Battarrea phalloides

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Battarrea phalloides
Battarrea phalloides 15328.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Agaricaceae
Genus: Battarrea
Species:
B. phalloides
Binomial name
Battarrea phalloides
(Dicks.) Pers. (1801)
Synonyms [1]
  • Lycoperdon phalloidesDicks. (1785)
  • Phallus campanulatus Berk. (1842)
  • Ithyphallus campanulatus(Berk.) Schltdl. (1933)
Battarrea phalloides
Information icon.svg
Gleba icon.png Glebal hymenium
Conical cap icon.svg Cap is conical
NA cap icon.svg Hymenium attachment is not applicable
Volva stipe icon.svg Stipe has a volva
Transparent spore print icon.svg
 Spore print is ochre
Saprotrophic fungus.svgEcology is saprotrophic
Mycomorphbox Inedible.pngEdibility is inedible

Battarrea phalloides [nb 1] is an inedible species of mushroom in the family Agaricaceae, [3] and the type species of the genus Battarrea . Known in the vernacular as the scaley-stalked puffball, sandy stiltball, or desert stalked puffball, it has a woody, slender, and shaggy or scaly stem that is typically up to 40 centimeters (15.7 in) in length. Although its general appearance resembles an agaric with stem and gills, atop the stem is a spore sac, consisting of a peridium and a powdery internal gleba. In maturity, the spore sac ruptures to release the spores. Battarrea phalloides is found in dry, sandy locations throughout the world, and has been collected from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America (primarily in western regions), and South America. There is currently some disagreement in the literature as to whether the European B. stevensii is the same species as B. phalloides.

Taxonomy

The species was first mentioned in the scientific literature in 1784, when Thomas Jenkinson Woodward described a new species found by Mr. Humphreys of Norwich. [4] It was named by James Dickson in 1785 as Lycoperdon phalloides, and the type locality was Suffolk, England. [5] Christian Hendrik Persoon sanctioned the name when he transferred to Battarrea in his 1801 Synopsis Methodica Fungorum, [6] a newly circumscribed genus named after the Italian mycologist Giovanni Antonio Battarra. [7] Synonyms include Phallus campanulatus, published by Miles Berkeley in 1842 based on collections made by Charles Darwin in Maldonado (Uruguay) in 1833, [8] and Ithyphallus campanulatus, a new combination based on Berkeley's name, published by Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal in 1933. [1]

The specific epithet phalloides means phallus-like, and refers to the similarity of the volva to the genus Phallus . [9] Battarrea phalloides is commonly known as the "scaly-stalked puffball" [10] and the "sandy stiltball"; [11] a common name given to the species B. stevenii is the "desert drumstick". [12] In Cyprus, it is known locally as "Donkey fungus", a name that may be derived from the fact that the spores were once used as a natural antiseptic and antipruritic agent applied to the backs of donkeys, or for their morphological resemblance to the animal's penis. [13]

