Paurocotylis pila

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Scarlet Berry Truffle
Paurocotylis pila (30950528223).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Order: Pezizales
Family: Pyronemataceae
Genus: Paurocotylis
Species:
P. pila
Binomial name
Paurocotylis pila
Berkeley, 1855 - fungi

Paurocotylis pila, commonly known as the scarlet berry truffle, [1] is an ascomycete fungus in the genus Paurocotylis. It was first described by Miles Joseph Berkley in 1855. [2]

Contents

This species is native to New Zealand and Australia and is naturalized in the United Kingdom. [3] It often appears in forests under podocarp trees such as totara; [4] however, it also occurs in gardens, forest tracks, and parks. [5]

Taxonomy

First described in 1855 by Miles Joseph Berkeley in Joseph Dalton Hooker's The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage II, Flora Novae-Zealandiae, [6] the type specimen was found 'on the ground' and was collected by William Colenso in Te Hāwera, South Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand. [7]

Paurocotylis pila is the only species from the genus Paurocotylis found in New Zealand. [8]

Etymology

Greek, pauro means few and cotylis means cavity, possibly referring to the observed interior of the type specimen. [5] Latin, pila means sphere, presumably referring to the shape of the fruit body. [5]

Description

This truffle-like fungus produces a spherical to tuber-shaped fruit body (ascoma) with a smooth surface, which can be lobed or wrinkled. Paurocotylis pila's fruiting body is ball shaped, with a thin, matte red-orange outer rind and has no stalk. [9] Often the rind is creased, but occasionally is smooth. Varying in size, it ranges from 10-30mm across, and is found half buried in soil, or under leaf litter. [5] The fruit body is made of yellow-brown tissue, with multiple hollow chambers. Inside the chambers, the asci break up to leave round, cream or yellow ascospores. [10] Once collected and dried, the rind's colour changes to a dull red-brown. [2] P. pila fruit bodies usually range from 10–40 millimetres (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) in diameter, [1] although some in the UK are up to 60 mm. [11] The fruit body does not have a stipe. There is no odour noted and it is regarded as non-edible. [12]

Cross-section of P. pila Scarlet berry truffle imported from iNaturalist photo 127637603 on 27 May 2023.jpg
Cross-section of P. pila

Range

DNA barcode (internal transcribed spacer) sequences in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database indicate a distribution in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. [13]

Natural global range

This species is native to New Zealand, however, it has been introduced to England. In England, it has spread to Nottingham, Yorkshire, Sheffield, and more. [14] Paurocotylis pila is also native to Tasmania, [15] and has been found in Australia. [16]

New Zealand range

Paurocotylis pila is found all across New Zealand; [12] often appearing in forests under podocarp trees such as totara. [11] However, it also occurs in gardens, forest tracks, and parks. [5]

Habitat

This species is found in leaf litter and soil in forests, parks and gardens. [5] [12] [17] [11] Paurocotylis pila prefers disturbed forests, and is often found in soil near tracks. [12] It has even been found in abandoned gravel pits. [18] In England, it is has been found fruiting in garden soil. [14] Paurocotylis pila has been found near tracks in forest parks, [12] under Podocarpus. [11] Disturbed soil may make it easier for the fruit bodies to be spotted, or that they are seen more in those areas because it is where observers are. It is thought that due to their berry-like shape and striking colour, birds play a role in their dispersal. [12] [19]

Experts have suggested that some members of this genus and related genera of fungi may change between being saprobic and endophytic throughout its life. [1] This is unlikely for this species since it is found under various tree species.

