Calvatia pachyderma

Last updated

Thick-skinned puffball
Calvatia pachyderma imported from iNaturalist photo 24432609 on 18 March 2024.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Agaricaceae
Genus: Calvatia
Species:
C. pachyderma
Binomial name
Calvatia pachyderma
(Peck) Morgan, 1890
Synonyms

Lycoperdon pachydermum (Peck, 1882) [1]
Langermannia pachyderma (Kreisel, 1962) [2]
Calvatia pachydera [2]
Gastropila fragilis (Lév., 1844) Homrich & J.E.Wright (1973) [3] [4]

Contents

Information icon.svg
Gleba icon.png Glebal hymenium
Mycomorphbox Choice.pngMycomorphbox Inedible.pngEdibility is choice or inedible

Calvatia pachyderma, also known as the elephant-skin puffball or thick-skinned puffball, is a species of edible fungus. This mid-sized, spring-fruiting puffball is known from relatively dry, open places near human settlements. The appropriate binomial name, taxonomic placement, and geographic distribution "have been much debated and are the subject of controversy". [5]

History

C. pachyderma

This puffball was described as Lycoperdon pachydermum by Charles Horton Peck in 1882 from a type specimen collected in Arizona by C. G. Pringle. [6] The species name "pachy-derm" means "thick skin", same as the obsolete order of mammals, Pachydermata, which included elephants and hippos. [7]

In 1992, German mycologist Hanns Kreisel placed it in genus Calvatia sect. Gastropila, along with Calvatia pilula. [8] According to Kreisel, both C. pachyderma and C. pilula are characterized by "Endoperidium thick, spongy; exoperidium thin, smooth. Capillitium with small pits. Subgleba none. Mature gleba olivaceous to brown." [9]

G. fragilis

Gastropila fragilis was first described by French mycologist Joseph-Henri Léveillé as Mycenastrum fragile in 1844. [10] Léveillé's M. fragile had several intermediate taxonomic placements [11] before María H. Homrich and Jorge E. Wright assigned it the genus Gastropila in 1973. [12]

Taxonomic drama

According to some sources, Calvatia pachyderma and Gastropila fragilis are synonymous, [3] [4] which was argued as early as 1915 Curtis Gates Lloyd but specifically debunked by María H. Homrich and Jorge Eduardo Wright in 1974. [13] Mycobank currently holds that Calvatia pilula (Kreisel, 1992)—not C. pachyderma—is a synonym of G. fragilis. [14] Further complicating matters, Lloyd (followed by others) claimed that Andrew Price Morgan's 1890 species description was not, in fact, the same as described by Peck, but rather Morgan was describing Calvatia polygonia . [15]

Habitat and geographic distribution

According to Kreisel, "Most species of Calvatia live in dry or mesophilic grassland, in arctic-alpine meadows, or in semi-desertic vegetation, some in gardens and cultivated soils. Only a few species occur in forests and other shady places." [16] According to American mycologist David Arora, C. pachyderma is often found in "open, cultivated, and arid places". [17] The thick-skinned puffball is primarily a spring mushroom (in the Northern Hemisphere), but also can be found at the beginning of the rainy season in the fall. [18] [19] [20] It may appear as a one-off or in small groupings, sometimes in fairy rings. [18] [19] [20] This puffball, and/or its almost indistinguishably similar close cousins, often grows in or near grass [3] and/or along compacted trails. [13]

In California, C. pachyderma is locally and/or seasonally common along the coast and the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. [18] [19] [20] In Arizona, C. pachyderma is found in "mid to higher elevations" in Great Basin conifer woodland and Madrean evergreen woodland habitats. [21] In western North America, Calvatia pachyderma may be mistaken for Calvatia booniana or Calvatia craniiformis . [21] The skin of C. booniana breaks up in "polygonal or irregular-shaped patches" while C. pachyderma often develops vertical/longitudinal cracks at the "apical portions of the gasterocarp" and then pulls away from the gleba in fairly large plates. [22] C. craniiformis is usually smaller than C. pachyderma, and the skin is thin and delicate. Mycenastrum corium also has some similar features but mature spores are red-brown or dark-brown, whereas C. pachyderma spores are yellow-brown or olive-brown. [23]

Similar mushrooms that are contended, in some papers, and disputed in others, to be the same species, have been found in "high altitudes of Iran and Nepal," [8] South Africa, [24] Russia, Bulgaria, Turkmenistan, [4] Chile, [25] et al.