Historically, there has been uncertainty as to whether the European species known as Battarrea stevenii is a unique species or merely a polymorphic variant of B. phalloides. The taxon has been described as both a variety (as B. phalloides var. stevenii by Cleland and Cheel in 1916) [14] and as a form (as B. phalloides f. stevenii by Calonge in 2004). [15] In 1995, mycologist Roy Watling opined that B. stevenii differs in having spores that are colored more orange-tawny, slightly larger (5–6.5 by 5.75–7  μm, as opposed to 4.5–5.25 by 4.5–5.75 μm), and less ornamented. Further, B. stevenii is thought to have a larger fruit body size, a more coarsely scaly stipe, and lack of mucilage in the volva and the innermost parts of the stem. [7] The presence or absence of mucilage has been traditionally considered the significant characteristic separating the species. [16] In 1904, Lászlo Hollós proposed the idea of a single polymorphic species; [17] in 1942, Paul Marshall Rea, after studying 25 specimens from southern California, concluded that B. stevenii was conspecific with B. phalloides and represented a single species. [18] An analysis of a number of European specimens—using both macroscopic and microscopic characteristics in addition to molecular analysis of ITS regions of the 5.8S rDNA—also suggested both to be conspecific. The authors of this study considered the differences in spore ornamentation and stipe hyphae to be insufficient to discriminate them as two species; they did, however, note that their inability to locate the type material for both species limited the conclusiveness of their suggestion. [19] The conspecificity of the species was supported in a later study that used traditional and molecular methods to compare field-collected English specimens and an extensive range of herbarium material collected from around the world. They found that material labeled B. stevenii generally had a greater range of cap and stem sizes, while that labeled B. phalloides was generally more consistent, and smaller. However, the B. phalloides material they studied was generally from similar habitats in the UK, while the B. stevenii material originated from a wide variety of locales and habitats, suggesting that environmental factors influence fruit body morphology. Evidence pointing to conspecificity included the continuum of spore sizes between the two, and the lack of any significant differences between their DNA. [9] In 2006, however, based on a study of specimens collected in China, other scientists considered them to be independent species. [20]

Description

Underside of spore-bearing surface Battarrea phalloides 40051.jpg
Underside of spore-bearing surface

Mature specimens of Battarrea phalloides roughly resemble the typical agaric mushroom stature of stem and cap. However, rather than a cap with gills, this species has a spore sac atop the stem. When young, the fruit body is roughly spherical and completely encased in an outer wall (exoperidium) that later splits in a circumscissile fashion (along a circular or equatorial line), the lower wall forming a volva and the upper part forming scales that cover the inner wall. The upper part rolls upward and backward and eventually falls away in one piece, exposing a spore sac lined with a narrow ring of capillitium and spores. [21] The spores are sticky. [10] As these are carried away by the wind, the drying action of the latter cause the edges of the peridium to shrivel and roll up more, exposing more spores. This is continued until the upper half of the peridium has shriveled and blown away and there remains only a few spores, which may be washed away by rain. [21]

The fruit body develops rapidly; [7] when mature, it is rust-colored, with a hemispherical to somewhat conical "head" 1 to 3 cm (0.4 to 1.2 in) in diameter, and with a stalk up to 40 cm (15.7 in) long by 0.4 to 1.5 cm (0.2 to 0.6 in) thick. [10]

One study reported a specimen found in Mexico with a length of 70 cm (27.6 in). [22] Typically, the spore case is 3 to 5 cm (1.2 to 2.0 in) broad by 1 to 3.5 cm (0.4 to 1.4 in) tall. [10] The hollow stalk is pale brown to brown, woody, and has a fibrous, scaly, or even woolly surface. [22] The mature gleba, which is eventually exposed when the peridial cap is shed, has a rust-brown color. The cap may persist after the spore mass is dispersed and form a disc-like unit that slides down the stalk like a ring. [10] The fragile sac-shaped volva is up to 15 by 13 cm (5.9 by 5.1 in) broad, unattached to the stalk, and formed by two distinct, separated tissue layers. The inner layer resembles the scales of the stem, consisting of hyphae that are 3–18  μm in diameter, closely arranged (nearly parallel), septate, sparsely branched, yellowish ochre, with clamps at some septa. The outer layer of fungal tissue is thicker, membranous, sometimes with a corky texture when dry, and dirty white. It consists of pale yellow intertwined hyphae that are difficult to distinguish individually, and without remains of a gelatinous matrix. Fruit bodies may persist for several months after they have dried. [23]

The thick-walled spores are roughly spherical, rusty-brown, finely and densely warted, and have diameters of 5–6.5 μm. Elaters are 50–80 by 4–6 μm, and have ring-like or spiral thickenings. [24] The endoperidium consists of densely interwoven hyphae that are 3–9 μm in diameter and walls less than 1 μm thick; they are septate, branched, pale yellow, with clamp connections.

