''Agaricus bernardii'', commonly called the salt-loving mushroom, is an

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms ...

fungus in the family

Agaricaceae The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus ''Agaricus'', as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. Taxonomy The family Agaricaceae was publishe ...

. A short, squat mushroom, the thick

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

is usually less than the diameter of the cap, which ranges from . Found in Asia, Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia it is a

salt-tolerant Halotolerance is the adaptation of living organisms to conditions of high salinity. Halotolerant species tend to live in areas such as hypersaline lakes, coastal dunes, saline deserts, salt marshes, and inland salt seas and springs. Halophiles a ...

species that grows in salt marshes, dunes, and coastal grassland. The fungus produces

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

(

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

s) with convex to flattened

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

up to in diameter, atop thick stems up to long. The cap surface is whitish to

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

, and can develop scales or warts in age.

Gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are initially pink before turning brown when the

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s mature. The

flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as mu ...

turns reddish when it is cut or bruised. The mushroom somewhat resembles '' Agaricus bitorquis'' but it differs from that species by the reddish-brown staining of cap and stem tissue, the nature of the

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

on the stem, as well as its briny odor. An

edible mushroom Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi (fungi which bear fruiting structures that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye). They can appear either below ground (hypogeous) or above ground ...

, it is stronger in flavor but similar to the store-bought button mushrooms, ''

Agaricus bisporus ''Agaricus bisporus'' is an edible basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Eurasia and North America. It has two color states while immature – white and brown – both of which have various names, with additional names for the mature ...

''.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by French mycologist

Lucien Quélet Lucien Quélet in 1869 Lucien Quélet (14 July 1832 – 25 August 1899) was a French naturalist and mycologist. Quélet discovered several species of fungi and was the founder of the Société mycologique de France, a society devoted to mycolo ...

as ''Psalliota bernardi'' in 1879, based on collections made in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, a seaport on the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

(France).

Pier Andrea Saccardo Pier Andrea Saccardo (23 April 1845 in Treviso, Treviso – 12 February 1920 in Padua) was an Italian botanist and mycologist. Life Saccardo studied at the Lyceum in Venice, and then at the Technical Institute of the University of Padua wher ...

transferred it to ''

Agaricus ''Agaricus'' is a genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, with over 400 members worldwide and possibly again as many disputed or newly-discovered species. The genus includes the common ("button") mushroom (''Agaricus bisp ...

'' in 1887.

Synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

include ''Psalliota bernardii'', ''Pratella bernardii'', ''Fungus bernardii'', and ''Agaricus campestris'' subsp. ''bernardii''. The infrageneric (below genus-level)

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

of ''A. bernardii'' is not known with certainty. In his 1978 proposed classification,

Paul Heinemann Paul Heinemann (February 16, 1916 – June 18, 1996) was a Belgian botanist and mycologist. Heinemann specialized in African mycology. In his long career, he published 435 names, including 2 families, 6 genera, 346 species, and 40 varieties. His c ...

placed it in the subsection ''Bitorques'' of the

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sign ...

''Agaricus''. Although the species has some similarities with species in the

''Duploannulatae'' based on the structure of its

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent ...

and its tendencies towards rufescence (developing a red coloration),

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

analysis shows that it does not belong in this section. An earlier (1999) analysis suggested that it is closely related to the "Agaricus clade", which contains '' A. subperonatus'', '' A. devoniensis'', '' A. bisporus'', '' A. spissicaulis'', '' A. bitorquis'', and '' A. impudicus''. In 1986,

Henri Romagnesi Henri Charles Louis Romagnesi (7 February 1912 – 18 January 1999) was a French mycologist who was notable for a thorough review and monograph of the agaric genus '' Entoloma'' (or ''Rhodophyllus'' as it was known in the early 20th century), as ...

placed it in section ''Chitonioides''; Solomon Wasser demoted this to a subsection of ''Duploannulatae'' in 1995, and later provided molecular support for his decision. In addition to ''A. bernardii'', species in Wasser's concept of subsection ''Chitonioides'' include '' A. rollanii'', '' A. bernardiiformis'', '' A. gennadii'', '' A. pequinii'', and '' A. nevoi''. The species was named after the original collector, G. Bernard. ''Agaricus bernardii'' is commonly known as the salt-loving mushroom.