Description

Calvatia pachyderma imported from iNaturalist photo 24432595 on 18 March 2024.jpg
Calvatia pachyderma imported from iNaturalist photo 24432570 on 18 March 2024.jpg
Calvatia pachyderma imported from iNaturalist photo 24432624 on 18 March 2024.jpg
Calvatia pachyderma imported from iNaturalist photo 121491197 on 18 March 2024.jpg
When young, C. pachyderma is considered a choice edible puffball mushroom. It becomes inedible after it sporulates.

In 1882, Charles Horton Peck described this species as "Subglobose, four to six inches in diameter, the radicating base somewhat pointed, the external peridium thin, smooth, whitish, the upper part cracking into small angular persistent spot-like scales or areas, the inner peridium thick, sub corky, somewhat brittle, the upper part at length breaking up into irregular fragments; capillitium and spores ochraceous-brown, the filaments long, flexuous, somewhat branched, .0003 of an inch spores subglobose or broadly elliptical, .0002-.00025 of an inch long. Arizona, June. Pringle. This is a singular species of Lycoperdon , belonging to the section Bovistoides, but having the peridium of unusual thickness. It is also apparently destitute of any cellular base, in which respect it approaches the genus Bovista , but the character of the threads of the capillitium points to Lycoperdon as its proper genus." [26]

Size, shape, and color

The thick-skinned puffball sometimes known as Calvatia pachyderma is a mid-size puffball, with specimens usually measuring between 5–20 cm (2.0–7.9 in) in diameter [27] with a "very thick" outer wall. [3]

This puffball is not always spherical and tends to be wider than taller, [18] and is sometimes shaped like a turnip, with tiny "rootlets" (actually mycelium) connecting it to the substrate. [19] Initially white or whitish, [28] as it expands it can become various shades of gray or brown and develop a texture described as "scaly or more often like cracked mud." [19] As it moves past the edible stage toward the inedible spore-dispersing brown-dust explosion stage, the exterior skin (peridium) may begin to spontaneously peel back, sometimes ultimately fracturing in a way that superficially resembles an earthstar [18] and that may leave behind a "shallow cup-shaped base". [19]

Peridium and gleba

The "skin" of a puffball is called the peridium; the "flesh" is called the gleba. One review of North American gasteromycetes described C. pachyderma as having "Peridium single, or at least not separable into two distinct layers, thick; gleba bright olivaceous." [29]

Spores

The spores of this fungus are described as ochraceous-brown [26] or "soft, yellowish, golden brown to dark olive-brown". [19] C. pachyderma spores appear "entirely smooth" when viewed under a microscope. [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puffball</span> Fungus

Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass several genera, including Calvatia, Calbovista and Lycoperdon. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage.

<i>Calvatia gigantea</i> Species of mushroom

Calvatia gigantea, commonly known in English as the giant puffball, is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests in late summer and autumn. It is found in temperate areas throughout the world.

<i>Scleroderma cepa</i> Species of fungus

Scleroderma cepa, commonly known as the smooth earthball or onion earthball, is an ectomycorrhizal fungus used as a soil inoculant in agriculture and horticulture. It is poisonous.

<i>Calvatia craniiformis</i> Species of puffball fungus

Calvatia craniiformis, commonly known as the brain puffball or the skull-shaped puffball, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. It is found in Asia, Australia, and North America, where it grows on the ground in open woods. Its name, derived from the same Latin root as cranium, alludes to its resemblance to an animal's brain. The skull-shaped fruit body is 8–20 cm (3–8 in) broad by 6–20 cm (2–8 in) tall and white to tan. Initially smooth, the skin (peridium) develops wrinkles and folds as it matures, cracking and flaking with age. The peridium eventually sloughs away, exposing a powdery yellow-brown to greenish-yellow spore mass. The puffball is edible when the gleba is still white and firm, before it matures to become yellow-brown and powdery. Mature specimens have been used in the traditional or folk medicines of China, Japan, and the Ojibwe as a hemostatic or wound dressing agent. Several bioactive compounds have been isolated and identified from the brain puffball.

<i>Bovista</i> Genus of fungi

Bovista is a genus of fungi commonly known as the true puffballs. It was formerly classified within the now-obsolete order Lycoperdales, which, following a restructuring of fungal taxonomy brought about by molecular phylogeny, has been split; the species of Bovista are now placed in the family Agaricaceae of the order Agaricales. Bovista species have a collectively widespread distribution, and are found largely in temperate regions of the world. Various species have historically been used in homeopathic preparations.

