Mycorrhaphium pusillum

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Mycorrhaphium pusillum
Scientific classification
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M. pusillum
Binomial name
Mycorrhaphium pusillum
Synonyms [1]
  • Hydnum pusillumBrot. (1805)
  • Sistotrema confluens subsp. pusillum(Brot.) Pers. (1825)
  • Hydnellum pusillum(Brot.) P.Karst. (1879)
  • Steccherinum pusillum(Brot.) Banker (1906)
  • Mycoleptodonoides pusilla(Brot.) K.A.Harrison (1973)

Mycorrhaphium pusillum is a species of tooth fungus in the family Steccherinaceae. It is a rare European fungus that has only been officially recorded a few times.

Contents

Taxonomy

The fungus was originally described as a species of Hydnum by Portuguese botanist Félix Avelar Brotero in 1804. [2] Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus transferred it to the newly created genus Mycorrhaphium in 1962. [3] It has also been placed in Hydnellum by Petter Karsten in 1879, [4] and Steccherinum by Howard James Banker in 1906. [5]

Description

Mycorrhaphium pusillum has a small fruit body with a rounded to fan-shaped cap measuring 12–19 mm (0.5–0.7 in) in diameter. Sometimes neighbouring caps fuse together during growth to make a larger conglomerate. The cap colour is pale cream to pale yellowish, sometimes with regions that are pale brown. The pale cream stipe is 15–21 mm (0.6–0.8 in) long and 1–3 mm (0.04–0.12 in) thick. Spines on the underside of the cap are slender, numbering about 7 or 8 per millimetre, and are about a mm long. The mushroom has no distinct odour. [1]

The spores of M. pusillum are thin walled and more or less cylindrical, typically measuring 2.9–3.6 by 1.9–2.2  μm. They usually contain an oil droplet. The hyphal system of the context is monomitic (containing only loosely arranged generative hyphae), although in the spines it is dimitic. The skeletal hyphae in the spines are thick walled, sometimes so much that they are almost solid, or with a small lumen. They are densely arranged in a parallel fashion, and usually measure 3.7–4.9 μm in diameter. [1]

Habitat and distribution

A rare fungus, Mycorrhaphium pusillum is found only in Europe. It has been collected only a few times in southern and central Europe, and the first northern European collections were reported in 2015. In these latter collections, it was found fruiting on mossy ground in forest dominated by birch trees. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Phellodon is a genus of tooth fungi in the family Bankeraceae. Species have small- to medium-sized fruitbodies with white spines on the underside from which spores are released. All Phellodon have a short stalk or stipe, and so the genus falls into the group known as "stipitate hydnoid fungi". The tough and leathery flesh usually has a pleasant, fragrant odor, and develops a cork-like texture when dry. Neighboring fruitbodies can fuse together, sometimes producing large mats of joined caps. Phellodon species produce a white spore print, while the individual spores are roughly spherical to ellipsoid in shape, with spiny surfaces.

<i>Mycorrhaphium</i> Genus of fungi

Mycorrhaphium is a genus of fungi in the family Steccherinaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Dutch mycologist Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1962. The type species is Mycorrhaphium adustum. Fruit bodies of species in the genus have caps, stipes, and a hydnoid (tooth-like) hymenophore. There is a dimitic hyphal system, where the skeletal hyphae are found only in the tissue of the "teeth", and a lack of cystidia. The spores are smooth, hyaline (translucent), and inamyloid.

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<i>Hydnellum ferrugineum</i>

Hydnellum ferrugineum, commonly known as the mealy tooth or the reddish-brown corky spine fungus, is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. A widely distributed species, it is found in north Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. The fungus fruits on the ground singly or in clusters in conifer forest, usually in poor or sandy soil. Fruit bodies are somewhat top-shaped, measuring 3–10 cm (1–4 in) in diameter. Their velvety surfaces, initially white to pink, sometimes exude drops of red liquid. The lower surface of the fruit body features white to reddish-brown spines up to 6 mm long. Mature fruit bodies become dark reddish brown in color, and are then difficult to distinguish from other similar Hydnellum species. H. ferrugineum forms a mat of mycelia in the humus and upper soil where it grows. The presence of the fungus changes the characteristics of the soil, making it more podzolized.

