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Split Gill

Schizophyllum commune

Photo by arlanda
Published on Project Noah
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40.5457, -3.69218

Field Notes

Description:

It is considered the world's most widely distributed mushroom, occurring on every continent except Antarctica, where there are no trees.
The cap is small, up to 3 cm, and it is shell- or fan-shaped, The surface is hairy and velvety with a greyish white colour, sometimes zoned in ochre colours.
The gills are radial and soft pinkish when young getting darker, almost brown, when aged. When drying the gills retract longitudinally in a characteristic way.
The taste is soft and the flesh has a tough texture.

Habitat:

It is common in rotting wood at any time of the year

Notes:

It is considered inedible in Europe and US but it is widely consumed in Mexico and Central America.
This fungus has also been known to cause a human mycosis in just a few cases involving immunoincompetent people, especially children. In one case, the fungus had grown through the soft palate of a child's mouth and was actually forming fruiting bodies (mushrooms) in her sinuses.

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