Is Yunnan welcoming the "blind box" season? 3,000 kinds of exotic "mushrooms" for you to choose from!

Yunnan Provincial Local Chronicles Compilation Committee Office

Planetary Research Institute

Co-production

Right now

Yunnan welcomes the season of "opening blind boxes"

You will open the world's largest "blind box"

Nearly 3,000 kinds of rare treasures for you to choose

(Yunnan has abundant rainfall, rain and heat at the same time, and a superior ecological environment, making it an ideal area for the growth and reproduction of various wild mushrooms. Image source: @Visual China & Lu Jianshu & Fan Yi & Feng Rong)

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They are a group of elves with various appearances.

Suddenly it came to Yunnan overnight

Turning the mountains and forests into a magical world

(Polyporaceae, Yunnan has bred many large fungi of various shapes and colors, which the locals call "wild fungi", photographer @崔永江)

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They are mushrooms from Yunnan.

Beautiful, weird, mysterious

It is a secret treasure that Yunnan people know well.

(Whether old or young, most people in Yunnan are very familiar with mushrooms, even though they are not mycologists. Photographer @饶颖)

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What is the charm of mushrooms that makes so many people in Yunnan praise, love and favor them?

How does it silently shape the countless lives in Yunnan?

Magic

This is the first time that mushrooms have shaped Yunnan.

01Magical Yunnan

In the rainy season in Yunnan, mushrooms break out of the soil

You will see a magical world

Fungi of various shapes are everywhere

Let the earth become a sea of ​​mushrooms

(Coral fungi look very similar to underwater corals, so eating them is not recommended. Photographer @王煜策)

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The tree trunk is covered with mushrooms of various colors

It's like a strange elf dancing

(Auriculariaceae, saprophytic fungus, not recommended for consumption, photographer @张程皓)

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As if sticking out tongue

Telling the secrets of life

(The appearance of Polyporales has repeatedly subverted our impression of mushrooms. It is not recommended to eat them. Photographer @柒哥)

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As if pricked up ears

Listen to the sounds of nature

(The feeding habits of most of the Carnospermaceae are unknown, so it is not recommended to eat them. Photographer @曹惠庭)

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Complex terrain and climate

Shaping Yunnan’s diverse habitats

Producing fungi with different personalities

Occupies every corner of Yunnan

(Yunnan is like a miniature China in terms of climate, covering various climate types from the Xisha Islands to the Changbai Mountains in the northeast, designed by @陈志浩)

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Tropical rainforests and subtropical broadleaf forests in the south

Towering trees

It is the stage for the fungus carnival

On rotten wood

Polypore

Turn decay into magic

(Poria grows on tropical rotten wood in Yunnan in summer and autumn. Its feeding habits are unknown and it is not recommended to eat it. Photographer: @范毅)

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Sarcophaga

The edge of the cup has eyelash-like spines

(The Sarcophaga family is mainly distributed in the tropical rain forests of southern Yunnan. It grows on rotten wood and is not recommended for consumption. Photographer @陈燕) ▼

Green cup fungus

Like blue-green eyes, watching the secrets in the forest

(The feeding habits of green cup mushrooms are unknown, and it is not recommended to eat them. Photographer @范毅) ▼

The higher altitude mountains in the northwest

There are large areas of primitive pine and oak forests.

There are delicious foods in the mountains and forests

Brightly colored red mushrooms are often found with pine trees.

(Some species of Russula are poisonous. Be careful to distinguish between edible and poisonous species. Image source: Visual China) ▼

Matsutake also grows under pine forests

It grows very slowly

It usually takes 5 to 6 years to grow a complete Matsutake mushroom.

The best matsutake mushrooms can be sold for more than 1,000 yuan per catty

(Yunnan's Matsutake production accounts for 70% of the country's total, and its exports account for 50% of the country's total. Behind this is the common love of countless consumers and practitioners for Matsutake. It's edible. Photographer @施永强) ▼

The ugly dry mushroom

Often hides under pine needles

Hard to be found

It is also a delicacy with high price.

(Ganba mushroom is described by writer Wang Zengqi as "the best delicacy in the world", edible, photographer @田丽梅) ▼

Above 3,000 meters above sea level, alpine meadows grow

The temperature here is often below 0 degrees in winter

Fungi also exist in cold places

Cordyceps sinensis lives here

It lives in the larvae of the bat moth.

