8 Dirty Words About Mushrooms

Just to get some ground rules in, here is a glossary of mushroom terminology I enjoy using on the regular. These words feel so dirty, in a good way.

Mycelium – These are basically the roots of the mushroom. They look like little white hairs that gradually spread throughout their nutrient source, or substrata.

Substrata – The nutrient rich substance that the mycelium grow through to get established. The mycelium waits for the right air, water, and light conditions, before it fruits, or produces its first flush of mushrooms.

Flush – One fruiting cycle. Most mycelial networks flush several times before their substrata is depleted of nutrients.

Fruiting – The tissue structure we know as the “mushroom” is the fruit of the organism. It is made to produce seeds: millions of microscopic spoors.

Spores – essentially the seed of the mushroom. Microscopic, they can sometimes be seen falling from the gills or the sponge of the mushroom as a fine smoke-like mist.

Gills – Thin layered structures underneath the cap of some mushrooms. This is where the spoors are produced and released.

Spawn – One way to cultivate mushrooms is by transplanting mycelial networks into larger sterilized substrata. The initial nutrient dense substrata that the spoors grow out on is called the spawn.

Lentinula edodes – This is the scientific name for the famously delicious species of mushroom known as Shiitake.

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