Diagram of a basidiomycete stipe with a annulus and vulva

In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal tissue. In many instances, however, the fertile hymenium extends down the stipe some distance. Image File history File links Ring_and_vulva_stipe_icon. ... Image File history File links Ring_and_vulva_stipe_icon. ... Classes Subdivision Teliomycotina    Urediniomycetes Subdivision Ustilaginomycotina    Ustilaginomycetes Subdivision Hymenomycotina    Homobasidiomycetes - mushrooms The Division Basidiomycota is a large taxon within the Kingdom Fungi that includes those species that produce spores in a club_shaped structure called a basidium. ... Partial veil is a mycological term which describes a structure of some mushrooms which protects the developing gills or other spore-producing surface. ... The Universal veil is a mycological term to describe a cup like structure that appears in some gilled mushrooms. ... Mycology (from the Greek mykes, meaning fungus) is the study of fungi, their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and their use to humans as a source for medicinals (see penicillin) and food (beer, wine, cheese, edible mushrooms), as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or infection. ... Basidiocarps (mushrooms) of the fungus Leucocoprinus sp. ... Classes Homobasidiomycetes - mushrooms Heterobasidiomycetes - jelly fungi The Subdivision Hymenomycotina (Hymenomycetes) is one of three taxa of the fungal Division Basidiomycota (fungi bearing spores on basidia). ... A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filament that, with other hyphae, forms the feeding thallus of a fungus called the mycelium. ...

The evolutionary benefit of a stipe is generally considered to be in mediating spore dispersal; an elevated mushroom will more easily release its spores into wind currents or onto passing animals. Nevertheless, many mushrooms do not have stipes, including: cup fungi, puffballs, earthstars, some polypores, jelly fungi, ergots, and smuts. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cup fungi are fungi (Ascomycota: Family Pezizaceae) which produce a mushroom that tends to grow in the shape of a cup. Spores are formed on the inner surface of this fruiting body (mushroom). ... An agaricoid puffball, Podaxis pistillaris, the False Shaggy Mane Lycoperdon perlatum Puffballs are fungi, they consist of a polyphyletic assemblage of Basidiomycota with gasterothecia (gasteroid basidiocarps) in which the spores are produced internally; that is, the basidiocarp remains closed, or opens only after the spores have been released from the... Genera Polyporus . ... Orders Tremellales Auriculariales Dacryomycetales Ceratobasidiales Tulasnellales The Class Heterobasidiomycetes or jelly fungi comprises the five fungal orders: Tremellales, Auriculariales, Dacryomycetales, Ceratobasidiales, and Tulasnellales. ... Species About 50, including: Claviceps africanum Claviceps fusiformis Claviceps paspali Claviceps purpurea Ergot is the common name of a fungus in the genus Claviceps. ... The smuts are fungi, mostly Ustilaginomycetes (of the class Teliomycetae, subphylum Basidiomycota), that cause plant disease. ...

It is often the case that features of the stipe are required to make a positive identification of a mushroom. Such distinguishing characters include:

1. the texture of the stipe (fibrous, brittle, chalky, leathery, firm, etc.)
2. whether it has remains of a partial veil (such as an annulus or cortina) or universal veil (vulva (mycology))
3. whether the stipes of many mushrooms fuse at their base
4. its general size and shape
5. whether the stipe extends underground in a root-like structure (a rhizome)

When collecting mushrooms for identification it is critical to maintain all these characters intact by digging the mushroom out of the soil, rather than cutting it off mid-stipe. Partial veil is a mycological term which describes a structure of some mushrooms which protects the developing gills or other spore-producing surface. ... The Ford Cortina was a medium sized car sold by Ford of Britain. ... The Universal veil is a mycological term to describe a cup like structure that appears in some gilled mushrooms. ... Ginger rhizome In botany, a rhizome is a usually-underground, horizontal stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ... Mushroom hunting (or mushrooming) is the activity of searching for mushrooms in the wild, typically for consumption. ...