<i>Mycena clariviolacea</i> Species of fungus

Mycena clariviolacea is a mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First reported as a new species in 2007, it is known only from Kanagawa, Japan, where it fruits on dead fallen twigs in forests dominated by oak and chinquapin trees. Distinctive features of this species are found in its medium-sized, dark violet fruit bodies, with caps up to 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter and slender stems that are about 30 to 40 mm long. Microscopic characteristics include the amyloid spores, the club-shaped cheilocystidia that are covered with one or more, knob-like, apical protuberances, the absence of pleurocystidia, and the cylindrical, diverticulate caulocystidia.

<i>Mycena fonticola</i> Species of fungus

Mycena fonticola is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First reported in 2007, it is known only from central Honshu, in Japan, where it grows on dead leaves and twigs in low-elevation forests dominated by oak trees. The fruit body of the fungus has a smooth, violet-brown cap up to 2.5 cm (1.0 in) in diameter, and a slender stem up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long. Distinguishing microscopic characteristics of the mushroom include the relatively large, distinctly amyloid spores, the smooth, spindle-shaped cheilocystidia, the absence of pleurocystidia, the diverticulate hyphae of the cap cuticle, and the absence of clamp connections.

<i>Mycena intersecta</i> Species of fungus

Mycena intersecta is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First reported as a new species in 2007, it is known only from central Honshu, in Japan, where it is found growing solitarily or scattered, on dead leaves in lowland forests dominated by oak. The mushrooms have olive-brown caps up to 12 mm (0.47 in) in diameter atop slender stems that are 50 to 80 mm long by 0.7 to 1.2 mm thick. On the underside of the cap are the distantly spaced, whitish gills that have cross-veins running between them. Microscopic characteristics of the mushroom include the smooth, irregularly cylindrical cheilocystidia, the absence of pleurocystidia, the diverticulate elements of the cap cuticle, the broadly club-shaped to irregularly shaped caulocystidia, the weakly dextrinoid flesh, and the absence of clamp connections. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown.

<i>Mycena lanuginosa</i> Species of fungus

Mycena lanuginosa is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First collected in 2000 and reported as a new species in 2007, it is known only from lowland oak-dominated forests in central Honshu in Japan. The small mushroom is characterized by its grooved, grayish-brown to violet-brown cap up to 11 mm (0.43 in) in diameter, and the slender grayish-brown to reddish-brown stem covered with minute, fine, soft hairs. The mushroom produces amyloid spores. Microscopic distinguishing features include the smooth, spindle-shaped cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia and the diverticulate elements in the outer layer of the cap and the stem.

<i>Mycena multiplicata</i> Species of fungus

Mycena multiplicata is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First described as a new species in 2007, the mushroom is known only from Kanagawa, Japan, where it grows on dead fallen twigs in lowland forests dominated by oak. The mushroom has a whitish cap that reaches up to 13 mm (0.51 in) in diameter atop a slender stem 15 to 20 mm long by 1 to 1.3 mm thick. On the underside of the cap are whitish, distantly spaced gills that are narrowly attached to the stem. Microscopic characteristics of the mushroom include the amyloid spores, the pear-shaped to broadly club-shaped cheilocystidia covered with a few to numerous, unevenly spaced, cylindrical protuberances, the lack of pleurocystidia, and the diverticulate hyphae in the outer layer of the cap and stem. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown.

<i>Mycena mustea</i> Species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae

Mycena mustea is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First described as a new species in 2007, the fungus is known only from Kanagawa, Japan, where it grows on dead fallen twigs in lowland forests. The mushroom's dull violet to grayish-violet cap, initially covered with a fine whitish powder, becomes smooth as it matures, and eventually reaches a diameter of up to 10 mm (0.39 in). The stem is slender, up to 90 mm (3.5 in) long, and is covered with stiff white hairs at the base. Underneath the cap are distantly spaced pale brownish gills that are narrowly attached to the stem. Microscopic characteristics of the mushroom include the weakly amyloid spores, the club-shaped cheilocystidia featuring one or more short knob-like protuberances, the absence of pleurocystidia, the diverticulate cap cuticle hyphae, and the absence of clamp connections.