Description

Fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

of ''Agaricus bernardii'' have

that range in shape from convex to flattened, and reach a diameter of . The cap surface is dry and smooth, with a white or buff color that can develop brownish spots in maturity. In age, the surface often forms scales or warts. The

is thick, firm, and stains reddish-orange or reddish-brown when cut, although this reaction can be slow to develop. Its odor ranges from mild to briny to pungent. The

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are free from attachment to the stem, and packed close together. Initially grayish-pink to pinkish, they turn reddish-brown and then chocolate brown as the spores mature. The

is solid (i.e., not hollow), firm, and measures long by thick. A thick, white, rubbery

partial veil In mycology, a partial veil (also called an inner veil, to differentiate it from the "outer", or universal veil) is a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some basidiomycete fungi, typically agarics. Its role is to isolate ...

covers the gills of the immature mushroom, and eventually remains as a

on the middle of the stem. Although the mushrooms sometimes have an odor that is briny or pungent ("though not inappropriate"), they are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

and good.

David Arora David Arora (born October 23, 1952)Barnard J. 1993. "Self-taught mushroom maven travels world for fungi". ''Associated Press'' December 31, 1993. Accessed 2008-01-20, via LexisNexis Academic. is an American mycologist, naturalist, and writer. He ...

compares its taste to that of the closely related ''Agaricus bitorquis'', "but a little chewier and sometimes with a slightly salty or briny taste." ''Agaricus bernardii'' mushrooms produce a dark brown

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...

. The

s are smooth, broadly elliptical, and have dimensions of 6–7.5 by 5–6 μm. The

basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-c ...

(spore-bearing cells) are four-spored and club-shaped, measuring 14–25 by 4–7 μm; the

sterigmata In biology, a sterigma (pl. sterigmata) is a small supporting structure. It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the ti ...

are 4–5 μm. Cheilocystidia (

cystidia A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that ar ...

on the gill edge) are broadly club-shaped to cylindrical,

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

(translucent), and measure 17–30 by 4–8 μm.

Similar species

'' Agaricus bitorquis'', also edible, has a similar appearance, but can be distinguished by its double ring, and the lack of a fishy or briny odor. Additionally, ''A. bitorquis'' does not stain reddish when cut, and usually does not have a scaly or warty cap. The Hungarian species '' A. bernardiiformis'', named for its similarity to ''A. bernardii'', is distinguished from the latter by its smaller spores (6.2–8.2 by 5.4–6.2 μm) and its club-shaped cheilocystidia that measure 17–35 by 7–9.5 μm.

MycoBank MycoBank is an online database, documenting new mycological names and combinations, eventually combined with descriptions and illustrations. It is run by the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute in Utrecht. Each novelty, after being screene ...

, however, considers the two species to be

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

Habitat and distribution

''Agaricus bernardii'' is a

saprobic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

species. Its mushrooms fruit singly, scattered, or in groups on the ground. They grow in sandy soils, lawns, and in habitats with a high salt concentration, like along ocean coasts and salt marshes. Once primarily a maritime species, the fungus has spread inland to roadside verges where salt has been applied to

de-ice Deicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or preve ...

the roads. Fruit bodies sometimes form underground. Mushrooms can also grow in

fairy ring A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by ...

s, especially when in grasslands or pastures. A Czech study determined that the mushrooms will strongly

bioaccumulate Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost or eliminated ...

silver from contaminated soil. Although the average concentration of silver in the soil is typically less than 1 milligram per kilogram of soil, it can be significantly elevated near industrial sites such as mines and smelters. The concentration of silver in the caps—which reached levels of up to 544 mg per kg of mushroom tissue (

dry weight Vehicle weight is a measurement of wheeled motor vehicles; either an actual measured weight of the vehicle under defined conditions or a gross weight rating for its weight carrying capacity. Curb or kerb weight Curb weight (U.S. English) or kerb ...

)—was about twice that of the stems. The species is found in Asia, Europe, North America (including Mexico) and New Zealand.

References

External links