, plump, pillow-shaped fruiting body, formed by the aggregation of plasmodia into a single functional body. The term comes from the Greek for thick smoke or soot; so named from the smokelike spores.  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 3/4/2006 by George Konstantinou

Rosellinia sp.- Cyprus

Rosellinia is a genus of fungi in the Xylariaceae family consisting of over 90 species. Several of the species in this genus are plant pathogens. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 18/3/2010 by George Konstantinou

Psilocybe cf. subviscida/crobula X-45 - Cyprus

Psilocybe is a genus of small mushrooms growing worldwide. This genus is best known for its species with psychedelic properties, widely known as "magic mushrooms". Psilocin and psilocybin are the psychedelic compounds responsible for the psychoactive effects of many species in the genus.
Geographically, species in this genus are found throughout the world in most biomes. The greatest species diversity seems to be in the neotropics, from Mesoamerica through Brazil and Chile. Psilocybe are found in a variety of habitats and substrates. Many of the species found in temperate regions, such as Psilocybe cyanescens, seem to have an affinity for landscaped areas mulched with woodchips and are actually rather rare in natural settings removed from human habitation. Contrary to popular belief, only a minority of Psilocybe species, such as P. cubensisand P. subcubensis, grow directly on feces. Many other species are found in habitats such as mossy, grassy, orforest humus soils.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Mathiatis 14/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Saffron milk cap and Red pine mushroom - Lactarius deliciosus (L. ex Fr.) S.F.Gray (1821) - Cyprus

Lactarius deliciosus, commonly known as the saffron milk cap and red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus Lactarius in the order Russulales. It is found in Europe and has been accidentally introduced to other countries under conifers and can be found growing in pine plantations. A fresco in the Roman town of Herculaneum appears to depict Lactarius deliciosus and is one of the earliest pieces of art to illustrate a fungusLactarius deliciosus grows under conifers on acidic soils and forms a mycorrhizal relationship with its host tree. It is native to the southern Pyrenees where it grows under Mediterranean pines, as well as throughout the Mediterranean basin, in Spain, Greece,Italy, Cyprus, France and elsewhere. Both this fungus and L. deterrimus are collected and sold in the İzmir Province of southwestern Turkey, and the Antalya Province of the south coast. In the island of Cyprus, huge numbers of Lactarius deliciosus are found in the high altitude Pinus nigra and Pinus brutia forests, where locals hunt them with vigour, as this fungus is highly esteemed among the local delicacies.

After analysing DNA from collections around the world, mycologists Jorinde Nuytinck, Annemieke Verbeken, and Steve Miller have concluded that L. deliciosus is a distinct European species that differs genetically, morphologically, and ecologically from populations in North America or Central America. It has been reportedly introduced to Chile,Australia and New Zealand, where it grows in Pinus radiata plantations. Popular places for collecting this mushroom, especially among the Polish community, are around Macedon in Victoria, and in the Oberon area in New South Wales, Australia, where they can grow to the size of a dinner plate. Many people of Italian, Polish, Ukrainian and other eastern European ancestry in the states of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia travel to collect these mushrooms after autumn rainfall around Easter time. Lactarius deliciosus is also very popular in Russian cuisine, and Siberian pine forests are a favourable habitat of this species. The mushrooms are being collected in August to early October, where they are traditionally fried, salted or pickled.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Kikkos 11/11/2006 by George Konstantinou

 

Peziza sp. - Cyprus

Peziza is a large genus of saprophytic cup fungi that grow on the ground, rotting wood, or dung. Most members of this genus are of unknown edibility and are difficult to identify as separate species without use of microscopy. The polyphyletic genus has been estimated to contain over 100 species.

Peziza may come from the term for foot in Romance languages, perhaps in reference to their general lack of a stalk.

Photos Athalassa  by George Konstantinou

Psathyrella bipellis (Quél.) A.H.Sm. (1946) - Cyprus

Psathyrella bipellis is a species of mushroom in the Psathyrellaceae family.

The species was originally described in 1884 by French mycologist Lucien Quélet, under the name Psathyra bipellis.[3] Alexander H. Smith transferred it to the genus Psathyrella in 1946

Photos Athalassa 7/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor - Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd (1920) - Cyprus

Trametes versicolor – also known as Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor – is a common polypore mushroom found throughout the world. Meaning 'of several colours', versicolor reliably describes this mushroom found in different colors. By example, due to its resembling multiple colors in the tail of wild turkey, T. versicolor is commonly called turkey tail.

