Mushrooms have long appeared on plates and been enjoyed by people around the world.
Although those little button, chestnut, or a little more obscure shiitake mushrooms have a presence when it comes to mushrooms on our plates (or elsewhere!).
Mushrooms are great fun because of their unusual descriptive names.
Turkey tail, wood ear, lobster, lion’s mane, devil’s fingers, veiled lady and bleeding tooth – you can picture the mushroom from the name alone!
Read on to learn about some of the weirdest and strangest mushrooms on the planet – from the sublime to the ridiculous!
1. Lobster Mushroom – Hypomyces Lactifluorum
How about a plate of lobster, served with lobster mushroom on the side?
Once you compare the two, you’ll probably understand where the name came from!
Where does it grow?
The lobster mushroom is typically discovered in the forests of North America, usually beneath conifers.
To find these little beauties, it may best to search the peak of their season that is typically the late summer months to October.
Unique Features
Alright, we have a confession to make. The lobster mushroom isn’t actually a mushroom! In fact it’s a parasitic mold.
It is this really neat little parasite that attacks other species of mushrooms, enveloping the mushroom and transforming them into the warm, fluffy, lobster look, which we observe under those conifers.
The lobster mushroom chooses their hosts wisely and seem to favor the stubby brittle gill mushroom (Russula brevipes).
Useful Properties
It’s not fair to say that there are any super helpful benefits. They can be eaten and they are very tasty.
If you’re curious about their taste, well, the name is a dead give-away. Yep, you guessed it – mushroom with a touch of lobster flavor.
In fact – they taste so much like lobster that these red lobster mushroom tails are often used with “lobster” in vegetarian dishes. not every weird mushroom tastes great like this.
2. Turkey Tail – Trametes Versicolor
The name says it all, these fungi resemble a turkey’s tail spread out on the side of a tree trunk.
Where does it grow?
Found growing in forests all over the world, turkey tail mushrooms grow outward like a turkey tail and are happy growing on any wood, dead or alive.
Most often, turkey tail mushrooms can be found on a tree stump or a fallen log.
Unique Features
Turkeys tail mushrooms are classified into the polypore family of fungi or the bracket fungi family, taken from the way they grow out in a bracket or aka shelf levels from trees.
Turkey tails can come in many colors such as black, grey and rusty brown.
Useful Properties
The Turkey tail fungus has certain unique properties attributable to the two polysaccharide peptides that it contains – PSP and PSK.
Both PSP and PSK may enhance white blood cell counts in the body which may help boost the immune system.
Veterinarians will also use turkey tail extract on pets. It does have quite a chewy texture so it is commonly given in powdered form as an extract supplement to pets.
3. Wood Ear – Auricularia Auricula-Judae
Assuming you didn’t get a glimpse of the picture, I would not be surprised for you to learn that this bizarre fungus looks like a wood ear (also called a tree ear).
Where does it grow?
Wood ear mushrooms typically grow in temperate forests, in clusters, on older trees.
They also grow on some living trees, including spindle, beech, and ash trees.
Unique Features
The uniqueness of this mushroom is undeniably its strange and somewhat wonderful appearance.
Who wouldn’t want to encounter a human-like woody ear in the woods?
The colors range from dark brown to translucent (not too far off from the spectrum of human skin color!). Fresh ones are also rubbery to the touch.
Useful Properties
Although you might not be familiar with them wood ear mushrooms have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries.
There are some folks that say they cure sore throats and improve breathing when one gets sick with a cold or fever.
Some new research suggests this might be true, as wood ears have beta-glucans which might help boost immunity and have some antimicrobial properties.
If someone is on your case about trying new things, this is a good new one to try.
It doesn’t have a ton of flavor (people often compare the flavor to tofu) but when added to a dish, are great accents to absorbing flavors in a dish and provide some additional texture in soups and stir-fries.
4. Lion’s Mane – Hericium Erinaceus
It’s called an edible mushroom, and to be fair, the names describe the mushroom quite well!
It is given pseudonyms such as hedgehog mushroom, bearded tooth, monkey head, satyr’s beard, and pompom!
Where does it grow?
The name of this mushroom doesn’t reflect the natural habitat in which it grows.
