Rebecca will not eat mushrooms and it’s my fault. I won’t eat them either though.

Why? Years ago, as Rebecca’s biology teacher I pointed out that a mushroom is a fungus. Yuck! But there is more. The mushroom is the reproductive organ of that fungus.

Double Yuck!

Most fungi are parasites. Yes, some are saprophytes, feeding on dead things and some are symbiotic with plant roots. Growing on the root the fungus greatly increases the surface area that can absorb water. Without the fungus most plants would die of thirst. Along with the water there are all kinds of nutrients that are also collected by the fungus and provided to the plant. What does the fungus get out of this deal? Food. Up to 20% of the sugar the plant produces goes as food to the fungus. This is a form of symbiosis called “mutualism”.

In mutualism both parties benefit. Another example of mutualism is the “askari wa kifaru” which is Swahili for “oxpecker”. The oxpecker, a bird, feeds on all kinds of insects and other parasites that are found on the skin of rhinos, zebras, and giraffes. When I was in South Africa, every rhino I saw had an oxpecker riding along getting lunch. The oxpecker gets food and the mammal gets rid of annoying blood-sucking invertebrates.

Saprophytes are things that eat dead stuff and they are very valuable. There are all kinds of fungi and bacteria that live in the soil, and they function in breaking down organic materials into their components. Those components are then made available to other organisms and eventually to us. However, what got me to thinking about Rebecca and eating mushrooms was a deer mushroom and a shelf fungus.

The deer mushroom caught my eye because of its color and pattern. My wife would tell you I’m boring because I like earth tones and this mushroom does meet that characteristic. It is a soft brown, like the color of a white-tailed deer, with contrasting white stripes on the cap. The cap is that “mushroom” shaped thing on the top of the stalk. If you look at the underside of the cap you will see the “gills”. These aren’t anything like the gills of a fish and have nothing to do with “breathing”. These are the structures upon which the spores of the mushroom are formed. Yep, the cap, which is what folks usually eat when they eat mushrooms, is the reproductive organ of the organism.

Where is the body? It is underground feeding on rotting wood. Yep, folks you are eating the reproductive parts of a rotten-wood-eating fungus! Triple YUCK!

My deer mushroom was growing in the flowerbed and right next to it is the stump of a dead ash tree.

Growing on the trunk is a shelf fungus. These fungi are a kind of mushroom, and they are harmful to living trees because they rot the inside of the trunk.

In the lumber industry they cause millions of dollars in damage each year. They can’t hurt the dead ash tree so not a problem for me.

Both the deer fungus and some shelf fungus are edible. According to various sources, while edible, the deer fungus is “unremarkable” and relatively tasteless. On the other hand, a species of shelf fungus called the “chicken of the woods” is considered to be one of the best tasting mushrooms in the world. I wouldn’t know because like Rebecca, I won’t eat any mushrooms, if for no other reason than the mushrooms are first cousins to the fungus that causes foot fungus and jock itch! Quadruple YUCK!