Termitomyces fuliginosus

What the species is

Termitomyces fuliginosus is an agaric, a gilled mushroom, that belongs to a genus whose members are grown inside the nests of fungus-growing termites of the subfamily Macrotermitinae. The species was described by Heim in 1942 under the name Termitomyces fuliginosus, and Heim later treated it as a variety of Termitomyces robustus, a synonym that still appears in some searches and older lists.

The fruit body of the species is a fairly large mushroom. The EFTA species record gives the cap as 8 to 20 cm across, first bell-shaped and then with a conical, pointed centre. The stipe, or stalk, measures 6 to 11 cm by 0.6 to 1.2 cm, and is solid, fibrous and cylindrical. The gills are cream, the spore print whitish to creamy, and the spores ellipsoid and smooth. The same record notes the absence of clamp connections, a microscopic feature of the hyphae that is used in identification.

The name is a research label. The supplied catalogue treats the scientific name as unreconciled against current taxonomic authorities, and it notes that regional names and older broad concepts of Termitomyces need molecular checking. The name in this entry should therefore be read as the name the sources use, not as a settled account of the species.

Termites, the fungus comb and where the mushroom comes from

The mushrooms of Termitomyces do not grow from soil or dead wood in the usual way. Fungus-growing termites build fungus combs inside their nests from plant material, faeces and soil, and the Termitomyces fungus grows on that comb. The mushroom fruit bodies come up from the termite-associated substrate, which is why the species is recorded as necessarily associated with termites on epigeous termite mounds in dense moist forest.

The EFTA record places the species in forest, and it lists records from Benin, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Togo. The supplied catalogue adds Yunnan in southern China and South and Southeast Asia as regions where termite mushrooms are gathered. Those regional records mix several species of the genus, and the catalogue states that the local names in them need molecular checking before any one of them can be assigned to this species.

Food use as recorded

The supplied catalogue lists the species as a regional termite-mushroom food taxon, and it records use in soups and fried dishes, and a practice of preserving some Termitomyces by frying them in oil. The catalogue also records the supply as wild. Across the genus, reviews describe the mushrooms as prized for their flavour and texture, and report that people gather them in the rainy season both for their own meals and for sale in local markets in African and Asian countries.

The food use recorded for this species rests on a catalogue entry that cites an EFTA record. That record describes morphology, habitat and distribution, but does not say that the species is eaten, how it is prepared or whether it is safe. No recipe, drying or frying method, or yield is given for this species.

Identification and safety

This entry is not an identification guide, and it gives no verdict on whether this species is safe to eat. The EFTA record distinguishes this species from Termitomyces robustus by its conical, pointed centre on the cap, and it notes that the features of the mushroom should be checked against that distinction. Termitomyces is one of several genera whose members are eaten in the regions above, so a specimen cannot be identified from a regional name or a market photograph.

Safety has not been assessed for this species in any source read for this entry. Food use recorded by a species list or a market survey does not establish that a mushroom is safe, and the catalogue states that preparation, identity and current safety of the species require separate validation. Anyone who wants to eat a wild mushroom needs a qualified identification of that specimen, and this entry should not be used for that purpose.

Open questions

Three questions decide how far the food record can be trusted. The first is whether the regional records name this species or a broader concept of Termitomyces. The second is which preparations are used for this species specifically, as opposed to the genus. The third is whether the Yunnan and South and Southeast Asian records refer to the same taxon as the African records. Until molecular work settles those points, the entry records only what the reports say and stops there.