Conocybe aurea

Conocybe aurea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Bolbitiaceae
Genus:	Conocybe
Species:	C. aurea
Binomial name
Conocybe aurea (Jul.Schäff.) Hongo (1963)
Synonyms [1]
Galera aureaJul.Schäff. (1930) Conocybe tenera var. aurea(Jul.Schäff.) Kühner (1935) Conocybe tenera f. aurea(Jul.Schäff.) Enderle (1999) Conocybe aurea var. hololeucaHauskn. (2000)

Conocybe aurea is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae. ^{[2] [3]}

Taxonomy

The fungus was first described to science in 1930 by German mycologist Julius Schäffer, who called it Galera aurea. Tsuguo Hongo transferred it to the genus Conocybe in 1963. ^[4] In 2000, Anton Hausknecht published the variety C. aurea var. hololeuca, but this taxon is not considered to have independent taxonomic significance by Index Fungorum. ^[5]

The species is related to Conocybe tenera . ^[6]

Habitat and distribution

Conocybe aurea is a saprobic fungus that prefers to grow in nitrate-rich soils, fields, woodchip mulch, old compost, and greenhouses. A rare but widespread species, it is found in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and New Zealand. ^[7]

Description

The cap is orangish yellow, and up to 5 cm in diameter. ^[6] The gills and stipe are beige, the former browning with age. ^[6]

Cap: 0.8-2.2 cm wide or more, starting globose to campanulate before expanding to convex. The surface is smooth but not sticky and is golden yellow to orangy yellow with a deeper colour in the centre of the cap. The cap dries to a chrome yellow colour with paler centre flesh when dry. Gills: Adnate and subdistant with a ventricose bulge. 1.5-3mm wide. They start whitish before developing a cinnamon colour. Stem: 2.5-6.5 cm long and 2-3mm thick and equal across its length or tapering slightly upwards with a slightly bulbous 4-6mm thick base. The interior is hollow and the exterior surface is pruinose with striations and pale yellowish but often discolours to a brownish yellow (fulvous). Flesh: Thin, soft and the same colour as the surface of the cap. Smell: Slight. Taste: Mild. Spores: 10.5-13.5 x 6-7 μm. Elliptical and smooth with a hyaline, apical germ pore. Under the microscope they are yellow. Basidia: 29-37 x 11-12 μm. Four spored. Cheilocystidia: 22-30 x 8-11 μm. Pin-headed and hyaline with a thin wall. Caulocystidia: 22-30 x 7.5-10 μm. Similar to the cheilocystidia. ^[4]

Etymology

The specific epithet aurea is Latin for golden yellow. ^[8]

Toxicity

The toxicity is unknown. Related species are known to be toxic. ^[9]

Similar species

Conocybe apala is common, but with a whiter and more fragile conical cap. ^[6]

References

1. "GSD Species Synonymy: Conocybe aurea (Jul. Schäff.) Hongo". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
2. "Species fungorum - Conocybe aurea (Jul. Schäff.) Hongo". www.speciesfungorum.org.
3. "Mycobank Database - Conocybe aurea".
4. Hongo, Tsuguo (1963). "Notes on Japanese larger fungi (16)". The Journal of Japanese Botany. 38 (8): 233–240. doi:10.51033/jjapbot.38_8_4966.
5. Hausknecht A. (2000). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Bolbitiaceae 6. Die Conocybe tenera-Gruppe in Europa, Teil 1". Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde (in German). 9: 73–109 (see p. 86).
6. Trudell, Steve; Ammirati, Joe (2009). Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press Field Guides. Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 180. ISBN   978-0-88192-935-5.
7. Overall A, Hodge V. (2015). "Conocybe aurea, a rare British native or another coloniser?". Field Mycology. 16 (1): 14–15. doi: 10.1016/j.fldmyc.2015.01.006 .
8. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). Latin for Gardeners (PDF). University of Chicago Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-226-00919-3.
9. Siegel, Noah; Schwarz, Christian (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. p. 145. ISBN   9781607748175.

External links

• Conocybe aurea in Index Fungorum