Ecology

Life cycle/Phenology

Paurocotylis pila is a saprobic species [12] that grows underground. [17] The fruiting bodies emerge after warm rain, mainly in autumn. [5] After emerging from underground, Paurocotylis pila often remains partially covered by soil or leaf litter. [5] From there, it is presumed to be dispersed by ground-foraging birds looking for fallen fruit. [1] Fruiting in autumn, Paurocotylis pila coincides with podocarp trees fruiting in the forest. [5] As its colour resembles the fruit, it attracts birds. [1] Bird dispersal has likely assisted it in its spread throughout England, [14] with specimens found in England with damage from birds pecking. [14]

Predators, Parasites, and Diseases

Birds eat this species, which likely aids in its dispersal. [1] Supporting evidence for bird dispersal is peck marks, often seen on Paurocotylis pila. [14] It is unknown if any other predators, diseases, or parasites live on this species. Evidence of Ascomycota fungi being eaten by moa was found in moa coprolite. [20] This shows that this species may have been eaten and dispersed by moa, [20] but it is unknown which bird species are continuing to spread it today. Given that the species is spreading in the UK, [14] some introduced birds may be spreading the it alongside native species.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truffle</span> Fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus

A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus Tuber. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, and Leucangium. These genera belong to the class Pezizomycetes and the Pezizales order. Several truffle-like basidiomycetes are excluded from Pezizales, including Rhizopogon and Glomus. Truffles are ectomycorrhizal fungi, so they are found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. These fungi have ecological roles in nutrient cycling and drought tolerance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terfeziaceae</span> Family of fungi

The Terfeziaceae, or desert truffles, is a family of truffles endemic to arid and semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean Region, North Africa, and the Middle East, where they live in ectomycorrhizal association with Helianthemum species and other ectomycorrhizal plants. This group consists of three genera: Terfezia, Tirmania, and Mattirolomyces. They are a few centimetres across and weigh from 30 to 300 grams (1–10 oz). Desert truffles are often used as a culinary ingredient.

<i>Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca</i> Species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping. Fruit bodies (mushrooms) are yellow–orange, with a funnel-shaped cap up to 8 cm across that has a felt-like surface. The thin, often forked gills on the underside of the cap run partway down the length of the otherwise smooth stipe. Reports on the mushroom's edibility vary – it is considered poisonous, but has historically been eaten in parts of Europe and the Americas.

<i>Suillus bovinus</i> Species of edible fungus in the family Suillaceae native to Europe and Asia

Suillus bovinus, also known as the Jersey cow mushroom or bovine bolete, is a pored mushroom of the genus Suillus in the family Suillaceae. A common fungus native to Europe and Asia, it has been introduced to North America and Australia. It was initially described as Boletus bovinus by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, and given its current binomial name by Henri François Anne de Roussel in 1806. It is an edible mushroom, though not highly regarded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sporocarp (fungus)</span> Fungal structure on which spore-producing structures are borne

The sporocarp of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cycle, while the rest of the life cycle is characterized by vegetative mycelial growth and asexual spore production.

<i>Paurocotylis</i> Genus of fungi

Paurocotylis is a genus of fungi in the family Pyronemataceae. The genus contains multiple species, with the most well known being Paurocotylis pila, a truffle-like fungus found in Europe and New Zealand. It was described by Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1855. Species found in countries other than New Zealand include P. watlingii, P. singeri, P. prima, P. patagonica, P. niveus, P. echinosperma and P. bynumii.

<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>Kalaharituber</i> Single-species genus of fungi

Kalaharituber is a fungal genus in the family Pezizaceae. It is a monotypic genus, whose single truffle-like species, Kalaharituber pfeilii, is found in the Kalahari Desert, which spans the larger part of Botswana, the east of Namibia and the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

<i>Sarcosphaera</i> Genus of fungi

Sarcosphaera is a fungal genus within the Pezizaceae family. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Sarcosphaera coronaria, commonly known as the pink crown, the violet crown-cup, or the violet star cup. Although several taxa have been described as Sarcosphaera species since the introduction of the genus in 1869, most lack modern descriptions, have been transferred to the related genus Peziza, or are considered synonymous with S. coronaria.

<i>Ruhlandiella</i> Genus of fungi

Ruhlandiella is a genus of fungi within the family Pezizaceae. Ruhlandiella species are exothecial hypogeous fungi, which are essentially truffles that lack the outer layer or peridium. Ruhlandiella species are widely distributed in Nothofagaceae forests in South America and near Eucalyptus or Melaleuca plants in Australia, North America, and Europe.