The top surface of the cap shows typical concentric zones of different colours. The flesh is 1–3 mm thick and has leathery texture. Older specimens, such as the one pictured, can have zones with green algae growing on them, thus appearing green. It commonly grows in tiled layers. The cap is rust-brown or darker brown, sometimes with blackish zones. The cap is flat, up to 8 x 5 x 0.5-1 cm in area. It is often triangular or round, with zones of fine hairs. The pore surface is whitish to light brown, pores round and with age twisted and labyrinthine. 2-5 pores per millimeter.

It may be eaten by caterpillars of the fungus moth Nemaxera betulinella and by maggots of the Platypezid fly Polyporivora picta.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Kikkos 23/5/2010 by George Konstantinou

Star jelly, witch's butter, Mare's eggs, Fah-tsai and Facai. = Nostoc commune Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault, 1888 - Cyprus

Nostoc commune is a species of cyanobacterium in the family Nostocaceae. Common names include star jelly, witch's butter, mare's eggs, fah-tsai and facai. It is the type species of the genus Nostoc and is cosmopolitan in distribution.
Nostoc commune is a colonial species of cyanobacterium. It initially forms a small, hollow gelatinous globule which grows and becomes leathery, flattened and convoluted, forming a gelatinous mass with other colonies growing nearby. Inside the thin sheath are numerous unbranched hair-like structures called trichomes formed of short cells in a string. Cells have no nucleus nor internal membrane system. To multiply, they form two new cells when they divide by binary fission. Along the trichomes, larger specialist nitrogen-fixing cells called heterocysts occur between the ordinary cells. When wet, Nostoc commune is bluish-green, olive green or brown but in dry conditions it becomes an inconspicuous, crisp brownish mat
Nostoc commune is found in many countries around the world. It is able to survive in extreme conditions in polar regions and arid areas. It is a terrestrial or freshwater species and forms loose clumps on soil, gravel and paved surfaces, among mosses and between cobbles. In Singapore,Nostoc commune is found growing on alkaline soils, in brackish water, in paddy fields, on cliffs and on wet rocks

Nostoc commune can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and can therefore live in locations where no nitrogenous compounds are available from the substrate. Nostoc commune does not have chloroplasts but contains photosynthetic pigments in the cytoplasm of the cells. It also contains pigments that absorb long and medium wavelength ultraviolet radiation, which enables it to survive in places with high levels of radiation.

Under adverse conditions, Nostoc commune can remain dormant for an extended period of time and revive when conditions improve and water becomes available. The desiccated colony is resistant to heat and to repeated patterns of freezing and thawing and produces no oxygen while dormant. It has been found that extracellular polysaccharides are vital to its stress tolerance and ability to recover.

Nostoc commune can occur in pockets in the thallus of hornworts such as Phaeoceros.

Nostoc commune is eaten as a salad in the Philippines and is also eaten in Indonesia, Japan and Taiwan. In Taiwan, it is nicknamed "yu-lai gu" (meaning post-rain mushroom) or "tsao-di er" (meaning meadow ears). Nostoc commune var. flagelliforme is known as "facai" in China which forms part of the food traditionally served at the Lunar New Year.Research indicates that Nostoc commune var. sphaeroides ingestion as well as that of other cyanobacteria may be beneficial by means of an antiinflammatory mechanism. .From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 8/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Phycomyces blakesleeanus (Burgeff, 1925) - Cyprus

Family: Phycomycetaceae

Πρώτη αναφορά για την Κύπρο απο τον Γιώργο και Φανή Κωνσταντίνου.

Phycomyces blakesleeanus is a filamentous fungus in the Order Mucorales of the phylum Zygomycota or subphylum Mucoromycotina. The spore-bearing sporangiophores of Phycomyces are very sensitive to different environmental signals including light, gravity, wind, chemicals and adjacent objects. They exhibit phototropic growth: most Phycomyces research has focused on sporangiophore photobiology, such as phototropism and photomecism ('light growth response'). Metabolic, developmental, and photoresponse mutants have been isolated, some of which have been genetically mapped. At least ten different genes (named madA through to madJ) are required for phototropism. The madA gene encodes a protein related to the White Collar 1 class of photoreceptors that are present in other fungi, while madB encodes a protein related to the White Collar 2 protein that physically bind to White collar 1 to participate in the responses to light.

Phycomyces also exhibits an avoidance response, in which the growing sporangiophore avoids solid objects in its path, bending away from them without touching them, and then continuing to grow upward again. This is believed to result from an unidentified "avoidance gas" that is emitted by the growing zone of the sporangiophore. This gas would concentrate in the airspace between the Phycomyces and the object. This higher concentration would be detected by the side of the sporangiophore's growing zone, which would grow faster, causing the sporangiophore to bend away.

Phycomyces blakesleeanus became the primary organism of research of the Nobel laureate Max Delbrück starting in the 1950s, when Delbrück decided to switch from research on bacteriophage and bacteria to P. blakesleeanus.