<i>Bovista plumbea</i> Species of fungus

Bovista plumbea, commonly known as the tumbling puffball, tumbleball, or paltry puffball, is a small puffball mushroom commonly found in Western Europe and California, white when young and greyish in age. Easily confused with immature Bovista dermoxantha, it is attached to the substrate by a tuft of mycelium.

<i>Bovista dermoxantha</i> Species of fungus

Bovista dermoxantha is a small, white, nearly round puffball, recognized when young by a cottony-felty outer surface that becomes inconspicuously warted, eventually leaving fine, pallid, scales on an ochre to brown endoperidium. Bovista plumbea is similar, but has a smoother surface when young, and lacks a basal mycelial cord. In age it is distinguished by a dull greyish endoperidium. Large specimens of Bovista dermoxantha may also be mistaken for Bovista pila. Both have a mycelial cord attachment to the substrate, but Bovista pila differs in releasing spores through tears or splits in the endoperidium rather than by an apical pore.

<i>Bovista nigrescens</i> Species of fungus

Bovista nigrescens, commonly referred to as the brown puffball or black bovist, is an edible cream white or brown puffball. Phylogenetic relationships between Bovista nigrescens and species of Lycoperdaceae were established based on ITS and LSU sequence data from north European taxa.

<i>Handkea utriformis</i> Species of fungus

Handkea utriformis, synonymous with Lycoperdon utriforme, Lycoperdon caelatum or Calvatia utriformis, is a species of the puffball family Lycoperdaceae. A rather large mushroom, it may reach dimensions of up to 25 cm (10 in) broad by 20 cm (8 in) tall. It is commonly known as the mosaic puffball, a reference to the polygonal-shaped segments the outer surface of the fruiting body develops as it matures. Widespread in northern temperate zones, it is found frequently on pastures and sandy heaths, and is edible when young. H. utriformis has antibiotic activity against a number of bacteria, and can bioaccumulate the trace metals copper and zinc to relatively high concentrations.

<i>Handkea</i> Genus of fungi

Handkea is a genus of puffball mushrooms in the family Agaricaceae. In 1989, German mycologist Hanns Kreisel described the genus Handkea to include species of Calvatia with distinct microscopic features, including a unique type of capillitium, with curvy slits instead of the usual pores. Although accepted by some authors, the genus concept has been rejected by others.

<i>Bovista aestivalis</i> Species of fungus

Bovista aestivalis is a species of small puffball in the family Agaricaceae. It is generally found in the coastal regions of California, but was reported from Korea in 2015. This fungus is often confused with Bovista dermoxantha, because of its similar peridium, and Bovista plumbea. The surest way to tell the species apart is to examine the spores and exoperidium, respectively, with a microscope.

<i>Calvatia sculpta</i> Species of puffball fungus

Calvatia sculpta, commonly known as the sculpted puffball, the sculptured puffball, the pyramid puffball, or Sierran puffball, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Attaining dimensions of up to 8 to 15 cm tall by 8 to 10 cm wide, the pear- or egg-shaped puffball is readily recognizable because of the large pyramidal or polygonal warts covering its surface. It is edible when young, before the spores inside the fruit body disintegrate into a brownish powder. The spores are roughly spherical, and have wart-like projections on their surfaces.

<i>Calvatia cyathiformis</i> Species of fungus

Calvatia cyathiformis, or purple-spored puffball, is a large edible saprobic species of Calvatia. This terrestrial puffball has purplish or purple-brown spores, which distinguish it from other large Agaricales. It is found in North America and Australia, mostly in prairie or grassland environments.

<i>Calbovista</i> Genus of fungi

Calbovista is a fungal genus containing the single species Calbovista subsculpta, commonly known as the sculptured puffball, sculptured giant puffball, and warted giant puffball. It is a common puffball of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast ranges of western North America. The puffball is more or less round with a diameter of up to 15 cm (6 in), white becoming brownish in age, and covered with shallow pyramid-shaped plates or scales. It fruits singly or in groups along roads and in open woods at high elevations, from summer to autumn.

<i>Mycenastrum</i> Genus of fungi

Mycenastrum is a fungal genus in the family Agaricaceae. The genus is monotypic, containing one widely distributed species, Mycenastrum corium, known by various common names: the giant pasture puffball, leathery puffball, or tough puffball. The roughly spherical to turnip-shaped puffball-like fruit bodies grow to a diameter of 6–24 cm (2–9 in). Initially covered by a thick, felted, whitish layer, the puffballs develop a characteristic checkered skin (peridium) in age. When the internal spore mass, the gleba, is firm and white, the puffball is edible, although some individuals may suffer mild gastrointestinal symptoms after eating it. As the spores mature, the gleba turns first yellowish then purplish brown. Spores are released when the peridium eventually splits open into irregularly shaped sections. Microscopically, the gleba consists of spherical, dark brown spores with rounded bumps on their surfaces, and a capillitium—intricately branched fibers that form long thorn-like spines. The puffball grows on or in the ground in prairie or desert habitats. Although widely distributed, it is not commonly encountered. Mycenastrum corium is a threatened species in Europe.

