Mushrooms Quiz

Answer: The fungal kingdom. Long classified among plants, fungi actually form their own kingdom, Fungi, which is genetically closer to animals than to plants.

Answer: The button mushroom. The button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) has been industrially cultivated on a large scale since the 17th century, originally in old underground quarries around Paris, hence its French name 'champignon de Paris'.

Answer: The porcini (cep). The porcini (Boletus edulis) is one of the most sought-after mushrooms by foragers and top chefs, prized for its firm flesh and pronounced nutty flavour.

Answer: The morel. The morel stands out for its unique hollow, honeycombed cap, resembling a beehive; it grows mainly in spring, unlike most mushrooms which are more common in autumn.

Answer: Mycology. Mycology is the branch of biology devoted to the study of fungi, a field long attached to botany before fungi were recognised as their own biological kingdom.

Answer: The paddy straw mushroom. The paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) has been cultivated for centuries in Southeast Asia on decomposing rice straw bales, and is recognisable by its distinctive volva sheathing the base of the stem.

Answer: Be wary of boletes with red pores and bruising blue flesh. This traditional rule, while imperfect since some red-pored species are in fact edible, helps rule out most toxic boletes, such as the Devil's bolete, whose flesh turns intensely blue on contact with air.

Answer: Vitamin D. Just like our skin, mushrooms use UV light to convert a precursor (ergosterol) into vitamin D. A few hours in the sun are enough to boost their content sharply.

Answer: The mycelium. The mycelium is a network of thread-like filaments (hyphae) that spreads through soil or wood; what is commonly called a 'mushroom' (the fruiting body) is only its visible reproductive organ.

Answer: A honey fungus mycelium. This Armillaria ostoyae mycelium, discovered in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon, covers nearly 9 km² and is thought to be several thousand years old, making it one of the largest and oldest living organisms ever recorded.

Answer: Saprophytic fungi. Saprophytic fungi break down dead wood, leaves and other organic matter, playing an essential ecological role by recycling nutrients and enriching forest soils.

Answer: The saffron milk cap. The saffron milk cap, nicknamed 'sanguin' in French, releases a characteristic orange latex when its flesh is cut, a feature that makes it easy to identify among other milk caps, some of which are acrid or toxic.

Answer: Producing citric acid. Aspergillus niger is used industrially on a large scale to produce citric acid through fermentation, a food additive (E330) found in a huge range of beverages and processed products.

Answer: The porcini. The bitter bolete can be told apart from porcini by pores that turn pink when touched and by an intensely bitter taste that cooking doesn't remove, which can ruin an entire dish if mixed in with real porcini.

Answer: The fairy ring mushroom. The ivory funnel often grows in the very same lawns and fairy rings as the fairy ring mushroom, making this one of the most common deadly confusions among inexperienced foragers.

Answer: The volva. The volva is what remains of the universal veil that enclosed the young mushroom; its sac-like presence at the base of the stem is the telltale sign of the genus Amanita, which includes several deadly species.