The gleba is largely made up of two types of threads. The pseudocapillitium has hyphae up to 5 μm diameter, mostly thin walled, smooth, septate, sparsely branched, hyaline to pale yellow, with clamps. The elaters have diameters of 3.5–7 μm and are 32–70 μm long; they are pale yellow, smooth-walled, tapered and cylindrical with spiral thickenings. Glebal elaters are aseptate and not branched. [22]

Edibility

Specimen from Oahu, Hawaii Battarrea phalloides 40049.jpg
Specimen from Oahu, Hawaii

Battarrea phalloides (as well as Battarrea stevenii) is inedible. [25] [10] In Cyprus, the immature egg-form of the fruit body is eaten. [26] Older specimens may smell unpleasant. [10] The spores of B. stevenii are used as a cicatrizant—a product that promotes healing through the formation of scar tissue–by the Criollo herdsmen of Gran Chaco in northern Argentina. [27]

Similar species

The closely related species Battarrea diguettii is known in the United States from the Mojave desert, and differs from B. phalloides in that the spore sac emerges by ripping through the top of the exoperidium, rather than by circumscissile rupture. The endoperidium of B. diguettii is also smaller, and the spores emerge through a number of pores on the upper surface of the spore sac. [23] Battarrea stevenii can grow taller, up to 70 centimeters (27.6 in). [25] Podaxis pistillaris , commonly known as the "desert shaggy mane", occurs in dry locales similar to B. phalloides, but can be distinguished by its shaggy, elongated cap. [26]

Habitat and distribution

Battarrea phalloides may be found growing solitary to scattered on dry, sandy hedgebanks (raised or mounded boundary feature, often topped by a hedgerow), sometimes growing amongst elm suckers. It is a relatively rare species, but may be locally abundant in some locations. [10] [24] In Mexico, where it is only known from the north and central part of the country, [22] it has been usually collected in arid and semiarid areas, on coastal dunes, found from sea level up to 2,550 m (8,370 ft) high. The mushroom has been associated with the quick-growing evergreen tree Schinus molle , as well as Lycium brevipes , Solanum hindsianum , Salicornia subterminalis , Atriplex linearis , Quercus agrifolia and Opuntia species, in coastal dunes. [22] The largest fruit bodies were found on floodplains with halophilic (i.e., thriving in high-salt conditions) vegetation. [22] In Belgium, specimens were found on sandy soil under dead elderflower bushes. [28]

In North America, Battarrea phalloides has been collected from the Yukon Territory, [23] western Canada; [12] the US, where it is confined to the west— [10] Southern California, [18] New Mexico, [29] and Arizona— [30] Mexico, [31] and Hawaii. [32] It has also been reported growing in South America (Brazil), [33] Africa (Morocco), [34] Europe (Belgium and North Macedonia), [28] [35] China, [20] and Australia. [36] [37] Due to a decline in sightings, B. phalloides was granted legal protection in Hungary in 2005, making it a finable offense to pick them. [38] It received similar protected status in the United Kingdom in 1998. [39] [40]

The habitat and range of Battarrea stevenii include arid regions of the western and southwestern United States, [25] Australia, [37] South Africa, [41] and several European countries, [19] including Russia. [42]