It is mostly found on decaying wood in Canada, northern USA, Europe, and Asia.
Unique Features
As you’ve likely guessed, it looks like a shaggy lion’s mane.
It is classified in the group of mushrooms known as tooth fungi, as it has ridges under the caps that resemble teeth; it is the teeth that produce the spores.
Useful Properties
Lion’s mane mushroom is praised as a fabulous adaptogen, which helps lend support to our mind and body against stressors in our environment.
The special compounds (erinacines and hericenones) may help provide protective factors to the neurons of the body. Several studies also show that lion’s mane may help improve focus and memory.
As for taste, lion’s mane mushrooms have a flavor profile that is reminiscent of lobster or crab and can easily be used as the ‘seafood’ component in vegetarian dishes.
5. Bleeding Tooth – Hydnellum Peckii
Well, this is a gross sounding (and perhaps looking!) weird mushroom if ever there was one!
Where does it grow?
This fungus occurs in forests or mountainous areas throughout Europe, Iran, South Korea and North America.
Like other members of its family, this mushroom prefers to grow near conifers’ roots.
Unique Features
This fungus is not a pretty sight!
When young, these mushrooms ooze a reddish solution, and as they get older, they stop producing the solution and change from reddish to grey.
Useful Properties
Along with its dreamy aesthetics, this mushroom produces a medicinal sap that contains a powerful blood clotting compound called atromentin.
Additionally, it can also be used in the textile industry as a natural dye to create fabric instead of a synthetic dye.
And, thankfully, it is quite bitter to the taste. If its eerie imagery was not enough to stop you from eating it, then maybe the flavor will.
6. Devil’s Fingers – Clathrus Archeri
Here we have another mushroom that looks like it’s growing right out of Hallowe’en!
Where does it grow?
Indigenous to New Zealand and Australia, this fungus is now distributed into multiple locations around the globe, mostly in the South-East hemisphere.
Unique Features
This strange kind of fungus grows four to eight red tendrils resembling fingers.
It not only looks like it came from the gates of hell but also smells disgusting with its slimy coat smelling of rotting flesh.
Useful Properties
The foul smell draws insects to it and they then spread the spores around for the mushrooms’ reproduction.
Technically, they are edible mushrooms, even though they smell like vomit and are bitter to the taste.
7. Veiled Lady – Phallus Indusiatus
Oh, a lovely lady mushroom, it must smell lovely right?
Not right!
Don’t judge a mushroom by its appearance!
Where does it grow?
These mushrooms grow on every continent with the exception of Antarctica, and are also referred to as bamboo mushrooms because they like to colonize near bamboo.
Unique Features
The veiled lady mushroom is perhaps the only mushroom that grows in a phallic, upright way (even the Latin name gives it away!)
The mushroom does have a pretty, white lace structure that grows downward from the cap to the forest floor. From its lace structure, you can tell it is a delicate fungus; however, we can confidently say it does not smell like a lady unless she is rotten!
Did you think that veil is just for show?
Like most fancy things in the wild, the veil is for reproduction; adults and young insects climb up the veil and reach the top of the mushroom cap to some smelly mucus with spores inside.
The spores cling to the insects, allowing the insects to land and drop spores around the forest.
Useful Properties
The veiled lady mushroom has been utilized in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years for nearly every health-related concern.
Researchers are now beginning to recognize the mushroom’s potentially valuable health properties. For instance, there are a handful of studies suggesting the veiled lady mushroom can help reduce acid levels in the body which may enable a more healthy immune response.
In addition to the health benefits, the veiled lady mushroom has been enjoyed as a delicacy in some Chinese foods. It is eaten dried and prior to cooking, the slimy cap is removed.
In terms of taste the veiled lady mushroom is useful for sweet or savory foods and can be a yummy addition to soups or meat- or veggie-based recipes.
Final Thoughts on 7 Weirdest Mushrooms
From the odd and ‘bleeding’ to the more quaint dandy mushy, mushrooms from around the world can be pretty weird.
But weird isn’t all that they are, they are also full of interesting gaps in flavor and medicinal values.
There is one thing we are sure of, weird mushrooms do indeed have a lot to offer us and much of that we still don’t know!