Interesting, funny, or weird fungus names

Nature Talk
#1

So we have threads for the animals, and for the plants, so I’ll take the initiative to start on the fungi.

And to start out with, I’ll direct our attention to chicken-of-the-woods which is obviously no chicken.

And then there is the mushroom that I heard people calling “bluet,” which is also the name of a flower and quite appropriate to this blue-colored mushroom. But it turns out it is actually spelled blewit, which reminds me of the expression, “You blew it,” meaning you failed spectacularly.

#3

One of my favorites is blue tooth. Despite its name, it cannot wirelessly connect to your device.

4 Likes
#4

A few to start the list off:

  • Hairy Nuts Disco, Lanzia echinophila
  • Plums and Custard, Tricholomopsis rutilans
  • Weeping Toothcrust, Dacryobolus sudans
  • The Flirt, Russula vesca
  • Fingered Candlesnuff, Xylaria digitata
  • Cinnamon Jellybaby, Cudonia confusa
  • Scurfy Twiglet, Tubaria furfuracea
  • Purple Jellydisc, Ascocoryne sarcoides
  • Powdery Piggyback, Asterophora lycoperdoides
  • Snaketongue Truffleclub, Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides
  • Golden Navel, Chrysomphalina chrysophylla
  • Bedstraw Smut, Melanotaenium endogenum
  • Elbowpatch Crust, Fomitiporia punctata
  • Hair Sedge Smut, Anthracoidea capillaris
  • Cryptic Bonnet, Mycena picta
  • Hairy Earthtongue, Trichoglossum hirsutum
  • Mealy Frosted Funnel, Clitocybe ditopa
  • Dog’s Mercury Rust, Melampsora populnea
  • Snakeskin Grisette, Amanita ceciliae
  • Bald Knight, Melanoleuca melaleuca
  • Devil’s Fingers, Clathrus archeri
  • Dog Stinkhorn (aka Dog Cock Mushroom, Phallus de Chien, and Satyre des chiens), Mutinus caninus
  • Common Stinkhorn (aka Shameless Sinkhorn), Phallus impudicus
  • Bearded Fieldcap, Agrocybe molesta
  • Sweetbread Mushroom or Bread Dough Clitopilus, Clitopilus prunulus
  • Dark Scaled Knight (aka Dirty Trich Complex), Tricholoma atrosquamosum
  • Hairy Parachute, Crinipellis scabella
  • Dog Vomit Slime Mold (not actually a fungus), Fuligo septica
2 Likes
#5

Oh, how could I have forgotten corn smut and the entire genus Phallus? Thanks for reminding me!

…is that too NSFW?

1 Like
#6

King Alfred’s cake (Daldinia concentrica) and all the story behind the name.

1 Like
#7

@cas4moss was particularly fond of Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum). And I’m fond of the Scurfy Twiglet as mentioned above - it sounds like an insult - as does Bloody Brittlegill (Russula sanguinea).

2 Likes
#8

Chicken Lips, or as I like to call it, the Green Bay Packers Mushroom
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4140178

3 Likes
#9

Gritty British Soldiers Lichen Cladonia floerkeana Feels like a name that relates to personal hygeine.

1 Like
#10

Weeping Toothcrust (Dacryobolus sudans) gives that impression too.

1 Like
#11

Lycoperdon = wolf farts (aka puffballs)
Stalked Puffball-in-Aspic (Calostoma cinnabarinum)
Fairy Parachutes (Marasmiellus candidus)
Elfin Saddles (Helvella spp.)
Jelly Babies (Leotia spp.) *jelly babies are like gummy bears
Crystal Brain Fungus (Myxarium nucleatum)

1 Like
#12

Saŋıravqwlaq [sɑŋɯrɑwɣʊˈɫɑq] which literally translates to “deaf ear”.
Thats how you say “fungus” in Kazak (Kazakhstan).

Very nice, i like!

2 Likes
#13

cramp balls, Annulohypoxylon thouarsianum
apricot jelly, Guipinia helvelloides
candle snuff, Xylaria hypoxylon
cowboy’s handkerchief, aka snot on a doorknob, Hygrophorus eburneus

1 Like
#14

I recently had the pleasure of finding some Bug Sputnik - Ophiocordyceps clavulata, which is a very appropriate (and comical at least to me) name once you see what it looks like: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/64557449

2 Likes
#15

I like the macabre names that serve as a warning about edibility, eg Destroying Angel (Amanitas) and Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata)

1 Like
#16

Then there is the trumpet of the dead, Craterellus cornucopioides.

#17

I know that one as huitlacoche, and it is one of the most delicious edible fungi. The weaverbirds think so, too, since they usually get it before I do.

#18

Personal favorites:
dirty trich (Tricholoma pardinum)
big laughing gym (Gymnopilus junonius)
trainwrecker (Neolentinus lepideus)

Some others:
corpse finder (Hebeloma syriense)
chocolate milky (Lactarius ligniotus)
slippery jack/jill (Suillus luteus/Suillus salmonicolor)
stinky squid (Pseudocolus fusiformis)
fairy sparklers (Xylaria tentaculata)

#19

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.