Discina gigas

This article is about the fungus. For the brain of a calf, see Calf's brains. For the construction term, see Bullnose.

Discina gigas
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Pezizomycetes
Order:	Pezizales
Family:	Discinaceae
Genus:	Discina
Species:	D. gigas
Binomial name
Discina gigas (Krombh.) Eckblad (1968) [1]
Synonyms [2]
List Helvella gigasKrombh. (1834) [3] Gyromitra gigas(Krombh.) Quél. (1873) [3] Neogyromitra gigas(Krombh.) S.Imai (1938) [4] Maublancomyces gigas(Krombh.) Herter (1950) Gyromitra curtipesFr. (1861) Helvella curtipes(Fr.) P. Karst. (1871) Maublancomyces curtipes(Fr.) Herter (1951) Gyromitra gigas var. pumilaVelen. (1934) Gyromitra ussuriensisLj.N. Vassiljeva (1950) Neogyromitra ussuriensis(Lj.N. Vassiljeva) Raitv. (1964)

Discina gigas Mycological characteristics
	Smooth hymenium
	Cap is convex
	Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
	Stipe is bare
	Spore print is yellow to buff
	Ecology is saprotrophic or mycorrhizal
	Edibility is not recommended

Discina gigas, commonly known as the snow mushroom, snowbank false morel, walnut, ^[5] giants false morel, ^{[6] [7] [8]} snow morel, snow false morel, calf brain, or bull nose, is a species of fungus and a member of the Ascomycota found in Europe.

It is referred to as one of the false morels, due to its similar appearance and occurrence in the spring and early summer in similar habitats to true morels ( Morchella ssp.).

Taxonomy

The species was first described scientifically by Julius Vincenz von Krombholz as Helvella gigas. ^[3]

Description

The tannish, wrinkled cap grows up to 10 centimetres (4 in) broad and 6 cm tall. ^[5] The whitish stalk is typically almost as thick as the cap, up to 10 cm long and broad. ^[5]

Similar species

Many of the common names of Discina gigas refer to both its resemblance to true morels, Morchella ssp., and to the related genus Gyromitra . ^[9]

A very similar and directly related species, D. montana, occurs in North America; it apparently has larger spores than D. gigas. ^[10] While both species are reportedly edible in small amounts if thoroughly cooked, eating is not recommended due to their similarity to more toxic species of mushrooms. ^{[9] [11]}

Toxicity

It contains small quantities of hydrazines; ^[12] its content in gyromitrin was scientifically assessed by Viernstein et al. (1980) and resulted of about 1mg per kg of fresh mushroom (roughly 1,500-fold less compared to that of Gyromitra esculenta ). Though no casualties have been ascribed to its consumption, parboiling is still highly recommended. Some guides have listed it as being edible if properly prepared. ^[5] However, consumption is not recommended due to variability and similarity to other more toxic species of Gyromitra. ^[9]

This fungus has been banned for sale in France since 1991 due to potential toxicity, the effects of which would cause a fairly rare fatal neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ^{[13] [14]}

References

1. Eckblad FE. (1968). "The genera of the operculate discomycetes". Nytt Magasin for Botanik. 15 (1–2): 1–191 (see p. 99).
2. "Gyromitra gigas (Krombh.) Cooke 1878". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
3. von Krombholz JV (1834). Naturgetreue Abbildungen und Beschreibungen der Schwämme (in German). Vol. 3. pp. 1–36.
4. Imai S. (1938). "Symbolae ad floram mycologicum asiae orientalis II". Botanical Magazine Tokyo. 52 (619): 357–63. doi: 10.15281/jplantres1887.52.357 .
5. Arora, David (1986) [1979]. Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. pp. 800–801. ISBN   978-0-89815-170-1.
6. "Gyromitra gigas · giants false morel". The British Mycological Society. Archived from the original on 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
7. "Gyromitra gigas · giants false morel". NBN Atlas. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
8. "Giant's False Morel (Gyromitra gigas)". Ninaturalist.nz. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
9. Volk T. (May 2002). "Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month: Gyromitra esculenta" . Retrieved 2011-05-03.
10. Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuides. p. 509. ISBN   978-0-7627-3109-1.
11. Trudell, Steve; Ammirati, Joe (2009). "Gyromitra montana". Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press. p. 281. ISBN   978-1-60469-141-2.
12. Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 363. ISBN   978-1-55407-651-2.
13. Kaldy, Pierre (4 September 2021). "Un champignon lié à des cas de maladie de Charcot: la fin d'une énigme médicale vieille de plus de dix ans" [Fungus Linked to Lou Gehrig's Disease: End to a Ten-Year-Old Medical Enigma]. Sciences et Avenir (in French).
14. Lagrange, E.; Vernoux, J.P.; Reis, J.; Palmer, V.; Camu, W.; Spencer, P.S. (August 2021). "An amyotrophic lateral sclerosis hot spot in the French Alps associated with genotoxic fungi". Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 427 117558. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2021.117558. PMID   34216974.

Further reading

• Havasi, Juliette (18 December 2023). Toxicité des champignons du genre Gyromitra et effets sur la santé humaine [Toxicity of Gyromitra mushrooms en effects on human health] (Thesis) (in French).
• Spencer, Peter S.; Palmer, Valerie S.; Kisby, Glen E.; Lagrange, Emmeline; Horowitz, B. Zane; Valdes Angues, Raquel; Reis, Jacques; Vernoux, Jean-Paul; Raoul, Cédric; Camu, William (13 February 2023). "Early-onset, conjugal, twin-discordant, and clusters of sporadic ALS: Pathway to discovery of etiology via lifetime exposome research". Frontiers in Neuroscience. 17. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1005096 . PMC   9969898 . PMID   36860617.

External links

• Media related to Gyromitra gigas at Wikimedia Commons