Phyllotopsis nidulans

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Phyllotopsis nidulans
Phyllotopsis nidulans 60083.jpg
Phyllotopsis nidulans
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Phyllotopsidaceae
Genus: Phyllotopsis
Species:
P. nidulans
Binomial name
Phyllotopsis nidulans
(Pers.) Singer (1936)
Synonyms [1]
  • Agaricus nidulansPers. (1798)
  • Dendrosarcus mollis Paulet (1793)
  • Panus foetens Fr. (1838)
  • Agaricus jonquilla Lév. (1855)
  • Pleurotus nidulans(Pers.) P.Kumm. (1871)
  • Crepidotus nidulans(Pers.) Quél. (1875)
  • Claudopus nidulans(Pers.) Peck (1886)
  • Crepidotus jonquilla(Lév.) Quél. (1888)
  • Agaricus odorativus Britzelm. (1893)
  • Dendrosarcus nidulans(Pers.) Kuntze (1898)
  • Pocillaria foetens(Fr.) Kuntze (1898)
  • Panus nidulans(Pers.) Pilát (1930)
Phyllotopsis nidulans
Mycological characteristics
Gills icon.png Gills on hymenium
Convex cap icon.svg Cap is convex
Bare stipe icon.svgNA cap icon.svg Stipe is bare or lacks a stipe
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Transparent spore print icon.svg
 Spore print is pink to pinkish-brown
Saprotrophic fungus.svgEcology is saprotrophic
Mycomorphbox Question.pngMycomorphbox Inedible.pngEdibility is unknown or inedible

Phyllotopsis nidulans, commonly known as the mock oyster or the orange oyster, is a species of fungus in the family Phyllotopsidaceae.

Contents

The fungus fruit body consists of a fan-shaped, light orange fuzzy cap up to 10 cm (4 in) wide that grows singly or in overlapping clusters. On the cap underside are crowded orange gills. Mock oyster mushrooms have an unpleasant odor and are regarded as inedible.

It is widely dispersed in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on decaying wood.

Taxonomy

The mock oyster was first described scientifically in 1798 by Christian Hendrik Persoon as Agaricus nidulans. The specific epithet nidulans means "partly encased or lying in a cavity". [2] It is commonly known as "nestcap". [3] It is the type species of the genus Phyllotopsis .

Description

The caps are 2–10 centimetres (3⁄4–4 in) wide. The stems are either very short or nonexistent. [4] The flesh has a thiol-like odor similar to rotten cabbage [2] or rotten eggs. [5]

The spore print is pink to tannish. [6] The smooth, sausage-shaped to cylindrical basidiospores measure 5–7  μm long by 2–3 μm wide. Clamp connections are present in the hyphae. [7]

Chemistry

The predominant pigments in the fruit bodies include beta-carotene (58%), alpha-carotene (29%), echinenone (8%), and astaxanthin (4%). [8] P. nidulans also produces a unique amino acid, 3-(3-carboxyfuran-4-yl) l-alanine. [9]

Similar species

Phyllotopsis subnidulans , found in the eastern United States, is similar in appearance. It can be distinguished by a deeper orange color, thinner gills with wider inter-gill spacing, and curved to sausage-shaped spores. [3] Other similar species include Lentinellus ursinusus , Crepidotus mollis , Panus rudis , Panus conchatus , and Pleurotus ostreatus . [4]

Habitat and distribution

Fruit bodies grow singly or in overlapping clusters on dead wood. Phyllotopsis nidulans is widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its range extends north to Alaska, [5] and includes Costa Rica, where it has been recorded in the Talamanca mountains and on the Poas Volcano. [7] In Asia, it has been recorded in Korea. [10]

Edibility

Although not known to be poisonous, [5] the disagreeable odor [4] would deter most from eating the mushrooms. [11] [12]

References

  1. ↑ "Phyllotopsis nidulans (Pers.) Singer 1936". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  2. 1 2 Smith AH; Nancy S. Weber NS. (1980). The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide. University of Michigan Press. p. 161. ISBN   978-0-472-85610-7.
  3. 1 2 McKnight KH. (1998). A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 181. ISBN   978-0-395-91090-0.
  4. 1 2 3 Davis, R. Michael; Sommer, Robert; Menge, John A. (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 192–194. ISBN   978-0-520-95360-4. OCLC   797915861.
  5. 1 2 3 Laursen GA, Seppelt RD (2010). Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams: Fungi, Lichenicolous Fungi, Lichenized Fungi, Slime Molds, Mosses, and Liverworts. University of Alaska Press. p. 59. ISBN   978-1-60223-109-2.
  6. ↑ Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 418. ISBN   978-0-593-31998-7.
  7. 1 2 Halling RE, Mueller GM (2005). Common Mushrooms of the Talamanca Mountains, Costa Rica. New York, New York: New York Botanical Garden Press. p. 154. ISBN   978-0-89327-460-3.
  8. ↑ Klaui H, Bauernfeind JC (2012). Carotenoids as Colorants and Vitamin A Precursors: Technological and Nutritional Applications. Elsevier. p. 149. ISBN   978-0-323-13977-9.
  9. ↑ Doyle RR, Levenberg B (1974). "l-3-(3-carboxyfuran-4-yl)alanine, a new amino acid from the mushroom Phyllotopsis nidulans" (PDF). Phytochemistry. 13 (12): 2813–2814. doi:10.1016/0031-9422(74)80246-3. hdl: 2027.42/22228 .
  10. ↑ Jong WJm Young NK, Chang SK, Sang KH (2013). "Distribution of higher fungi in Chungcheong Province, Republic of Korea". Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. 6 (3): 347–359. doi: 10.7229/jkn.2013.6.3.347 . Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  11. ↑ Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 245. ISBN   978-1-55407-651-2.
  12. ↑ Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuide. p. 140. ISBN   978-0-7627-3109-1.
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