Hi everyone! I know I abruptly disappeared for a little while because Things™ are happening, but I'm officially on summer holidays as of today and I will be on vacation next week, so I wanted to get a post or two (or maybe three if we're really really lucky) before I head off!
I don't know why you clicked on this post. Maybe you thought "Wow, Rowan actually posted? It's been almost two weeks!" If that's the case, I really am sorry for not writing sooner...but yeah Life Things are still happening and it's kind of chaotic for me at the moment.
Anyway that is a tangent. Perhaps you thought "Haha funni name" which is also valid. Maybe the picture looked cool, or maybe you thought "No way it's actually called that." It actually is called that. When I first saw this funky guy (funkgus, if you will), it reminded me of a morel. I would not recommend eating it though. Why? Well, let's get into it.
Overview
- Taxonomy + Naming
- The Fungus Among Us
- Historical Uses
Taxonomy + Naming
This fun guy/gus has many common names, including but not limited to bamboo mushrooms, bamboo pith, long net stinkhorn, crinoline stinkhorn, bridal veil, and veiled lady. It's a little bit ironic when you think about the family name, Phallaceae, which is in fact named after male genitals. The Wikipedia description of mushrooms in the Phallus genus is literally phallic, although I personally think the name of the genus makes that one pretty clear.
It was originally given the name Phallus indusiatus by a French dude - namely, one Étienne Pierre Ventenat, who was the first to describe it scientifically in 1798. The name was later made officialish (it was in an important fungal taxonomy book) by a German guy named Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. In 1809, Nicaise Auguste Desvaux (a French botanist) decided that it should be in a new genus, Dictyophora, because obviously as a botanist, he was the right guy to classify a fungus. Apparently nobody successfully challenged him on this (or maybe they just didn't challenge him period) for a good long while, because it was subsequently known as Dictyophora indusiatus until another botanist, this time the German guy Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck, put it in Hymenophallus, thus establishing it as H. indusiatus. Eventually, both were put back in Phallus and we end with the very first scientific name it was given.
The specific epithet comes from the Latin adjective indusiatus, meaning "wearing an undergarment" (that's from Wikipedia don't come after me).
While the naming from other places is not as interesting, Phallus indusiatus is featured in Nigerian mythology and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine since at least the 7th century.
The Fungus Among Us
No, that was not an Among Us joke, it just rhymes.
These guys can be found in tropical regions around the world in rich soil and break down plant organic matter. The indusium, or lacy, skirtish part is quite distinctive. Other closely related species may also have indusiums (indusi? I can't grammar) but they can be told apart by considering size, length, colour, and other physical characteristics. Mature fruit bodies are up to 25 cm (that's around 10 inches for all you Americans) tall. The cap is covered in stinky brown-green slime with spores that attracts certain insects to help it spread.
Edit: I have been informed that the plural of indusium is indusia, which I forgor because I wrote this kind of late at night h e h.
The immature fruit bodies are encased in little egg-like structures underground that are up to 6 cm (2 1/4 inches) in diameter and surrounded by a layer called the peridium. As it gets older and bigger, eventually the pressure forces the peridium open and releases the fruit body, allowing it to grow upwards to reach its mature form in 10-15 hours. A well-developed specimen, when fully mature, has an indusium that reaches to the volva, or the above ground remnants of the peridium, but you only have a few days to observe this before it's dead and gone.
It has some interesting uses and potential applications that will partially be covered here and partially in the next section. It produces certain compounds that have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as nerve-protecting (at least after neurotoxin exposure).
Historical Uses
In Chinese culture, it's considered an aphrodisiac and delicacy. Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty was said to enjoy them, they were fed to American diplomat Henry Kissinger on a trip to China to reestablish diplomatic relations in the 1970s, and they are cultivated in multiple regions of China.
It's sometimes marketed as "orgasm-inducing," probably related to the whole aphrodisiac thing, but as far as I can tell, that's based on a study from 2011 involving 16 women and 20 men. None of the men reported anything but the fungus smelling bad, 10 women reported an increased heart rate, and six reported "a mild orgasm." However, this study was small and has not been reproduced.
It has been used in medicine since the Tang Dynasty to treat many inflammatory and neural issues, which makes sense considering the properties mentioned in the previous section. The Miao people of southern China use it to treat a plethora of symptoms and more research is being done into the different compounds Phallus indusiatus contains and their possible uses.
I did try to find more information because I love a good history section, but there's not a lot available as far as I know. This is a bit of a shorter post, but hopefully I'll be back to long ones soon.
Thanks for reading!
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