Fantastic and Unique Shapes of Mushrooms

Mushrooms, molds and yeast are fungi and majority of the most colorful and unique fungi belong to mushroom. There are two

kinds of mushroom - the non-poisonous and the poisonous. There are numerous edible mushrooms inasmuch as there are

numerous toxic species. On this particular article you will see the most unique species of mushrooms.

1. Coral Shape: Hericium coralloides

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Hericium coralloides is absolutely unique and pretty. This cute looking fungus somehow resembles a coral species.

Hericium coralloides is a plant pathogen. Like other North American Hericium species, Hericium coralloides is edible.

2. Octopus Shape: Octopus Stinkhorn

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This species looks weird. As its name implies, this fungus look likes an octopus. Clathrus archeri, commonly known as Octopus

Stinkhorn, is endemic to Australia and Tasmania. The young fungus erupts from a suberumpent egg by forming into four to seven

elongated slender arms initially erect and attached at the top. In maturity it smells of putrid flesh.

3. Coral or Antler Shape: Coral Fungi

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I find this species of mushroom pretty, it is known as the Coral fungi, also sometimes called antler fungi. These are mushrooms that

are so named due to their resemblance to aquatic coral or antlers.

4. Funnel Shape: Jack o' lantern Mushroom 

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It's not the color of this species of mushroom that makes it unique but rather for its bioluminescent properties, it glows in the dark.

The jack o'lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius) is an orange to yellow gill mushroom that to an untrained eye appears similar

to some chanterelles, and is most notable for its bioluminscent properties. The funnel-shaped jack o'lantern mushroom is

poisonous.

5. Pom-pom or Noodle Shape: Hericium erinaceus

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This mushroom that look likes noodles or pom-pom are known to a variety of name like Lion's Mane Mushroom, Bearded Tooth

Mushroom, Hedgehog Mushroom, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, or Bearded Tooth Fungus. It is an edible mushroom in the

tooth fungus group. In the wild, these mushrooms are common during late summer and fall on dead hardwoods, particularly

American Beech.

6. Ball Shape: Giant puffball

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These balls are actually mushrooms. Finding a mushroom like this in the meadows is somewhat bizarre because Calvatia

gigantea, commonly known as the Giant puffball resembles a ball. It is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows,

fields, and deciduous forests worldwide usually in late summer and autumn. It is common throughout Europe and North

America.

7. Star Shape: Earthstars

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Another weird-looking mushroom is the species called the Earthstars. It look likes a popcorn with a big nut in the middle.

8. Gem-studded Puffball

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Eat this mushroom while it's young and avoid eating it when it grows old. This distinct species of mushroom called the gem-

studded puffball or devil's snuff-box (Lycoperdon perlatum) is a moderate sized puffball mushroom with a round fruiting body,

tapering to a wide stalk. Gem-studded puffballs are considered to be a choice edible mushroom when young and the gleba is

homogeneous and white. They become inedible as they mature: the gleba becomes yellow-tinged, and then finally develops into

a mass of powdery olive-green spores.

9. Trumpet Shape: Gomphus floccosus

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This mushroom with an unusual shape is not recommendable for consumption. Its shape is like a pitcher or a trumpet is known

as Gomphus floccosus, sometimes called the shaggy-, scaly-, or woolly chanterelle or woolly gomphus.  This species of mush-

room can be found in coniferous woodlands across Eastern Asia, from Korea to Pakistan, and in North America.

10. Lampshade Shape: Lampshade Mushroom

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I named this fancy-looking and unnamed mushroom that I found in the net -The Lampshade Mushroom.

These mushrooms are not colorful but they are certainly unique in their own right. I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you!

For colorful mushrooms see

World's Most Colorful Mushrooms

For related articles see

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