<i>Hygrophoropsis</i> Genus of fungi

Hygrophoropsis is a genus of gilled fungi in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It was circumscribed in 1888 to contain the type species, H. aurantiaca, a widespread fungus that, based on its appearance, has been affiliated with Cantharellus, Clitocybe, and Paxillus. Modern molecular phylogenetic analysis shows that the genus belongs to the suborder Coniophorineae of the order Boletales.

<i>Descolea</i> Genus of fungi

Descolea is a genus of fungi in the family Bolbitiaceae. Described by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1952, the widespread genus contains about 15 species. It was formerly placed in the family Cortinariaceae because of its limoniform basidiospores and its ectomycorrhizal lifestyle. A 2013 molecular phylogenetics study by Tóth et al. found it to be closely related to the genus Pholiotina The genus Pseudodescolea, erected for the single Descolea-like species Pseudodescolea lepiotiformis, was formerly considered distinct until a 1990 study found it to be a synonym of Descolea antarctica.

<i>Squamanita</i> Genus of fungi

Squamanita is a genus of parasitic fungi in the family Squamanitaceae. Basidiocarps superficially resemble normal agarics but emerge from parasitized fruit bodies of deformed host agarics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gasteroid fungi</span> Group of fungi

The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr., or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores inside their basidiocarps rather than on an outer surface. However, the class is polyphyletic, as such species—which include puffballs, earthstars, stinkhorns, and false truffles—are not closely related to each other. Because they are often studied as a group, it has been convenient to retain the informal (non-taxonomic) name of "gasteroid fungi".

<i>Geopora cooperi</i> Species of fungus

Geopora cooperi, commonly known as the pine truffle or the fuzzy truffle, is a species of fungus in the family Pyronemataceae. It has a fuzzy brown outer surface and an inner surface of whitish, convoluted folds of tissue. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, the species has been recorded from Asia, Europe, and North America.

<i>Staheliomyces</i> Genus of fungi

Staheliomyces is a fungal genus in the stinkhorn family. The genus was considered monotypic for over 100 years, containing the single neotropical species Staheliomyces cinctus, until a 2022 study revealed four additional, cryptic species. Members are colloquially known as the strangled stinkhorns. The genus is found in Central America and northern South America. The fruit body of the fungus is a hollow, whitish, cylindric stalk up to 16 cm (6.3 in) tall, with conspicuous pits and holes. Near the top of the stalk is a pinched-off zone covered with unpleasant-smelling slimy spore mass called gleba. The gleba attracts stingless bees that help disseminate the spores.

Tuber anniae is a species of truffle in the genus Tuber. The truffle is purported to be uncommon, but is primarily found in the United States Pacific Northwest. Recently the fruiting of closely related taxa have been found in the Baltic Rim countries, primarily forests dominated by Scots pine in eastern Finland.

James Martin Trappe is a mycologist and expert in the field of North American truffle species. He has authored or co-authored 450 scientific papers and written three books on the subject. MycoBank lists him as either author or co-author of 401 individual species, and over the course of his career he has helped guide research on mycorrhizal fungi, and reshaped truffle taxonomy: establishing a new order, two new families, and 40 individual genera.

<i>Rhizopogon occidentalis</i> Species of fungus

Rhizopogon occidentalis is an ectomycorrhizal fungus in the family Rhizopogonaceae of the Basidiomycota. It occurs most commonly in western North America in association with two-needle and three-needle pine hosts. They are false truffles with fruiting bodies that are yellow on the surface and pale yellow inside. Their edibility is disputed.

