Matchmaker:
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
Glossary
This is a list of terms used in mushroom descriptions.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Colour Summary
A
| TERM | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| abruptly adnexed | see adnexed |
| acanthophysis | see hyphidium |
| aciculate | very slender, with sharp top, therefore needle-shaped |
| acidulous | slightly acid |
| acrid | taste burning or peppery, in this program the description of 'acrid' is rendered as 'peppery' |
| acula (plural aculae) | spine |
| aculeate | of cystidia, tapered so that only the very basal portion is relatively swollen, the entire cystidium being shaped like a spine, therefore spine-shaped; of spore, means having narrow spines |
| acuminate | gradually narrowed to a point |
| acute | pointed, sharp; less than a right angle |
| acyanophilous | not cyanophilous |
| adnate | refers to gills that are broadly attached to the stem, the lower edge of the gill being attached at the line at which a straight gill edge would intersect the stem: if attached above this line it would be adnexed or notched, if attached below this line it would be decurrent; if ascending adnate gills attach at much less than a right angle, appearing to curve upward toward stem; if adnate horizontal, gills attach at about a right angle; if broadly adnate, attached to the stem along their entire height |
| adnexed | refers to gills that are narrowly attached to the stem: the gill edge curves gradually upward along the inner half of the gill and is attached to the stem by a narrow upper portion of the gill; if abruptly adnexed, gill edge curves abruptly upwards to stem but makes contact with stem in straight line (does not curve as in sinuate attachment) |
| aeriferous | appearing as if air is trapped |
| aeruginose | verdigris-green, (malachite-green), the color of oxidized copper |
| agaric | mushroom with gills |
| agaricologist | a person who studies gilled mushrooms |
| agaricology | the study of gilled mushrooms |
| agglutinated | surface fibrils or scales drawn together in clumps |
| allantoid | sausage-shaped, tubular and slightly curved with rounded ends |
| alliaceous | smelling or tasting like onions or garlic |
| almond-shaped | of spores, with top end broader than base (where hilar appendage located), thus like an almond in shape |
| alternate names | other names for the same species, given in the description immediately following the primary name; these are earlier or later or illegitimate name for the species, representing all or part of the concept of the primary name: the primary name includes the alternate name, but the alternate name may not include the whole concept represented by the primary name |
| alutaceous | light leather colored, usually interpreted as light tan or medium yellow brown |
| alveolate | surface of cap or spore with broad pits |
| amanitin | same as amatoxin |
| amanitoid | like Amanita, with free or slightly adnexed gills, a volva, and a ring |
| amatoxin | cyclic peptide found in Amanita and other genera that are very toxic |
| amorphous | shapeless, formless |
| ampullaceous | flask-shaped |
| ampulliform | flask-shaped; of cystidia, with base and middle parts wide and top part like a beak but wider than in ventricose-rostrate cystidia |
| amygdaliform | almond-shaped |
| amygdaline | (odor or taste) like peach or cherry stones |
| amygdaloid | almond-shaped |
| amyloid | staining bluish to gray to black in Melzer's reagent |
| anamorph | the asexual reproductive manifestation of a fungus, characterized by asexual spores |
| anastomosing | forming a network, connecting by cross-veins |
| angular | 4 to 7 sided, with corners or angles |
| angular-nodulose | of angular spores, having small lumps protruding at the angles |
| angular-tuberculate | of angular spores, having bumps at the angles that are less obvious than those in angular-nodulose spores |
| anise | of an odor, like that of star anise or anise seed, often considered to be like licorice |
| annular | resembling a ring or referring to a ring, as in an annular zone on stem |
| annular zone | a band of fibrils or gluten around stem, often becoming darkened by spores, normally derived from veil remnants, but too obscure to be a ring |
| annulate | bearing an annulus |
| annulus | ring or collar of tissue on stem formed by ruptured of the veil that initially joins the stem to the cap edge |
| anthesis | point of development of fruiting body at which the fresh unexpanded cap is in "full flower", contains the features for identification, and is at the brink of spore release |
| apex | top, highest part |
| apical | near top |
| apical pore | same as germ pore, not to be confused with apiculus, which is the other end of the spore |
| apiculate | with an apiculus |
| apiculus | nipple-like projection; nipple-like projection on spore which corresponds to the area that was attached to the basidium, sometimes used to refer to a projection on the other end of the spore, same as hilar appendage and not to be confused with apical pore (germ pore) |
| appendiculate | margin of cap fringed with hanging fragments of the veil; (of cystidium) having an appendage; (of a spore) having one or more setulae |
| applanate | horizontally expanded, plane, flat |
| appressed | flattened down |
| appressed-fibrillose | fibrils are pressed down flat against surface |
| apud | indicates a name published by one author in the work of another |
| arachnoid | cobweb-like |
| arching | of gills, the same as arcuate |
| arcuate | forming an arch; of gills, means that the middle of the lower edge of the gill is higher than its ends |
| areolate | surface cracked into plaques or blocks, like the cracking that occurs when mud dries in the sun |
| argillaceous | clay color, resembling ochraceous-cinnamon-brown |
| armillarioid | with attached gills, fleshy stem and ring |
| army brown | vinaceous brown |
| ascending | refers to gills that curve upwards from the margin of the cap to the attachment at the stem, as in conic or unexpanded cap |
| ascomycete | fungus belonging to Ascomycota |
| Ascomycota | Phylum that includes the largest group of fungi, those that produces their spores in sacs called asci, but does not include any gilled mushrooms |
| asperulate | of spores, appearing roughened with tiny points; or roughened with small warts |
| asterostromelloid | type of pellis found in Resupinatus composed of swollen terminal elements with short approximately perpendicular branches |
| astringent | causing a contraction or pucker of the mouth membranes |
| atomate | a powdered surface consisting of minute shiny particles |
| attenuate | gradually narrowed |
| authority | name, often abbreviated, of the mycologist(s) responsible for the taxonomy and nomenclature of a taxon, cited after the Latin name of the genus, species, variety etc. |
| autodigestion | self-digestion |
| avellaneous | dull grayish brown, hazel-brown, or light gray-yellow-brown, or closer to drab, or gray tinged with pink, in Ridgway 1912 a color closer to pinkish buff |
| azonate | without zones, without concentric markings |
| azure | sky-blue |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z