MUSHROOMS: FLOWERS OF THE FALL

Mushroom samples collected in Lagos State, Nigeria. (a) Polyporus spp. (B) Ganoderma lucidum (C) Daldinia concentric (D) Xylaria polymorpha (E) Ganoderma applanatum. (F) Pleurotus ostreatus. (G) Coprinus comatus (H) Trametes versicolor . Source: Bankole and Adekunle (2012)

Mushrooms are fruit-bodies of macroscopic, filamentous and epigeal fungi and they are made up of hyphea which forms interwoven web of tissues known as mycelium in the substrate upon which the fungus feeds (Svrcek, 1983). They belong to the class Basidiomycetes, Order; Agaricales.

They are non-timber forest products which are often found as saprophytes on soil, open fields, farm lands, wood and roadsides.

Mushrooms have been valued for food, medicine (smith et al., 2002, Wasser, 2002), spiritual and religious purposes (McKenna, 1998) for thousand of years.

Hobbs 1997 reported that mushrooms were long appreciated due to their flavour, texture, taste, and some for medicinal or tonic attributes, and other for their aesthetic attributes like shapes, size colours for which they are referred to as “flowers of the fall”.

Bankole and Adekunle (2012) collected sixteen (16) different types of mushroom in Lagos State while Akpaja et al. (2014) collected twenty five (25) different species of mushroom in Okpamei people of Edo State, Nigeria. This is to show its numerous diversity in Nigeria.

The botanical names of some mushrooms and their indigenous nomenclatures in Nigeria.

1. Termitomyces microcarpus – Ota-oran (Yoruba); Ushumu omesanitegbe (Edo).
2. Termitomyces robutus – Ewe or Ogogo (Yoruba); Ushumu oruru (Edo).
3. Termitomyces globulus – Olubeje (Yoruba); Ushumu ochazee (Edo).
4. Calvatia cyathiformis – Iso-aparo (Yoruba).

References and for further reading

Akpaja, E.O.; Dania, A.T.; Okhuoya, J.A. and Isikhuemhen, S.O.  (2014). Heritage of edible mushrooms among the okpamei people of Edo State, Nigeria. Niger. J. Mycol., 6:66-84

Bankole, P.O. and Adekunle, A.A. (2012). Studies on biodiversity of some mushrooms collected in Lagos State, Nigeria using biotechnological methods. Journal of Yeast and Fungal Research, 3(4):37-48.

Okhuoya, J.A.; Akpaja, E.O.; Osemwegie, O.O; Oghenekaro, A.O and Ihayere, C.A. (2010). Nigerian Mushroom: Underutilized non-wood forest resources. J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage., 14(1):43-54

Oso, B.A. (1977). Mushrooms in Yoruba Mythology and Medicinal practices. Economic Botany, 31:367-371