Mushroom Trivia
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growth habit

(pl. growth habits)

Terms discussed: caespitose, cespitose, clustered, determinate, imbricate, imbricate (growth habit), indeterminate, solitary, troop (pl. troops)

I'm not quite sure how to define growth habit on its own, but perhaps it will become clear upon discussing the technical terms.


Topics:
cespitose
gregarious, troop
solitary
Imbricate
Determinate, indeterminate

See Also:
Identification


      

cespitose



Photo of Omphalotus olearius by John Denk
Omphalotus olearius
A mushroom is said to be cespitose (or caestipose) when it grows in dense clusters, with the stems fused together or packed right up against one another at the base. Clustered (or "growing in clusters" without a mention of cestipose) seems to mean the same thing in some works, but in this website it will mean growing very closely together, but not with all the stems arising from a common point of origin.

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gregarious, troop



Image of Mycena pura from A. M. Hussey (1847 - 1855) Illustrations of British mycology
Mycena pura
Mushrooms that are in a close group but not close enough to be called a cluster are said to be in a troop. Mushrooms in a group that is a bit more scattered and irregular (loose discipline!) are said to be gregarious. Generally speaking, mushrooms on wood range between clustered and in troops, and terrestrial mushrooms range between troops and gregarious.

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solitary



Photo of Amanita longipes by John Denk
Amanita longipes
Do I really have to define solitary?
      

imbricate



Photo of Phlebia tremellosa by John Denk
Phlebia tremellosa
Imbricate means "tiled", and actually has two different meanings. In speaking of growth habits, it refers to shelf-like mushrooms that grow from the side of the substrate and come out right over one another. See the entry on wrinkles for the other meaning.

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Determinate, indeterminate


A fruiting body (or other fungal part) with determinate growth has a definite shape that it "wants" to end up in. If something gets in its way, it may end up distorted, but we can usually recognize it as "trying" to assume a certain form. Most of the mushrooms you know have determinate growth.

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Image of Hydnellum from Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (1816 - 1817) Das System der Pilze und Schwämme
Hydnellum
A fruiting body with indeterminate growth simply expands in all directions for as long as its growth spurt lasts. While it will have some regular features that make it recognizable, its shape will be determined by what it runs into and has to go around. These are the fungi that always end up engulfing and picking up small local objects, like leaves, small sticks, etc. (some determinate growth fungi do this, too).

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