Hibernate in the insect body during winter

Growing out of the insect in summer

Hence the name "cordyceps sinensis"

(Cordyceps sinensis infects bat moth larvae, and in the spring of the following year, long fruiting bodies grow from the top of the insect's head. The fruiting bodies release spores and a new life cycle begins. It is edible. Designed by @包子) ▼

Relying on a rich ecological environment

Plus suitable hydrothermal conditions

Yunnan's wild mushrooms account for half of the country's total

Annual output can reach more than 500,000 tons

(Yunnan has many wild mushroom species, wide distribution and high yield, accounting for 57.4% of the total number of known large fungi in the country, of which 900 are edible, accounting for 90% of the number of edible mushroom species in China. Designed by @包子) ▼

So, what exactly are mushrooms?

It is neither plant nor animal.

It is a giant in the fungus family.

It can grow huge fruits that are visible to the naked eye and can be picked with bare hands.

Mycologists call it "fruiting body"

The fruiting bodies can be divided into "basidiocarps" and "ascocarps".

(Fungi, represented by wild mushrooms, form an independent kingdom, alongside plants, animals, and protists. In fact, fungi are more closely related to animals than plants. Designed by @包子) ▼

The fruiting body releases spores

Equivalent to plant seeds

They are the kings of numbers.

One fruiting body can produce billions of spores

Far more than animals and plants

(Humans actually live in a vast ocean of spores, image source: @Visual China) ▼

If you place the mushrooms on white paper

A few hours later

The spores it releases will create a pattern, a spore print

(Spore prints are like the "fingerprints" of fungi, which can be used to identify the types of fungi. Image source: Visual China) ▼

Spores germinate to form hyphae

Its diameter is only 4 to 6 microns, one tenth of a hair's thickness.

(Wild mushrooms spend most of their lives hiding underground in the form of hyphae. Design by @包子) ▼

Fungi rely on hyphae to absorb nutrients

Once the temperature and humidity conditions are suitable

It will weave a huge fruiting body

Reproduce offspring and complete the cycle of life

Mushrooms are gaining ground in Yunnan

Create a fantasy kingdom

Attracting countless people to explore

At the same time, it is also subtly shaping human beings

Make people addicted to it, unable to put it down, and unable to stop

02Explore the flavors of Yunnan

smell

It is the second shaping of Yunnan by mushrooms

Wild mushrooms are rich in protein and amino acids

Give it an explosive flavor

In addition to the aroma of fresh mushrooms

Give it a long-lasting fragrance

When scent molecules mix with other fragrances

Constantly reacting to the test of water, fire, and grease

Finally creating a miracle of taste

(There are two main ways to cook wild mushrooms in Yunnan: boiling soup and stir-frying. You must wait until the mushrooms are fully cooked before eating them. Image source: @图虫创意) ▼

The creation of a taste miracle

It's not just the work of Junzi alone

Lard and ham also contributed

When meat and fungus protein collide passionately in the pot

Under the containment of grease

The two complement each other

(Mushrooms and bacon are a perfect pairing, and the two complement each other in taste. Image source: Visual China) ▼

Not only that

Oil can also seal the umami flavor of the mushrooms

Fry the chicken mushroom at high temperature to make oily chicken mushroom

Enjoy seasonal delicacies at any time

(The precious and delicious oily chicken mushroom is the most precious gift that Yunnan people give to their friends from other places. Image source: @图虫创意) ▼

Craving for the taste of mushrooms

Let people become mushroom hunters

Going into the mountains to pick mushrooms

There is no such term as "collecting mushrooms" among the local population in Yunnan

Because of the encounter between people and mushrooms in the forest

More like opening a blind box

No one knows what kind of fungus you will encounter next time.

(After the rain in Yunnan, mushrooms are everywhere in the mountains and fields. You can fill a bamboo basket with just a few mushrooms. Photographer @在远方的阿伦) ▼

For mushroom pickers

Mushrooms are delicious

It is also a bizarre and colorful landscape.

Walking in the mountains, encountering surprises

Dangers are also hidden in it (Colorful mushrooms in Yunnan, photographers @王煜策&田丽梅&范奕)

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Statistics of mushroom poisoning incidents in various provinces and cities across the country

Yunnan Province tops the list

(Correctly distinguishing wild edible mushrooms from poisonous mushrooms and avoiding accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms is a matter of life and death. Designed by @陈志浩&高麗倩) ▼

Toxins are a protective mechanism of fungi

Prevent fruiting bodies from being eaten

However, many insects like to feed on toadstools.

That's because they don't digest the spores.

The poison of the fungus is not directed at them.