<i>Auriscalpium vulgare</i> Species of fungus in the family Auriscalpiaceae from Europe, Central America, North America, and temperate Asia

Auriscalpium vulgare, commonly known as the pinecone mushroom, the cone tooth, or the ear-pick fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Auriscalpiaceae of the order Russulales. It was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus, who included it as a member of the tooth fungi genus Hydnum, but British mycologist Samuel Frederick Gray recognized its uniqueness and in 1821 transferred it to the genus Auriscalpium that he created to contain it. The fungus is widely distributed in Europe, Central America, North America, and temperate Asia. Although common, its small size and nondescript colors lead it to be easily overlooked in the pine woods where it grows. A. vulgare is not generally considered edible because of its tough texture, but some historical literature says it used to be consumed in France and Italy.

Auriscalpium barbatum is a species of spine fungus in the family Auriscalpiaceae of the Russulales order. Found in Western Australia in 1977 embedded on fragments of humus in sandy soil, it was described as new to science by the Dutch mycologist Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1978.

<i>Hydnellum scrobiculatum</i> Species of fungus

Hydnellum scrobiculatum, commonly known as the ridged tooth, is a tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, it is found in Asia, Europe, and North America.

<i>Hydnellum joeides</i>

Hydnellum joeides is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae.

<i>Sarcodon thwaitesii</i> Species of fungus

Sarcodon thwaitesii is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. It is found in Asia, Europe, and New Zealand, where it fruits on the ground in mixed forest.

<i>Sarcodon leucopus</i> Species of fungus

Sarcodon leucopus is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. Found in Asia and Europe, it was described as new to science in 1825 by Christian Hendrik Persoon. Mycologists Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus and John Axel Nannfeldt transferred it to the genus Sarcodon in 1969. Fruit bodies of the fungus have flattened to slightly depressed caps up to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter. The surface texture, initially finely felt-like, later cracks to form shiny scales. Its color is pale purplish-brown to dark brown. The stipe measures 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) long by 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) thick. Spines on the cap underside are up to 15 mm long and about 1 mm thick. The flesh has a disagreeable odor, and a bitter taste. Spores are roughly spherical, typically measuring 7.2–7.9 by 4.5–5.6 µm. The fungus is considered endangered in Switzerland.

Metuloidea murashkinskyi is a species of tooth fungus in the family Steccherinaceae. It is found in Europe and Asia, where it causes a white rot on the wood of deciduous trees.

Mycorrhaphium citrinum is a species of tooth fungus in the family Steccherinaceae that is found in Africa. It was described as a new species in 1989 by Norwegian mycologist Leif Ryvarden. The type collection was made in Chati, a region in the Copperbelt Province in Zambia, where it was found growing in leaf litter.

Mycorrhaphium africanum is a species of tooth fungus in the family Steccherinaceae. It was described as new to science in 2003 by mycologists Dominique Claude Mossebo and Leif Ryvarden. The type was collected in the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon, where it was found fruiting on fallen dead hardwood branches.

Climacodon sanguineus is a rare species of tooth fungus in the family Meruliaceae that is found in Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tervonen, K.; Spirin, V.; Halme, P. (2015). "Redescription of Mycorrhaphium pusillum, a poorly known hydnoid fungus". Mycotaxon. 130 (2): 549–554. doi: 10.5248/130.549 .
  2. Brotero, Félix de Avelar (1804). Flora Lusitanica (in Latin). 2. Ex Typographia regia. p. 470.
  3. Maas Geesteranus, R.A. (1962). "Hyphal structures in Hydnum". Persoonia. 2 (3): 377–405 (see p. 394).
  4. Karsten, P.A. 1879. "Symbolae ad mycologiam Fennicam. VI". Meddelanden Af Societas Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica (in Latin). 5: 15–46.
  5. Banker, Howard James (1906). "A contribution to a revision of the North American Hydnaceae". Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 12 (2): 133. JSTOR   43392152.