Spores, Gills, Teeth, & Pores (& More)

On many types of fungi, gills, teeth, or pores are three of the many ways that mushrooms disperse spores. Spores can be thought of as seeds that “grow” new fungi. The spores are produced and protected within the mushroom, whether in the cap or fungal body. The morel mushroom keeps its spores in sacs along its textured creases and folds; cup and coral fungi produce spores along their fungal bodies; and moulds, slimes, and other jellies have many ways of disseminating their spores.

In this blog post, I’ll be exploring the world of spore dispersal in fungi along with my photography to provide insight and images to those who read it.

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Gills

Gills can be used in identifying a variety of mushrooms, as many detailed differences arise in even similar species. In mushrooms with stalks, there are numerous discrepancies that set some fungi away from others: for example, the absence or presence of gills running down the stalk; if there are few or many gills; and how they sit underneath the cap or top of the mushroom. Examples of common gilled mushrooms are amanitas, oysters, and portobellos.

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Teeth

Mushrooms with teeth, or toothed mushrooms, do not have many differences between them, except for the length and colour of the teeth. Common mushrooms with teeth are hedgehog mushrooms and lion’s mane or bear’s head fungi.

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Pores

Pores vary in size, thickness, and pattern. Some are fine and the size of a toothpick tip; others, like the photo directly above, have pores that are more oddly-shaped. Pores are most commonly found in boletes (first photo in this section), polypores, and others.

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Other Fungi Spore Dispersal Methods

There are so many different types of mushrooms and fungi, it’s remarkably overwhelming sometimes, and with different fungi comes different ways to reproduce. Jellies like orange jelly and witch’s butter create spores on their upper sides. Birds’ nest fungi have tiny egg-like spores in their centres, and when a raindrop happens to hit one of them at the right angle, the spore can shoot out of the cup to a distance as great as a metre, or even farther. Cup- and disc-like fungi create spores on their surfaces, and as mentioned earlier, morels keep their spores in sacs along the wrinkles in their fungal body.

Mushrooms are fascinating, odd, extraordinary beings, and learning from them – and sharing that knowledge with others – is something that I know I’ll enjoy for many years to come. Spread the spores of wisdom!