| Afroboletus | |
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| Genus: | Afroboletus Pegler & T.W.K.Young (1981) |
| Type species | |
| Afroboletus pterosporus (Singer) Pegler & T.W.K.Young (1981) | |
| Species | |
Afroboletus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus, circumscribed in 1981, contains seven species found in tropical Africa. [1]
When defining the genus, Pegler and Young placed it in the family Strobilomycetaceae, and considered Afroboletus to be a "primitive" and possibly ancestral member of the group because of the form of its basidia and spores, the reticulation of the stem, tropical distribution, and non-mycorrhizal requirements of its species. [2]
Fruit bodies of Afroboletus species have fleshy caps that are hemispherical or convex to applanate (horizontally flattened). As it ages, the cap surface becomes fuliginous (sooty) and black, developing pustules or scales. The cap margin is appendiculate, meaning that partial veil remnants hang along the cap margin. On the cap underside, the pore surface comprises tubes that are adnately attached to the stipe. The pore surface appears swollen, and is initially white before turning greyish or pale pinkish. The tubes are relatively long, measuring 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1.0 in), and there are typically 1–2 pores per millimeter. Stipes are slender, cylindrical, firm, and solid (i.e., not hollow). The colour of the stipe surface is similar to that of the cap, and also eventually turns blackish. The veil is persistent, fluffy, and sometimes leaves a ring on the stipe. The flesh is whitish, discoloring black on exposure. [2]
Spore prints are dark fuscous brown. Spores are short-ellipsoid with a deep yellowish-brown colour. Their surface features an intricate ornamentation of 8–12 large, winged, longitudinal costae interspersed with ridges, and a thickened rim at the base. Basidia (spore-bearing cells) are pear-shaped and bear four sterigmata. Cystidia are club-shaped to lance-shaped, thin-walled, and have a brown pigment contained within vacuoles. The hymenophoral tissue is bilaterally divergent, and contains gelatinized layers. The cap cuticle is arranged in a trichodermial palisade (erect, roughly parallel chains of closely packed cells) consisting of short cylindrical or sac-like, thick-walled cells with brown contents. The hyphae lack clamp connections. [2]
There are seven species recognized in Afroboletus, all from tropical Africa: [1]
| Image | Name | Authority | Year | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afroboletus azureotinctus | Watling [3] | 1993 | Zambia | |
| Afroboletus costatisporus | (Beeli) Watling [3] | 1993 | Congo | |
| Afroboletus elegans | Heinem. & Rammeloo [4] | 1995 | Burundi | |
| Afroboletus lepidellus | (E.-J. Gilbert ex Heinem.) Watling [3] | 1993 | Cameroon | |
 | Afroboletus luteolus | (Heinem.) Pegler & T.W.K.Young [2] | 1981 | |
| Afroboletus multijugus | Heinem. & Rammeloo [4] | 1995 | Burundi | |
| Afroboletus pterosporus | (Singer) Pegler & T.W.K.Young [2] | 1981 | Liberia |
Both Afroboletus costatisporus and A. luteolus are used as food. [8]
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The Hydnangiaceae are a family of fungi in the mushroom order Agaricales. Widespread in temperate and tropical regions throughout the world, the family contains about 30 species in four genera. Species in the Hydnangiaceae form ectomycorrhizal relationships with various species of trees in both coniferous and deciduous forests.
Agaricus pattersoniae is an edible species of mushroom. It is found in the United States, where it associates with cypress trees. It has been proposed for inclusion in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Hydnellum aurantiacum is an inedible fungus, commonly known as the orange spine or orange Hydnellum for its reddish orange or rusty red colored fruit bodies. Like other tooth fungi, it bears a layer of spines rather than gills on the underside of the cap. Due to substantial declines in sightings, this species is listed as critically endangered in the United Kingdom.
Macrolepiota clelandii, commonly known as the slender parasol or graceful parasol, is a species of mushroom-forming fungus in the family Agaricaceae. The species is found in Australia and New Zealand, where it fruits singly or in small groups on the ground in eucalypt woodlands, parks, and roadsides. It is a tall mushroom up to roughly 20 cm (8 in), with a broad cap covered with distinctive rings of dark brown scales. The whitish gills on the cap underside are closely spaced and free from attachment to the slender stipe, which has a loose ring on its upper half, and a bulbous base. The edibility of the mushroom is not known with certainty, but closely related parasol mushrooms are edible and some are very sought after.
