Spathularia flavida, commonly known as the yellow earth tongue, the yellow fan, or the fairy fan, is an ascomycete fungus found in coniferous forests of Asia, Europe and North America. It produces a small, fan- or spoon-shaped fruit body with a flat, wavy or lobed cream to yellow colored "head" raised on a white to cream stalk. The height is usually approximately 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in), and up to 8 cm (3.1 in). The fungus fruits on the ground in mosses, forest duff or humus, and fruit bodies may occur singly, in large groups, or in fairy rings. The spores produced by the fungus are needle-like, and up to 95 micrometres long. Several varieties have been described that differ largely in their microscopic characteristics. S. flavida has been described by authorities variously as inedible, of unknown edibility, or edible but tough.
Geoglossaceae is a family of fungi in the order Geoglossales, class Geoglossomycetes. These fungi are broadly known as earth tongues. The ascocarps of most species in the family Geoglossaceae are terrestrial and are generally small, dark in color, and club-shaped with a height of 2–8 cm. The ascospores are typically light-brown to dark-brown and are often multiseptate. Other species of fungi have been known to parasitize ascocarps. The use of a compound microscope is needed for accurate identification.
Mycena adscendens, commonly known as the frosty bonnet, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. The fungus produces small white fruit bodies (mushrooms) with caps up to 7.5 mm (0.3 in) in diameter that appear to be dusted with sugar-like granules. Caps are supported by thin, hollow stems up to 20 mm (0.8 in) long, which are set on a disc-like base. It is distributed in the United States, where it has been found from Washington to California, Europe, and Turkey. The fruit bodies grow on fallen twigs and other woody debris on the forest floor, including fallen hazel nuts. The variety carpophila is known from Japan. There are several small white Mycena species that are similar in appearance to M. adscendens, some of which can be reliably distinguished only by examining microscopic characteristics.
Mycena cinerella, commonly known as the mealy bonnet, is an inedible species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It is found in Europe and the United States, where it grows in groups on fallen leaves and needles under pine and Douglas fir. The small grayish mushrooms have caps that are up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide atop stipes that are 5 cm (2.0 in) long and 2.5 mm (0.10 in) thick. Its gills are grayish-white and adnate, with a "tooth" that runs slightly down the stipe. The fungus has both two- and four-spored basidia. As its common name suggests, it smells mealy.
Mycena leptocephala, commonly known as the nitrous bonnet, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. The mushrooms have conical grayish caps that reach up to 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter, and thin fragile stems up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long. The gills are gray and distantly spaced. The spores are elliptical, typically measure 7–10 by 4–6 μm, and are white in deposit. When viewed under a light microscope, the gills have abundant spindle-shaped cystidia on the gill edges, but few on the gill faces. The mushroom is found in North America, Asia, and Europe where it grows singly or in groups on conifer needles, cones and sticks on the forest floor. It has a distinctive odor of bleach; the edibility is unknown. Similar species include Mycena alcalina, M. austera, and M. brevipes.
The hydnoid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota with basidiocarps producing spores on pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections. They are colloquially called tooth fungi. Originally such fungi were referred to the genus Hydnum, but it is now known that not all hydnoid species are closely related.
Trichoglossum hirsutum is a species of fungi in the family Geoglossaceae. They are commonly called black earth tongues.
Geoglossum is a genus of fungi in the family Geoglossaceae. They are commonly called earth tongues. The type species is Geoglossum glabrum. Geoglossum species are distinguished from the related genus Trichoglossum by the lack of setae on the spore bearing surface. Geoglossum species are characterized by dark, club-shaped, terrestrial ascocarps with a fertile hymenium continuing downward from the apex of the ascocarp along the stipe, eventually intergrading with a sterile stipe. The ascospores of Geoglossum range from translucent to dark brown, and are fusiform, and multiseptate. Identification of species is based on the gross morphology of the ascocarp, color and septation of the ascospores, and shape and ornamentation of the paraphyses.
Nothomitra is a genus of fungi in the earth tongue family Geoglossaceae. There is no known common name. Nothomitra is morphologically distinguished from Microglossum in that the fertile hymenium in Nothomitra is not flattened as in Microglossum. Furthermore, the hymenium in Nothomitra is distinctly free at the junction of the stipe, unlike in Microglossum in which the hymenium is flattened and gradually intergrades with the stipe.
Sarcoleotia is a genus of fungi in the earth tongue family Geoglossaceae. There is no known common name.
Glutinoglossum glutinosum, commonly known as the viscid black earth tongue or the glutinous earthtongue, is a species of fungus in the family Geoglossaceae. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, it has been found in northern Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Although previously thought to exist in Australasia, collections made from these locations have since been referred to new species. G. glutinosum is a saprophytic species that grows on soil in moss or in grassy areas. The smooth, nearly black, club-shaped fruitbodies grow to heights ranging from 1.5 to 5 cm. The head is up to 0.7 cm (0.3 in) long, and the stipes are sticky. Several other black earth tongue species are quite similar in external appearance, and many can be reliably distinguished only by examining differences in microscopic characteristics, such as spores, asci, and paraphyses. First described in 1796 as a species of Geoglossum, the fungus has gone through several changes of genera in its taxonomic history. It was placed in its current genus, Glutinoglossum, in 2013.
Glutinoglossum is a genus of six species of earth-tongue fungi in the family Geoglossaceae. The widespread type species, G. glutinosum, is commonly known as the "glutinous earth tongue". G. heptaseptatum is known only from the Czech Republic. Four additional species were described in 2015.
Elias Judah Durand was an American mycologist, and botanist. He was one of the foremost American experts on the discomycetes.
Microglossum viride is a species of fungi in the family Geoglossaceae. They are commonly called green earth tongues.
Sabuloglossum is a fungal genus in the earth tongue family Geoglossaceae. Circumscribed in 2013, it contains the single widely distributed species Sabuloglossum arenarium, which has previously been placed in the genera Microglossum, Corynetes, Geoglossum, and Thuemenidium. The generic name derives from the Latin word sabulum and refers to its preference for sandy habitats.
Leucoglossum is a genus of fungi in the earth tongue family Geoglossaceae. The genus was formally circumscribed by Japanese mycologist Sanshi Imai in 1942. Leucoglossum contains two species: the type, L. durandii, and L. leucosporum, which was added to the genus in 2014. Both species resemble those found in Trichoglossum, but can be distinguished from that genus by having hyaline (translucent) ascospores that turn brownish only when mature. L. durandii is found in China, while L. leucosporum occurs in Europe. Molecular studies indicate that Leucoglossum is a monophyletic group more closely related to Geoglossum than Trichoglossum.
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.
Climacodon sanguineus is a rare species of tooth fungus in the family Meruliaceae that is found in Africa.
Cordieritidaceae is a family of fungi in the order Cyttariales. Species in this family are saprobes or lichenicolous.