<i>Lycoperdon echinatum</i> Species of puffball mushroom

Lycoperdon echinatum, commonly known as the spiny puffball or the spring puffball, is a type of puffball mushroom in the family Agaricaceae. The saprobic species has been found in Africa, Europe, Central America, and North America, where it grows on soil in deciduous woods, glades, and pastures. It has been proposed that North American specimens be considered a separate species, Lycoperdon americanum, but this suggestion has not been followed by most authors. Molecular analysis indicates that L. echinatum is closely related to the puffball genus Handkea.

<i>Handkea excipuliformis</i> Species of fungus

Handkea excipuliformis, commonly known as the pestle puffball or long-stemmed puffball, is a species of the family Agaricaceae. A rather large puffball, it may reach dimensions of up to 15 cm (5.9 in) broad by 25 cm (9.8 in) tall. Widespread in northern temperate zones, it is found frequently on pastures and sandy heaths.

<i>Lycoperdon marginatum</i> Species of fungus

Lycoperdon marginatum, commonly known as the peeling puffball, is a type of puffball mushroom in the genus Lycoperdon. A common species, it is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on the ground. It is characterized by the way that the spiny outer layer peels off in sheets.

<i>Bovista pila</i> Species of fungus

Bovista pila, commonly known as the tumbling puffball, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. A temperate species, it is widely distributed in North America, where it grows on the ground on road sides, in pastures, grassy areas, and open woods. There are few well-documented occurrences of B. pila outside North America. B. pila closely resembles the European B. nigrescens, from which it can be reliably distinguished only by microscopic characteristics.

Calvatia pachydermica is a species of puffball mushroom native to southernmost South America. Originally described in 1887 as Bovista pachydermica from a specimen collected in 1882 at Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina near Punta Arenas in Chile, this puffball was moved to the genus Calvatia in 1992. Most collections of this species have been made from southernmost Chile.

References

  1. ↑ "Index Fungorum Registration Identifier 580082" . Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  2. 1 2 Calvatia pachyderma in MycoBank.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Berkeley Field Guide (2012), p. 374.
  4. 1 2 3 Rebriev & Assyov (2012), p. 66.
  5. ↑ Rebriev & Assyov (2012), p. 69.
  6. ↑ Calonge & Martin (1990), pp. 182, 184.
  7. ↑ One Thousand American Fungi (1912), p. 583.
  8. 1 2 Kreisel (1992), p. 435.
  9. ↑ Kreisel (1992), p. 434.
  10. ↑ "Index Fungorum Registration Identifier 314335". www.indexfungorum.org. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  11. ↑ Calvatia pachyderma in MycoBank .
  12. ↑ Homrich & Wright (1973), pp. 781–785.
  13. 1 2 Homrich & Wright (1973), p. 784.
  14. ↑ Gastropila fragilis (314335) in MycoBank .
  15. ↑ "Letter No. 62". Letters / Lloyd Library of Botany, Pharmacy, and Materia Medica v. 1–69 (1904–19). p. 5. hdl:2027/uc1.b4332907 – via HathiTrust.
  16. ↑ Kreisel (1992), p. 433.
  17. ↑ Arora (1986), p. 689.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 Desjardin, Wood & Stevens (2016), p. 449.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Siegel & Schwarz (2016), p. 528.
  20. 1 2 3 "Calvatia pachyderma". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  21. 1 2 Bates, Roberson & Desjardin (2009), p. 176.
  22. ↑ Bates, Roberson & Desjardin (2009), pp. 161–162.
  23. ↑ Bates, Roberson & Desjardin (2009), pp. 198–199.
  24. ↑ Calonge & Martin (1990), p. 185.
  25. ↑ Homrich & Wright (1973).
  26. 1 2 Peck & Harvey (1882), pp. 54–55.
  27. ↑ Arora (1986), p. 681.
  28. ↑ Arora (1986), p. 688.
  29. ↑ Coker & Couch (1928), p. 60.
  30. ↑ Bates, Roberson & Desjardin (2009), pp. 161, 202.

Sources

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