Coprinellus micaceus is a common species of mushroom-forming fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution. The fruit bodies of the saprobe typically grow in clusters on or near rotting hardwood tree stumps or underground tree roots. Depending on their stage of development, the tawny-brown mushroom caps may range in shape from oval to bell-shaped to convex, and reach diameters up to 3 cm. The caps, marked with fine radial or linear grooves that extend nearly to the center, rest atop whitish stipes up to 10 cm (4 in) long. In young specimens, the entire cap surface is coated with a fine layer of reflective mica-like cells that provide the inspiration for both the mushroom's species name and the common names mica cap, shiny cap, and glistening inky cap. Although small and with thin flesh, the mushrooms are usually bountiful, as they typically grow in dense clusters. A few hours after collection, the gills will begin to slowly dissolve into a black, inky, spore-laden liquid—an enzymatic process called autodigestion or deliquescence. The fruit bodies are edible before the gills blacken and dissolve, and cooking will stop the autodigestion process.
Suillus brevipes is a species of fungus in the family Suillaceae. First described by American mycologists in the late 19th century, it is commonly known as the stubby-stalk or the short-stemmed slippery Jack. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) produced by the fungus are characterized by a chocolate to reddish-brown cap covered with a sticky layer of slime, and a short whitish stipe that has neither a partial veil nor prominent, colored glandular dots. The cap can reach a diameter of about 10 cm, while the stipe is up to 6 cm long and 2 cm thick. Like other bolete mushrooms, S. brevipes produces spores in a vertically arranged layer of spongy tubes with openings that form a layer of small yellowish pores on the underside of the cap.
Mycena polygramma, commonly known as the grooved bonnet, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. The inedible fruit bodies are small, pale gray-brown mushrooms with broadly conical caps, pinkish gills. They are found in small troops on stumps and branches of deciduous and occasionally coniferous trees. The mushroom is found in Asia, Europe, and North America, where it is typically found on twigs or buried wood, carrying out its role in the forest ecosystem by decomposing organic matter, recycling nutrients, and forming humus in the soil. M. polygramma contains two uncommon hydroxy fatty acids and is also a bioluminescent fungus whose intensity of light emission follows a diurnal pattern.
Mycena sanguinolenta, commonly known as the bleeding bonnet, the smaller bleeding Mycena, or the terrestrial bleeding Mycena, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It is a common and widely distributed species, and has been found in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The fungus produces reddish-brown to reddish-purple fruit bodies with conic to bell-shaped caps up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide held by slender stipes up to 6 cm (2.4 in) high. When fresh, the fruit bodies will "bleed" a dark reddish-purple sap. The similar Mycena haematopus is larger, and grows on decaying wood, usually in clumps. M. sanguinolenta contains alkaloid pigments that are unique to the species, may produce an antifungal compound, and is bioluminescent. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined.
Amanita onusta, commonly known as the loaded Lepidella, the gunpowder Lepidella or the gunpowder amanita, is a species of fungus in the mushroom family Amanitaceae. It is characterized by its small to medium-sized fruit bodies that have white to pale gray caps crowded with roughly conical, pyramidal, or irregular gray warts. The stipe is whitish-gray with woolly or wart-like veil remnants, and at the base is a spindle- or turnip-shaped base that is rooted somewhat deeply in the soil. The species is distributed in eastern North America, from Nova Scotia to Mexico, and may be found growing on the ground in deciduous forests, particularly those with oak, hickory and chestnut. Fruit bodies smell somewhat like bleaching powder, and their edibility is unknown, but possibly toxic.
Amanita bisporigera is a deadly poisonous species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It is commonly known as the eastern destroying angel amanita, the eastern North American destroying angel or just as the destroying angel, although the fungus shares this latter name with three other lethal white Amanita species, A. ocreata, A. verna and A. virosa. The fruit bodies are found on the ground in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests of eastern North America south to Mexico, but are rare in western North America; the fungus has also been found in pine plantations in Colombia. The mushroom has a smooth white cap that can reach up to 10 cm (4 in) across, and a stipe, up to 14 cm (5.5 in) long by 1.8 cm (0.7 in) thick, that has a delicate white skirt-like ring near the top. The bulbous stipe base is covered with a membranous sac-like volva. The white gills are free from attachment to the stalk and crowded closely together. As the species name suggests, A. bisporigera typically bears two spores on the basidia, although this characteristic is not as immutable as was once thought.
