Ileodictyon cibarium is a saprotrophic species of fungus in the familyPhallaceae. It is native to Australia and New Zealand, where it is commonly known as the basket fungus or the white basket fungus, alluding to its fruit bodies, shaped like a round or oval ball with interlaced or latticed branches, resembling polyhedra similar to closed fullerenes.[1] Although the immature spherical fruitbodies are reportedly edible, the mature fruit body is foul-smelling and partly covered with a slime layer containing spores (gleba) on the inner surfaces.
The Māori language has 35 different names referring to I. cibarium. These include tūtae kēhua ("ghost droppings"), tūtae whatitiri, and whareatua ("house of the devil"), kōkirikiriwhetū, kōpurawhetū, korokorowhetū, wheterau, popowhaitiri, tikowhatitiri, paruwhatitiri, matakupenga, and tūtae whetū.[5][6]
Description
Cross section of the unopened fruiting body of the basket fungus (Ileodictyon cibarium), with a ballpoint pen for scale
Prior to the opening of the outer skin, the fruit body is egg-shaped and white to greyish. After opening, it is a whitish mesh-like ball measuring up to 25cm in diameter.[7] The different growth stages of L. cibarium were illustrated by John Buchanan.[8][9]
Ileodictyon cibarium is similar to and sometimes confused with Ileodictyon gracile (smooth cage fungus), which is also native to Australia. The two species are both whitish, mesh balls of similar size, but can be differentiated by characteristics of the receptacle arms that form the mesh.[10]I. cibarium has a thicker mesh[11] with arms that are wrinkled, about 5 times wider, elliptical in cross section, and not thickened where the arms meet, compared to I. gracile.[12][10]
Ecology
The strongly smelling gleba is used to attract flies as a part of the fungi's reproductive cycle, in order for flies to disperse spores to new locations.[13]
In Māori culture
Ileodictyon cibarium is associated with the presence of gods in Māori mythology. Several of the names for the species refer to whaitiri, the atua and personification of thunder, this is because of the frequent appearance of I. cibarium fruit bodies following thunderstorms, while others describe the baskets as the fishing nets of Taramainuku, a god associated with the Matariki star cluster.[13] The unopened fruiting bodies are a traditional food source, especially in the Hawkes Bay area, cooked in the ashes of a fire or in a hāngī. The fungus may be the namesake of the town Waipukurau, with the name suggesting a watering hole where I. cibarium is soaked before eating.[13]
Ileodictyon cibarium is native to New Zealand and Australia and has also been introduced to Chile, Brazil, Africa and England.[10][15][16] It grows alone or clustered together near woody debris, in lawns, gardens, and cultivated soil, along roads, in forest.[7]
Edibility
The immature fruitbodies are edible and a traditional Māori food source in New Zealand.[13]
Gallery
1855 illustration by James Erxleben
Immature fruitbodies
Immature fruitbody (left) and an emerged basket (right)
1 2 "Ileodictyon cibarium"(PDF). Compiled by V Ryan for QMS Gasteromycetes Workshop. Queensland Mycological Society. November 2017 [August 2013].{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
↑ "Ileodictyon gracile"(PDF). Compiled by V Ryan for QMS Gasteromycetes Workshop. Queensland Mycological Society. November 2017 [August 2013].{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
↑ Laessoe, T; Pegler, DN; Spooner, B (1995). British Puffballs, Earthstars and Stinkhorns: An Account of the British Gasteroid Fungi. Kew, UK: Royal Botanic Gardens. p.184. ISBN0-947643-81-8.
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