rosenblum@jupiter.rutgers.edu (09/30/88)
I saw an interesting-looking mushroom (actually, a few of them) on the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers a few days ago, and I was wondering if mycologists out there could tell me what it was (or may have been) based on the casual description that I can give. It was about 15 cm high, with a smooth, almost translucent off-white stem. The cap was curved downward over the stem (like the straw mushrooms used in Chinese cooking), with the distance from the top of the cap to its bottom edge being about 40% of the height of the mushroom. What was particularly interesting was the surface of the cap. The top surface had a rather striking even shingled pattern, which at a distance looked almost like a honeycomb, but on closer inspection proved to be just regularly placed scale-like things with their free edges towards the bottom of the cap; there were something like six to ten rows of these, with the shingles in one row between the shingles of the row above (like seats in a well- designed movie theater). The bottom of the cap was even more striking: it was jet black and shiny, and looked like nothing so much as fresh tar, to some extent obscuring the gills. Any ideas on what that might have been? Daniel M. Rosenblum, assistant professor, quantitative studies, Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University ROSENBLUM@JUPITER.RUTGERS.EDU ROSENBLUM@ZODIAC.BITnet ROSENBLUM@CANCER.RUTGERS.EDU \/ CANCER and PISCES are the two nodes ROSENBLUM@PISCES.RUTGERS.EDU /\ in a VAXcluster called ZODIAC.
john@basser.oz (John Mackin) (10/09/88)
In article <883@galaxy> rosenblum@jupiter.rutgers.edu writes: > I saw an interesting-looking mushroom (actually, a few of them) on the > New Brunswick campus of Rutgers a few days ago, and I was wondering if > mycologists out there could tell me what it was (or may have been) based > on the casual description that I can give. It was about 15 cm high, > with a smooth, almost translucent off-white stem. The cap was curved > downward over the stem (like the straw mushrooms used in Chinese > cooking), with the distance from the top of the cap to its bottom edge > being about 40% of the height of the mushroom. What was particularly > interesting was the surface of the cap. The top surface had a rather > striking even shingled pattern, which at a distance looked almost like > a honeycomb, but on closer inspection proved to be just regularly placed > scale-like things with their free edges towards the bottom of the cap; > there were something like six to ten rows of these, with the shingles > in one row between the shingles of the row above (like seats in a well- > designed movie theater). The bottom of the cap was even more striking: > it was jet black and shiny, and looked like nothing so much as fresh tar, > to some extent obscuring the gills. Any ideas on what that might have > been? Absolutely. The last comment places the mushroom (without question, as far as I am aware; if you get replies to the contrary I would be most interested in seeing them) in the genus Coprinus. They are the only agaricales that are dark-spored and have gills that are autolytic (self-digesting). Had you seen the mushroom earlier in its life, the gills would have been initially light in color, gradually darkening to black before autolysis commenced. It is hard to be certain from the description, but I would say that your mushroom is very likely to be Coprinus comatus. This fungus is said by some to be the best-tasting of all mushrooms. It's not my personal favorite, but I do consider it very good eating indeed. It is not at all pleasant once it has started to autolyse; you must eat it while its flesh is still solid. This mushroom, like many members of the genus Coprinus, contains the compound disulfram, which is marketed under the trade name Antabuse. It is sometimes administered to alcoholics to discourage them from consuming alcohol. A very unpleasant reaction will ensue if one takes alcohol while using disulfram, beginning with hot flushes and progressing to dizziness, headache, palpitations, dyspnoea, nausea and vomiting, lasting up to several hours. [What is happening physiologically is this: primarily in the liver, alcohol in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is reduced to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This reaction is relatively slow, and is the step that limits the rate at which alcohol is removed from the body. The acetaldehyde is then converted to acetate in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. Normally, this reaction proceeds very rapidly, and no acetaldehyde accumulates. The action of this enzyme is inhibited by disulfram, and it is the resulting accumulation of acetaldehyde that is responsible for the adverse effects.] So, make certain that you do NOT consume alcohol with, or within several hours after the consumption of, mushrooms of the genus Coprinus. I would strongly suggest that you have any mushroom you intend to eat identified by a knowledgeable person on the spot. John Mackin, Basser Department of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia john@basser.oz.AU (john%basser.oz.AU@UUNET.UU.NET) {uunet,mcvax,ukc,nttlab}!munnari!basser.oz!john
gordon@june.cs.washington.edu (Gordon Davisson) (10/15/88)
In article <1523@basser.oz>, john@basser.oz (John Mackin) writes: >So, make certain that you do NOT consume alcohol with, or >within several hours after the consumption of, mushrooms of >the genus Coprinus. My mother once got fairly sick from drinking alcohol after a feast of inky caps (specifically Coprinus Atramentarius), even though she waited more than 24 hours. I'd suggest waiting several days. -- Human: Gordon Davisson ARPA: gordon@june.cs.washington.edu UUCP: {decvax,tektronix}!uw-beaver!uw-june!gordon Bitnet: gordon@uwaphast