Saltcap

I don't understand why that restaurant adds saltcaps to everything. Just pure salt would be kinder on my wallet.

— A salty patron

The rocky, salt-sprayed walls of the jagged sea caves of Ilya may seem an unlikely place to find life. Cut off during the high tides and mostly devoid of light, the air is thick with the scent and taste of salt. Clinging to the bare rock, however, are clusters of large, white fungi.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The fruiting bodies of saltcaps are flat-capped white mushrooms about the size of an adult hand. Their stems are extremely short, with the cap flush against the rock walls of the cave; this means that the sea wind cannot get underneath and detach them from their anchors. Underneath the cap is covered in fine frilly teeth, ready to disperse spores when the cap shrivels with age.
Saltcaps grow in clusters of five to ten fruiting bodies, with the mycellium network covering the rock in a thin layer between them.
When picked, the caps immediately begin to bruise brown.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Saltcaps survive by leaching the minerals and nutrients out of the salty air in the sea caves. Their mycellium has evolved to be able to absorb the nutrients the fungus needs to grow, and also to flush out any excess salt. Scientists have observed it adjusting to high and low tides.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

The extremely specialised mycellium means that it is impossible to cultivate the saltcap mushroom elsewhere, which has made it an expensive and sought after part of Ilyan cuisine. The taste of the fruiting body is, unsurprisingly, quite salty, with deep notes of the ocean.

Further Reading