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.
One of my favorites is blue tooth. Despite its name, it cannot wirelessly connect to your device.
A few to start the list off:
Oh, how could I have forgotten corn smut and the entire genus Phallus? Thanks for reminding me!
…is that too NSFW?
King Alfred’s cake (Daldinia concentrica) and all the story behind the name.
@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).
Chicken Lips, or as I like to call it, the Green Bay Packers Mushroom
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4140178
Gritty British Soldiers Lichen Cladonia floerkeana Feels like a name that relates to personal hygeine.
Weeping Toothcrust (Dacryobolus sudans) gives that impression too.
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)
Saŋıravqwlaq [sɑŋɯrɑwɣʊˈɫɑq] which literally translates to “deaf ear”.
Thats how you say “fungus” in Kazak (Kazakhstan).
Very nice, i like!
cramp balls, Annulohypoxylon thouarsianum
apricot jelly, Guipinia helvelloides
candle snuff, Xylaria hypoxylon
cowboy’s handkerchief, aka snot on a doorknob, Hygrophorus eburneus
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
I like the macabre names that serve as a warning about edibility, eg Destroying Angel (Amanitas) and Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata)
Then there is the trumpet of the dead, Craterellus cornucopioides.
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.
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)