Marcos Delgado with a giant Patagonian Puffball near Calafate, Argentina.
Cyttaria sp. (there are half a dozen) known locally as Llao-llao or Indian bread, is an ascomycete that forms doughy and slightly sweet knobs on the branches of some species of the antarctic beech, Nothofagus sp. I ate a good bit of it both raw and cooked and it was mild tasting and filling. These are some over-ripe and dried specimens that were still hanging on the tree limb.
Here is the Cyttaria sp. on the branch of an Antarctic beech. The smooth flesh shaped units are edible, the darker ones I avoided.
Fistulina hepatica grew on the antarctic beech as well. It seems distinctly different from the collections I sampled in North Carolina, but both are tart.
Here is a cross-section of this large and succulent fungus growing on the Antarctic beech.
An unusual secotioid fungus, Thaxerogaster sp. found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Fungal postcards from Argentina.
