Hypomyces chrysospermus

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Hypomyces chrysospermus
Hypomyces chrysospermus 33464.jpg
Hypomyces chrysospermus infecting a Leccinum bolete
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Hypocreaceae
Genus: Hypomyces
Species:
H. chrysospermus
Binomial name
Hypomyces chrysospermus
Tul. & C.Tul. (1860)
Synonyms [1]
  • Hypolyssus chrysospermus(Tul. & C.Tul.) Kuntze (1898)
  • Apiocrea chrysosperma(Tul. & C.Tul.) Syd. & P.Syd. (1921)
  • Sepedonium chrysosperma(Bull.) Fr.

Hypomyces chrysospermus, the bolete eater, is a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on bolete mushrooms, turning the afflicted host a whitish, golden yellow, or tan color. It is found in Eurasia [2] and North America, as well as southwest Western Australia.

Contents

Bolete eater and its afflicted host mushrooms are not edible and may be poisonous.

Taxonomy

Hypomyces chrysospermus was first described by French mycologists, brothers Louis René and Charles Tulasne in 1860. Common names include bolete eater, [3] and bolete mould. [4]

The bolete eater belongs to a genus of parasitic ascomycetes, each of which infects differing genera of fungi. For example, H. lactifluorum attacks mushrooms of the family Russulaceae, H. completus and H. transformans infect Suillus species, H. melanocarpus prefers Tylopilus species, while other Hypomyces have a much broader host range. [5]

Description

Ascus and spores Hypomyces chrysospermus.jpg
Ascus and spores

The bolete eater infects boletes, initially with a thin whitish layer which then becomes golden and finally a reddish-brown pimpled appearance. The bolete's flesh softens and is putrescent by the third stage. Single or multiple boletes may be infected, species of Paxillus and Rhizopogon are also attacked. [3]

The spores are oval-shaped and smooth in the white stage and measure 10–30 by 5–12  μm, and are warty, round and thicker-walled in the yellow stage and are 10–25 μm in diameter. These two stages are asexual, while the final stage is sexual; here the spores are spindle-shaped and measure 25–30 by 5–6 μm. [3]

Similar species

The related lobster mushroom, H. lactifluorum , is edible. Several species of the genus may be indistinguishable without microscopy. [6]

Distribution and habitat

Hypomyces chrysospermus is found in North America, [3] and Europe, where it is common. [4] It is common in the southwest of Western Australia, where it is found in forest and coastal plant communities. [7] It is also found in the Eastern Chinese provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Fujian. [2]

Human uses

H. chrysospermus is not edible and may be poisonous. [3] [4] It is used in traditional Chinese medicine to stop bleeding, primarily via topical application onto open wounds. [2]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mushroom</span> Spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus

A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstool generally denotes one poisonous to humans.

<i>Boletus edulis</i> Species of mushroom, widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere

Boletus edulis is a basidiomycete fungus, and the type species of the genus Boletus. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere across Europe, Asia, and North America, it does not occur naturally in the Southern Hemisphere, although it has been introduced to southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. Several closely related European mushrooms formerly thought to be varieties or forms of B. edulis have been shown using molecular phylogenetic analysis to be distinct species, and others previously classed as separate species are conspecific with this species. The western North American species commonly known as the California king bolete is a large, darker-coloured variant first formally identified in 2007.

<i>Hypomyces lactifluorum</i> Species of edible parasitic fungus

Hypomyces lactifluorum, or the lobster mushroom, is a parasitic ascomycete fungus that grows on certain species of mushrooms, turning them a reddish orange color that resembles the outer shell of a cooked lobster. Contrary to its common name, the species itself is neither a mushroom nor a crustacean.

<i>Tremella mesenterica</i> Species of jelly fungus

Tremella mesenterica is a common jelly fungus in the family Tremellaceae of the Agaricomycotina. The gelatinous, orange-yellow fruit body of the fungus, which can grow up to 7.5 cm (3 in) diameter, has a convoluted or lobed surface that is greasy or slimy when damp.