But for mammals

(Mushrooms that other animals can eat may not be edible by humans, photographer @范毅) ▼

There are nearly 500 known species of poisonous fungi in my country.

Behind every toxin

There are countless stories and accidents hidden

These "Breaking Bad"

Each has its own unique secrets

Some just make your stomach turn upside down.

Some cause hallucinations

Some directly kill people.

(Different types of poisonous fungi contain different toxins, and the symptoms of poisoning are also different. In China, the symptoms of poisonous fungi poisoning are divided into 8 categories, but due to space limitations, only 2 categories are listed. Designed by @张琪, picture source @wikimedia&wikipedia) ▼

The knowledge of mushrooms is extensive and profound

Even mycologists can't grasp it

If you don't want to become the protagonist of the poisoning legend

Please have more respect for them.

However

Even poisonous fungi

Can't resist the desire of Yunnan people to eat

Porcini may never have been thought of

The poisonous self can actually become a famous dish in Yunnan

(The substances in the cut boletus oxidize and turn blue in the air. The hallucinogenic toxins in the boletus lose their activity at high temperatures. Image source: Visual China) ▼

Fungal poisoning does not stop people from eating mushrooms

Instead, it made Yunnan people fall in love with mushrooms.

Become their motivation to learn about mushrooms

People visit mountains and valleys

Passionate about collecting, identifying and recording every kind of fungus

The appearance, color, smell and taste of mushrooms

Know everything about it, talk endlessly

He even wrote a book about mushrooms.

Lan Mao, a Ming Dynasty herbalist

In his "Southern Yunnan Materia Medica"

Includes 27 kinds of wild mushrooms in Yunnan

Among them is the porcini mushroom, which is well known to Yunnan people.

(His name is forever linked to mushrooms, and the red boletus is named "Lanmao Boletus", photographer @陆建树) ▼

Mushrooms in Yunnan

As food

It is also profound wisdom

Yunnan people's passion for mushrooms

Let mushrooms go out of the mountains, out of Yunnan, and into the world

It appears at the mushroom market on the street

It's the ordinary things in people's lives.

(The wild mushroom trading market in Kunming, Yunnan, is where all kinds of mushrooms gather. Photographer @叉蜀黍)▼

Appear on the dining table of star-rated hotels

It is an expensive mountain delicacy that people are eager to buy.

(Truffles are known as "diamonds on the dining table". Western cuisine is keen on using truffles as the final embellishment. Image source: @图虫创意) ▼

It is a big net

Connecting thousands of lights

It also connects the city and the mountains.

However

Mushrooms have shaped Yunnan in more ways than just this

In the corners that people can't see

It is changing the lives of thousands of people in Yunnan

03Reshaping the Forest

Fungus Network is the third way fungi reshape Yunnan

Fungi have a special relationship with various plants and animals

Building a huge network of life in the forest

(Unlike plants that rely on photosynthesis to obtain nutrients, fungi more or less rely on other organisms for nutrition and reproduction, picture source @Visual China) ▼

90% of plants on Earth

Living with fungi

The two sides have established a mutually beneficial relationship

As we walk in the woods

You will find that porcini and matsutake mushrooms always grow under pine trees.

Once they leave the pine forest, they disappear without a trace

(Porcini mushrooms under the pine trees, image source: @图虫创意) ▼

The hyphae of the fungus grow together with the roots of the pine tree

Forming " mycorrhiza "

Through the exchange of mycorrhizae, fungi and plants provide nutrients to each other

The two have become a community with a shared future for coexistence and common prosperity.

(Fungi are extremely important to plants. Without fungi, plants cannot even go onto land. Designed by @包子) ▼

Such a community of shared destiny

There are also many precious Chinese medicinal materials in Yunnan

Gastrodia elata

It survives on the nutrients provided by honey fungus

The sugarcane flower that cannot photosynthesize

Stay with Matsutake and pine trees

There is also a white crystal orchid

It lives on nutrients provided by underground fungi.