A genetic linkage map was developed for P.blakesleeanus. This genetic map was constructed from 121 progeny of a cross between two wild type isolates and involved 134 markers. The markers were mostly PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Zygospores are the sexual structures of P. blakesleeanus in which the diploid zygote is formed and meiosis is presumed to take place. The data from this cross provided supporting evidence for meiosis during zygospore development.

.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Geri 14/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Psathyrella melanthina (Fr.) - Cyprus

 Family: Psathyrellaceae.

Psathyrella is a large genus of about 400 species, and is similar to the genera Coprinellus, Coprinopsis, Coprinus and Panaeolus, usually with a thin cap and white or yellowish white hollow stem. The caps do not self digest as do those of Coprinellus and Coprinopsis. Some also have brown spores rather than black. These fungi are often drab-colored, difficult to identify, and all members are considered inedible or worthless (for eating) and so they are often overlooked. However they are quite common and can occur at times when there are few other mushrooms to be seen. The first report of a gilled mushroom fruiting underwater is Psathyrella aquatica.

The genus name Psathyrella is a diminutive form of Psathyra, derived from the Greek word ψαθυρος, psathuros 'friable'. The type species of Psathyrella is Psathyrella gracilis, which is now known as Psathyrella corrugis.

Characteristics

In order to identify the species it may be necessary to take into account the presence and nature of any veil remnants on cap (which may only be visible on very young fruiting bodies), the colour of young fruiting bodies, which is often more vivid than with older ones, whether the cap is hygrophanous (it can well be a translucent brown or ochre colour in a humid state but a pure opaque white on drying out), and the spore size and the presence and nature of cheilocystidia, pleurocystidia and caulocystidia, distinctive sterile cells on the gill face, gill edge and stipe respectively. All Psathyrella species are unusually fragile, and both the cap and stem break with very little effort. Unlike most agarics, the caps of Psathyrella species easily break into triangular shaped pieces. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Akanthou 5/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Pluteus romellii (Britzelm.) - Cyprus

Family: Pluteaceae

Pluteus is a large genus of fungi with over 300 species. They are wood rotting saprobes with pink spore prints and gills that are free from the stem.

Photos Gialousa 7/3/2010 by George Konstantinou

Bohemian truffle - Pisolithus arrhizus (Scop.) Rauschert (1959) - Cyprus

Pisolithus arrhizus (also spelled Pisolithus arhizus) is a widespread earth-ball like fungus, which may in fact be several closely related species. It is known in Australia as the horse dung fungus and in Europe as the Bohemian truffle. This puffball's black viscous gel is used as a natural dye for clothes. Pisolithus arrhizus is a major component in mycorrhizal fungus mixtures that are used in gardening as powerful root stimulators. .From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Mathiatis 14/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Shiny mottlegill, or Egghead mottlegill.- Panaeolus semiovatus Fr. (Lundell) - Cyprus

Panaeolus  semiovatus, also known as Panaeolus semiovatus and Anellaria separata, is a medium-sized buff colored mushroom/toadstool that grows on horse dung, and has black spores. While some guides list this species as edible, a few people experience gastric upset after consumption. Its common names are the shiny mottlegill, or egghead mottlegill.
The cap is up to 8 cm across, dark buff to white, parabolic to nearly convex in age. It is sticky when wet, and is often with wrinkles when dry. The stem is 15 cm by 20 mm, solid and smooth, with an annulus (ring) that is white, but is often found blackened by falling spores. The gills are adnexed, being wider in the middle, and narrowing at both ends, they are brown to black. The flesh is white, or straw colored.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Pila 5/12/2012 by George Konstantinou

Dacrymyces sp. - Cyprus

Family: Dacrymycetaceae

Dacrymyces is a genus of fungi in the Dacrymycetales order. The genus contains about 39 widely distributed species.

Photos Athalassa 2/3/2010 by George Konstantinou

 

Tubaria conspersa "(Pers.) Fayod" - Cyprus

Family: Inocybaceae

Photos Athalassa 5/3/2010 by George Konstantinou

Tubaria is a genus of fungi in the family Tubariaceae. The genus is widely distributed, especially in temperate regions. Tubaria was originally named as a subgenus of Agaricus by Worthington George Smith in 1870. Claude Casimir Gillet promoted it to generic status in 1876. The mushrooms produced by species in this genus are small- to medium-sized with caps ranging in color from pale pinkish-brown to reddish-brown, and often with remnants of the partial veil adhering to the margin. Mushrooms fruit on rotting wood, or, less frequently, in the soil. There are no species in the genus that are recommended for consumption