<i>Tylopilus felleus</i> Species of fungus

Tylopilus felleus, commonly known as the bitter bolete or the bitter tylopilus, is a fungus of the bolete family. Its distribution includes east Asia, Europe and eastern North America, extending south into Mexico and Central America. A mycorrhizal species, it grows in deciduous and coniferous woodland, often fruiting under beech and oak. Its fruit bodies have convex to flat caps that are some shade of brown, buff or tan and typically measure up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter. The pore surface is initially white before turning pinkish with age. Like most boletes it lacks a ring and it may be distinguished from Boletus edulis and other similar species by its unusual pink pores and the prominent dark-brown net-like pattern on its stalk.

<i>Chalciporus piperatus</i> Species of fungus in the family Boletaceae found in mixed woodland in Europe and North America

Chalciporus piperatus, commonly known as the peppery bolete, is a small pored mushroom of the family Boletaceae found in mixed woodland in Europe and North America. It has been recorded under introduced trees in Brazil, and has become naturalised in Tasmania and spread under native Nothofagus cunninghamii trees. A small bolete, the fruit body has a 1.6–9 cm orange-fawn cap with cinnamon to brown pores underneath, and a 4–9.5 cm high by 0.6–1.2 cm thick stipe. The flesh has a very peppery taste. The rare variety hypochryseus, found only in Europe, has yellow pores and tubes.

<i>Hypomyces</i> Genus of fungi

Hypomyces is a genus of parasitic ascomycete fungi found in Europe, North America, Australia, and parts of China. The genus contains 53 species. Better known species include the lobster mushroom and the bolete eater.

<i>Xerocomellus chrysenteron</i> Species of fungus

Xerocomellus chrysenteron, formerly known as Boletus chrysenteron or Xerocomus chrysenteron, is a small, edible, wild mushroom in the family Boletaceae. These mushrooms have tubes and pores instead of gills beneath their caps. It is commonly known as the red cracking bolete.

<i>Suillellus luridus</i> Species of edible fungus of the bolete family, found in Asia, Europe, and eastern North America

Suillellus luridus, commonly known as the lurid bolete, is a fungus of the family Boletaceae, found in calcareous broadleaved woodlands in Europe. Fruit bodies appear in summer and autumn and may be locally abundant. It is a firm bolete with an olive-brown cap up to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter, with small orange or red pores on the underside. The stout ochre stem reaches 8–14 cm (3–6 in) high and 1–3 cm (0.4–1.2 in) wide, and is patterned with a red network. Like several other red-pored boletes, it stains blue when bruised or cut.

<i>Russula brevipes</i> Species of fungus

Russula brevipes is a species of mushroom commonly known as the short-stemmed russula or the stubby brittlegill. It is widespread in North America, and was reported from Pakistan in 2006. The fungus grows in a mycorrhizal association with trees from several genera, including fir, spruce, Douglas-fir, and hemlock. Fruit bodies are white and large, with convex to funnel-shaped caps measuring 7–30 cm (3–12 in) wide set atop a thick stipe up to 8 cm (3 in) long. The gills on the cap underside are closely spaced and sometimes have a faint bluish tint. Spores are roughly spherical, and have a network-like surface dotted with warts.

<i>Lactifluus piperatus</i> Species of fungus

Lactifluus piperatus, commonly known as the blancaccio, is a semi-edible basidiomycete fungus of the genus Lactifluus. Despite being edible, it is not recommended by some because of its poor taste, though can be used as seasoning when dried. The fruiting body is a creamy-white mushroom which is funnel-shaped when mature, with exceptionally crowded gills. It bleeds a whitish peppery-tasting milk when cut. Widely distributed across Europe and eastern North America, Lactifluus piperatus has been accidentally introduced to Australia. Mycorrhizal, it forms a symbiotic relationship with various species of deciduous tree, including beech, and hazel, and fruiting bodies are found on the forest floor in deciduous woodland.

<i>Geopyxis carbonaria</i> Species of fungus

Geopyxis carbonaria is a species of fungus in the genus Geopyxis, family Pyronemataceae. First described to science in 1805, and given its current name in 1889, the species is commonly known as the charcoal loving elf-cup, dwarf acorn cup, stalked bonfire cup, or pixie cup. The small, goblet-shaped fruitbodies of the fungus are reddish-brown with a whitish fringe and measure up to 2 centimetres across. They have a short, tapered stalk.