<i>Tuber indicum</i> Species of truffle

Tuber indicum, commonly known as the Chinese black truffle or the Asian black truffle, is an edible fungus known for its hypogean fruiting bodies, characteristic of the Tuber genus. It is found natively in Himalayan India and parts of China, but has also been found invasively in the United States and Italy. It is sold commercially and often confused with Tuber melanosporum.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bunyard, Britt A. (2022). The Lives of Fungi: A Natural History of Our Planet's Decomposers. Princeton University Press. p. 60. ISBN   978-0-691-22984-3.
  2. 1 2 Hooker, Joseph Dalton; Fitch, W. H. (1855). The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843: under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. Vol. 2. London. p. 188.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ↑ Kumar, Leticia M.; Smith, Matthew E.; Nouhra, Eduardo R.; Orihara, Takamichi; Sandoval Leiva, Pablo; Pfister, Donald H.; McLaughlin, David J.; Trappe, James M.; Healy, Rosanne A. (2017). "A molecular and morphological re-examination of the generic limits of truffles in the tarzetta-geopyxis lineage – Densocarpa, Hydnocystis, and Paurocotylis". Fungal Biology. 121 (3): 264–284. doi: 10.1016/j.funbio.2016.12.004 .
  4. ↑ "PDD 102944 – Paurocotylis pila Berk". scd.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ridley, Geoff; Horne, Don (2019). A Photographic Guide to Mushrooms and other Fungi of New Zealand. New Zealand: White Cloud Books. p. 134. ISBN   978-1-990003-76-9.
  6. ↑ "Species Fungorum". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  7. ↑ "Mycobank database". Mycobank. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  8. ↑ "Species Fungorum". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  9. ↑ Kerr, Shirley (2021). A Field Guide to New Zealand Fungi 2nd Edition (2nd ed.). New Zealand. p. 175. ISBN   978-0-473-47551-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ Stevenson, Greta (1994). New Zealand Fungi an illustrated guide. New Zealand: Canterbury University Press. p. 39. ISBN   0-908812-29-9.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Eggerling, Thomas W. (2004). "Paurocotylis pila". Field Mycology. 5 (2): 41–42. doi: 10.1016/S1468-1641(10)60246-0 .
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ridley, Geoff (2022). A photographic guide to mushrooms and other fungi of New Zealand. White Cloud Books. p. 134. ISBN   9781990003769.
  13. ↑ "NCBI". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hobart, Caroline (2019-01-01). "Paurocotylis pila is still spreading across Britain: some thoughts". Field Mycology. 20 (1): 21–25. doi:10.1016/j.fldmyc.2019.01.007. ISSN   1468-1641.
  15. ↑ Kumar, Leticia M.; Smith, Matthew E.; Nouhra, Eduardo R.; Orihara, Takamichi; Sandoval Leiva, Pablo; Pfister, Donald H.; McLaughlin, David J.; Trappe, James M.; Healy, Rosanne A. (2017-03-01). "A molecular and morphological re-examination of the generic limits of truffles in the tarzetta-geopyxis lineage – Densocarpa, Hydnocystis, and Paurocotylis". Fungal Biology. 121 (3): 264–284. doi:10.1016/j.funbio.2016.12.004. ISSN   1878-6146.
  16. ↑ "Paurocotylis pila Berk. 1855 - Encyclopedia of Life". eol.org. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  17. 1 2 "Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research". fungalguide.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
  18. ↑ Hobart, Caroline (2019). "Paurocotylis pila is still spreading across Britain: some thoughts". Field Mycology. 20 (1): 21–25. doi: 10.1016/j.fldmyc.2019.01.007 .
  19. ↑ Elliott, Todd F.; Jusino, Michelle A.; Trappe, James M.; Lepp, Heino; Ballard, Guy-Anthony; Bruhl, Jeremy J.; Vernes, Karl (2019). "A global review of the ecological significance of symbiotic associations between birds and fungi". Fungal Diversity. 98 (1): 161–194. doi:10.1007/s13225-019-00436-3. ISSN   1560-2745.
  20. 1 2 Boast, Alexander P.; Weyrich, Laura S.; Wood, Jamie R.; Metcalf, Jessica L.; Knight, Rob; Cooper, Alan (2018-02-13). "Coprolites reveal ecological interactions lost with the extinction of New Zealand birds". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (7): 1546–1551. doi:10.1073/pnas.1712337115. ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5816151 . PMID   29440415.
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