wiki-illiam #107: q6

[dubdobdee]

What :

i: is a deadly oxymoron?
Probably DESTROYING ANGEL (amanita virosa) (AMME and his mum)

ii: has insecticide properties?
FLY AGARIC (amanita muscaria) (AT)

iii: could be a cheap form of confectionery?
PENNY BUN (boletus edulis) (DDD, looked up slightly inadvertently here)

iv: grotesque body has achieved a girth of 64 inches?
GIANT PUFFBALL (calvatia gigantea) (PJ, found in Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World, by Hall et al.)

v: two names, applied to a firelighter suggest muscle relaxation and recall kitchen negligence?
CANDLE SNUFF FUNGUS (xylaria hypoxylon), viz firelighter plus "muscle relaxant" = a mix-op in the kitchen (DDD, looked up here)

vi: better known as one of Rainier's features, is the most common source of what favourite hallucinogen?
LIBERTY CAP (psilocybe semilanceata) (AMME and his mum)

vii: sinister form of headgear probably accounted for a Holy Roman Emperor?
DEATH CAP (amanita phalloides) (AT)

viii: parasite is nominally associated with Iscariot?
JUDAS' EAR or JEW'S EAR or JELLY EAR (auricularia auricula-judae) (AT/MM)

ix: precious stone is deceitful?
AMETHYST DECEIVER (laccaria amethystea) (DDD, looked up here)

x: is also a lamellibranch?
OYSTER MUSHROOM (pleurotus ostreatus): lammelibranch means bivalve, ie a type of mollusc (AT)

Comments

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

I gots nothing :(

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

I think these are all fungi.

ii might be fly agaric - is it so-called because it kills flies?

iv makes me think of recent record-breaking white truffle sales.

vi might be a reference to psilocybin - are magic mushrooms a particular feature of Mt Rainier, Washington?

vii refers to the death of the Emperor Charles VI, who had mushrooms for dinner while out hunting one day in 1740, and died pretty rapidly afterwards. This led to the succession of his daughter, Maria Theresa, to the thrones of Austria and Hungary, and the subsequent War of the Austrian Succession. I expect the mushroom in question has 'cap' in its name.

viii rings a vague bell - is there a bracket fungus named Judas?

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

oh, good call! yes this sounds very plausible

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

A brief check shows that vii is indeed the death cap, which some people believe also killed the classical emperor Claudius.

Fly agaric forms a viable insecticide when mixed with milk.

Apparently there are psilocybe species particularly common to the Pacific Northwest, but I can't figure out why Rainier particularly is mentioned. Or have I missed something about, eg, Rainier of Monaco?

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

There is jews ear? It lives on trees.

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia suggests that 'Jew's ear' is a corruption of 'Judas' ear', so I thin that's conclusive.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

big page o'fungi with latin names and common english nicknames: don't click till LJ's senior fungus-fanciers have maybe had a go first?

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

Oh, and 'lammelibranch' is a synonym for 'bivalve', so x is presumably the oyster mushroom.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

iii: the cep is also known as the "penny bun" (afraid i saw this when i scanned the page i said not to read yet)

[ruudboy.livejournal.com]

x - There's an oyster mushroom isn't there? A lamellibranch is a type of mollusc - I'm not sure whether an oyster is one, but it's definitely a mollusc so it might be.

[amuchmoreexotic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, from doing this with my Mum I know the theme is fungi.

We thought i) could be "destroying angel".

vi) refers to the "liberty cap" magic mushroom, named after a feature of Mount Rainier - it's the most common source of psilocybin.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Re: V, there's a tinder mushroom I think? That doesn't make sense with the muscle relaxation or kitchen negligence, though.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i actually know (v) and (ix) from cheating via my linked list, though won't spill till shroom-nerds have had a chance of a better stab: only iv is now fully unsolved (its clue not name-related, i don't think)

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

I think the biggest white truffle was more in the magnitude of 5 inches wide, not 64...suspect it's some sort of fairy-ring, rather than an individual cap or tuber.

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

It says here in Hall et al's Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World that the Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) has been known to grow to more than 1.5m wide, and the biggest one anyone found weighed 100kg. It also says that they're edible, though probably quite yuck by the point they get that big.

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

Also I wld like to register my disappointment at no mention of Dog Stinkhorn, the most hilarious-looking of all fungi.