<i>Macrolepiota clelandii</i> Species of mushroom-forming fungus

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.

<i>Exsudoporus frostii</i> Species of fungus in the family Boletaceae found in North America

Exsudoporus frostii, commonly known as Frost's bolete or the apple bolete, is a bolete fungus first described scientifically in 1874. A member of the family Boletaceae, the mushrooms produced by the fungus have tubes and pores instead of gills on the underside of their caps. Exsudoporus frostii is distributed in the eastern United States from Maine to Georgia, and in the southwest from Arizona extending south to Mexico and Costa Rica. A mycorrhizal species, its fruit bodies are typically found growing near hardwood trees, especially oak.

<i>Suillus spraguei</i> Species of mushroom

Suillus spraguei is a species of fungus in the family Suillaceae. It is known by a variety of common names, including the painted slipperycap, the painted suillus or the red and yellow suillus. Suillus spraguei has had a complex taxonomical history, and is also frequently referred to as Suillus pictus in the literature. The readily identifiable fruit bodies have caps that are dark red when fresh, dry to the touch, and covered with mats of hairs and scales that are separated by yellow cracks. On the underside of the cap are small, yellow, angular pores that become brownish as the mushroom ages. The stalk bears a grayish cottony ring, and is typically covered with soft hairs or scales.

<i>Disciotis venosa</i> Species of fungus

Disciotis venosa, commonly known as the bleach cup, veiny cup fungus, or the cup morel is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae. Fruiting from April, they are often difficult to locate because of their nondescript brown color.

<i>Gyroporus cyanescens</i> Species of fungus

Gyroporus cyanescens, commonly known as the bluing bolete or the cornflower bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Gyroporaceae. First described from France in 1788, the species is found in Asia, Australia, Europe, and eastern North America, where it grows on the ground in coniferous and mixed forests.

<i>Hypomyces hyalinus</i> Fungal parasite of Amanita mushrooms

Hypomyces hyalinus is a species of parasitic fungi that attacks fungi of the genus Amanita.

<i>Leccinum holopus</i> Species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae

Leccinum holopus, commonly known as the white birch bolete, white bog bolete, or ghost bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae found in northern Asia, Europe, and northeastern North America. It associates with birch trees and is typically found in boggy or swampy areas, often growing among sphagnum moss.

<i>Sutorius eximius</i> Species of fungus

Sutorius eximius, commonly known as the lilac-brown bolete, is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. This bolete produces fruit bodies that are dark purple to chocolate brown in color with a smooth cap, a finely scaly stipe, and a reddish-brown spore print. The tiny pores on the cap underside are chocolate to violet brown. It is widely distributed, having been recorded on North America, South America, and Asia, where it grows in a mycorrhizal relationship with both coniferous and deciduous trees.

References

Hypomyces chrysospermus
Information icon.svg
Smooth icon.pngSmooth hymenium
NA cap icon.svg Hymenium attachment is not applicable
NA cap icon.svgLacks a stipe
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Spore print is white to yellow
Parasitic fungus.svgEcology is parasitic
Mycomorphbox Inedible.pngMycomorphbox Poison.pngEdibility is inedible or poisonous
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  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Arora, David (1986). Mushrooms demystified: a comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi (2nd ed.). Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. p.  883. ISBN   0-89815-169-4.
  4. 1 2 3 Roger Phillips (2006). Mushrooms. Pan MacMillan. p. 352. ISBN   0-330-44237-6.
  5. Douhan GW, Rizzo DM. (2003). "Host-parasite relationships among bolete infecting Hypomyces species". Mycological Research. 107 (Pt 11): 1342–49. doi:10.1017/S0953756203008542. PMID   15000236.
  6. Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-593-31998-7.
  7. Robinson, Richard (2003). Fungi of the South-West Forests. Perth, Western Australia: Department of Conservation and land Management. pp. 68–69. ISBN   0-7307-5528-2.