(The Crystal Orchid has no chlorophyll and cannot photosynthesize. Image source: Visual China) ▼

In addition to plants

Fungi and other small animals are also closely related

Acanthus arborescens growing on an ant nest

Break down indigestible grass for termites

Termites protect Alternaria from threats from foreign organisms such as mites and nematodes

They are partners in win-win cooperation (Chicken mushroom growing on termite nest, photographer @李光洪) ▼

Colorful ghost pen

Resembling the appearance of rotten meat,

Emitting a foul odor

Attract flies to visit

The flies are unaware

Become a spreader of Psoralea corylifolia

(Psoralea corylifolia grows in woodlands in summer and autumn and is distributed throughout Yunnan. It is poisonous and should not be eaten. Photographer: Mo Mingzhong) ▼

Also winning with taste

It is the bamboo fungus under the bamboo forest

Tricking flies into spreading spores

After flies feed

Spores can germinate normally

(Bamboo fungus is not only a delicacy for hot pot, it is also more intelligent outside the dining table. Photographer @范毅) ▼

Some fungi can even "move"

Become a predator

Common fungi

Such as Coprinus comatus, Oyster mushroom and Stropharia rugoso

They are all "carnivores" behind the scenes

(The Coprinus comatus with and without its umbrella. Coprinus comatus is also known as the hairy-headed coprinus. Eating it with alcohol can cause poisoning. Photographer @HANMOSHENG) ▼

Their mycelium

It can prey on small animals called nematodes.

The fungus weaves its hyphae into a net

Some contain deadly toxins

Waiting for nematodes to fall into their carefully designed traps

(There are two main ways for fungi to prey on nematodes. One is to use mechanical means, weaving mycelium into lassoes and nets to catch nematodes; the other is to produce toxins to make nematodes lose their ability to move. Designed by @张琪) ▼

Fungi are the Internet celebrities in the biological world

Its circle of friends is all over the mountains and forests

Building a network of communication between lives with my own strength

besides

Mushrooms have even more powerful powers

When the plants die

Fungi are also decomposers of remains

Some fungi feed on dead plants.

They are called saprophytic fungi

Saprophytic fungi can decompose plant residues

They grow on rotting wood.

Slowly disintegrate the wood from the inside

The mushrooms, fungus, and ganoderma that we often eat are all saprophytes.

(In Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, Polyporaceae are mostly saprophytic fungi, photographer @薛云) ▼

The amount of fallen leaves a tree forms over 10 years

Weight up to 2 tons

Nature needs a destructive force

Completely decompose the piles of debris

Mushrooms as the “undertaker” of the forest

Can turn the dead forest debris back to dust

The cycle of life and death continues

(Schizophyllum fungi, which grows on trees, connect all things and communicate life and death. They are both "consumers" and "decomposers" in nature. Image source: @图虫创意) ▼

Mushrooms are not just for scenery and food

It is also the cornerstone of Yunnan's life world.

Plants, animals, fungi

It constitutes the colorful Yunnan from different perspectives: every square kilometer has lush forests and every square meter has birds and animals flying around.

(Yunnan golden monkey. According to surveys, Yunnan has about 30,000 species of plants and nearly 2,000 species of vertebrates. It is a well-deserved biological kingdom. Photographer @彭建生) ▼

Even on a per square centimeter scale

Yunnan is still a world that is endless to describe and see

(When you look down at Yunnan from a microscopic perspective of every square centimeter, it is still a kaleidoscopic world. Image source: @Visual China) ▼

illustrate:

1. The correct way to write the Chinese character "枞" in "鸡枞" should be "左土右从", but considering that some readers' input methods do not encode this Chinese character, in order to prevent garbled characters, the character "枞" is used instead.

This graphic and text are jointly produced by

Yunnan Provincial Local Chronicles Compilation Committee Office

This article was created by

Written by : Gu Yuehu

Image : Zhou Xuguang

Map : Chen Zhihao & Gao Liqian

Design : Zhang Qi & Bao Zi

Proofreading : Dou Jing & Gao Liqian

Cover Photographer : Wang Yuce

Audit Expert

Yang Zhuliang, researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Ge Zaiwei, Associate Researcher at Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Zhang Ying, lecturer at the College of Biodiversity Conservation, Southwest Forestry University

【References】

[1] Yang Zhuliang et al. (2022). Wild Mushrooms of Yunnan, Science Press.

[2] Yang Zhuliang (2021). Common edible and poisonous mushrooms in southwest China, Science Press.

[3] Lin Xiaomin et al. (2005). Diversity of macrofungi in China, China Agriculture Press.

[4] Gao Kunyi et al. (2008). Yunnan Biogeography, Yunnan Science and Technology Press.

[5] Yang Xinmei (2001). Inheritance and development of Chinese mycology, China Agriculture Press.

[6] Lin Xiaomin (2004). Ecological diversity and molecular identification of large fungi, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University.

[7] Zhang Yujin (2012). Study on the phylogenetic and co-evolutionary relationship between Alternaria albuminosa and symbiotic termites, Yunnan Agricultural University.