Pulveroboletus bembae is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae that was first described in 2009. It is known only from the rainforest of northern Gabon, a region known for its high level of species diversity. Like all boletes, P. bembae has fleshy fruit bodies that form spores in tubes perpendicular to the ground on the underside of the cap. These yellowish tubes form a surface of pores, each about 1–2 mm in diameter. The brownish caps may reach up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) wide, and rest atop pale brown stems up to 5.5 cm (2.2 in) long. The stems have a woolly, whitish yellow ring of tissue that is short-lived, and may be absent in older specimens. The spores of P. bembae are spindle- or fuse-shaped, and have rough surfaces—a detail observable when viewed with scanning electron microscopy. The fungus grows in a mycorrhizal relationship with Gilbertiodendron dewevrei, the dominant tree species of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. Other similar Pulveroboletus species in the area include P. annulus and P. croceus, which may be differentiated from P. bembae by a combination of macro- and microscopic characteristics.
Amanita australis is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It is found only in New Zealand, where it occurs in Leptospermum and Nothofagus forest. The species was first described by New Zealand mycologist Greta Stevenson in 1962; in the same publication Stevenson also described what she thought was a unique species, Limacella macrospora, but over 30 years later this was reduced to synonymy with A. australis.
Suillus pungens, commonly known as the pungent slippery jack or the pungent suillus, is a species of fungus in the genus Suillus. The fruit bodies of the fungus have slimy convex caps up to 14 cm (5.5 in) wide. The mushroom is characterized by the very distinct color changes that occur in the cap throughout development. Typically, the young cap is whitish, later becoming grayish-olive to reddish-brown or a mottled combination of these colors. The mushroom has a dotted stem (stipe) up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long, and 2 cm (0.8 in) thick. On the underside on the cap is the spore-bearing tissue consisting of minute vertically arranged tubes that appear as a surface of angular, yellowish pores. The presence of milky droplets on the pore surface of young individuals, especially in humid environments, is a characteristic feature of this species. S. pungens can usually be distinguished from other similar Suillus species by differences in distribution, odor and taste. The mushroom is considered edible, but not highly regarded.
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Tylopilus tabacinus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is characterized by a tawny-brown cap measuring up to 17.5 cm (6.9 in) in diameter, and a reticulated stem up to 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long by 6 cm (2.4 in) thick. A characteristic microscopic feature is the distinctive crystalline substance encrusted on the hyphae in the surface of the cap. The species is known from the eastern United States from Florida north to Rhode Island, and west to Mississippi, and from eastern Mexico. It is a mycorrhizal species, and associates with oak and beech trees.
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Agrocybe putaminum, commonly known as the mulch fieldcap, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Strophariaceae in the Agrocybe sororia complex. Described as new to science in 1913, it is found in Asia, Australia, Europe, and western North America, where it grows in parks, gardens, and roadsides in woodchip mulch. Fruitbodies of the fungus have a dull brownish-orange cap with a matte texture, a grooved stipe, and a bitter, mealy taste.
Pholiota nubigena, commonly known as the gastroid pholiota or the bubble gum fungus, is a species of secotioid fungus in the family Strophariaceae. It is found in mountainous areas of the western United States, where it grows on rotting conifer wood, often fir logs. It fruits in spring, often under snow, and early summer toward the end of the snowmelt period in high mountain forests. Fruit bodies appear similar to unopened mushrooms, measuring 1–4 centimetres tall with 1–2.4 cm diameter caps that are whitish to brownish. They have a short but distinct whitish stipe that extend through the internal spore mass (gleba) of the fruit body into the cap. The gleba consists of irregular chambers made of contorted gills that are brownish in color. A whitish, cottony partial veil is present in young specimens, but it often disappears in age and does not leave a ring on the stipe.
Nigroporus vinosus is a species of poroid fungus in the family Steccherinaceae, and the type species of the genus Nigroporus. Its fruit bodies have brownish caps with tinges of purple or red. The cap underside has a pore surface the same colour as the cap, and minute pores. Nigroporus vinosus has a pantropical distribution. It has been recorded from Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Asia, and Oceania. It is a wood-decay fungus that causes a white rot.
Media related to Afroboletus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Afroboletus at Wikispecies