There are a lot of cool things in the fungus family in K-Country. There’s a whole society – the Alberta Mycological Society – dedicated to them. We can’t even begin to look at every fungus in K-Country, but we can highlight some obvious ones.
Fungi are NOT plants, hence they get their own page. Mushrooms and their ilk are in their own Kingdom, along side the Kingdom of Animals and the Kingdom of Plants. Not all fungi look like the classic mushroom in the picture above, or the mushrooms you find in grocery stores. Most of those are a group of mushrooms known as Cap and Gill (there are actually 2 groups of those). You can also find:
- a group generally known as Slime Molds;
- the Puffball group;
- the Jelly group;
- the Coral group;
- the Tooth group;
- the Sac or Cup group (the Blue-Stain fungus is in this group; it’s the fungus kills the trees infested by Pine Beetles and stains the wood blue);
- the Sponges, and;
- the Shelf group.
Some fungi are edible. Many are not. A few can kill you. Be 100% sure you know your wild fungi before you eat them. Once you’re sure: check again.
Lichens are a cross between a fungi and a plant. They are arbitrarily placed under the Fungi kingdom (the theory being the fungi is the principle element), but could also be considered in the Plant Kingdom. Lichens have their own groupings, based on how they grow:
- Dust;
- Crust;
- Scale;
- Leaf;
- Club;
- Shrub, and;
- Hair.
Meet some of the cool members of the fungi kingdom you can find in K-Country below.