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ Orthographic variations include Batarrea, Battarea, Battarraea, and Battaraea. [2]
References
  1. 1 2 "Index Fungorum Synonymy: "Battarrea phalloides" (Dicks.) Pers". CAB International. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  2. ↑ Coetzee JC, Eicker A (1992). "Batarrea, Battarrea, Battarraea or ...???". Mycologist. 6 (2): 61–3. doi:10.1016/S0269-915X(09)80448-5.
  3. ↑ Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford: CAB International. p. 83. ISBN   978-0-85199-826-8.
  4. ↑ Woodward T. (1784). "An account of a new plant, of the order of fungi". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. 74 (2): 423–7. doi:10.1098/rstl.1784.0032.
  5. ↑ Dickson J. (1785). Fasciculus plantarum cryptogamicarum Britanniae (in Latin). Vol. 1. London: Nicol. p. 24.
  6. ↑ Persoon CH. (1801). Synopsis Methodica Fungorum (in Latin). Göttingen: Apud H. Dieterich. p. 129.
  7. 1 2 3 Watling R, Gucin F, Isiloglu M (1995). "Battarraea phalloides – its history, biology and extension to its distribution". Nova Hedwigia. 60: 13–18.
  8. ↑ Berkeley MJ. (1842). "Notices of some fungi collected by C. Darwin Esq. in South America and the islands of the Pacific". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 9: 447–57. doi:10.1080/03745484209445362.
  9. 1 2 Jeffries P, McLain L (August 2004). Number 625. Synonymy between Battarrea phalloides and B. stevenii (PDF) (Report). English Nature Research Reports. English Nature. ISSN   0967-876X.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Arora D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. p. 717. ISBN   0-89815-169-4.
  11. ↑ "Authorities & Vocabularies (Library of Congress): Sandy stiltball". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  12. 1 2 Schalkwijk-Barendsen HME. (1991). Mushrooms of Western Canada. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing. p.  355. ISBN   0-919433-47-2.
  13. ↑ Kyriakou T, Loizides M, Tziakouris A (2009). "Rarities and oddities from Cyprus". Field Mycology. 10 (3): 94–8. doi: 10.1016/S1468-1641(10)60600-7 .
  14. ↑ "Battarrea phalloides var. stevenii (Libosch.) (Libosch.) Cleland & Cheel 1916". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  15. ↑ "Battarrea phalloides f. stevenii (Libosch.) Calonge 2004". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  16. ↑ Cunningham GH. (1932). "The Gasteromycetes of Australasia XIV". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 57 (234): 27–39.
  17. ↑ Hollós L. (1904). Die Gasteromyceten Ungarns. Im Auftrage der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (in German). Leipzig: O. Weigel. plate 2.
  18. 1 2 Rea PM, Marshall P (1942). "Fungi of Southern California. I". Mycologia. 34 (5): 563–74. doi:10.2307/3754670. JSTOR   3754670.
  19. 1 2 Martín MP, Johannesson H (2000). "Battarrea phalloides and B. stevenii, insight into a long-standing taxonomic puzzle". Mycotaxon. 76: 67–75.
  20. 1 2 Liu H, Fan L (2006). "The genus Battarrea (Tulostomatales, Basidiomycota) in China". Acta Botanica Yunnanica (in Chinese). 28 (1): 19–21.
  21. 1 2 Gäumann EA, Dodge CW (1928). Comparative Morphology of the Fungi. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. p. 480.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Esqueda M, Herrera T, Perez-Silva E, Aparicio A, Moreno G (2002). "Distribution of Battarrea phalloides in Mexico". Mycotaxon. 82: 207–14.
  23. 1 2 3 Orr DB, Orr RT (1979). Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 125–6. ISBN   0-520-03656-5.
  24. 1 2 Ellis JB, Ellis MB (1990). Fungi without Gills (Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes): An Identification Handbook. London: Chapman and Hall. ISBN   0-412-36970-2.
  25. 1 2 3 Miller HR, Miller OK (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford: FalconGuides. p. 467. ISBN   978-0-7627-3109-1.
  26. 1 2 Roberts P, Evans S (2011). The Book of Fungi. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 509. ISBN   978-0226721170.
  27. ↑ Scarpa GF. (2004). "Medicinal plants used by the Criollos of Northwestern Argentine Chaco". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 91 (1): 115–35. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2003.12.003. PMID   15036479.
  28. 1 2 Walleyn R, Leten M (2000). "Battarrea phalloides (Dicks.: Pers.) Pers., een opmerkelijke aanvulling voor de Belgische mycoflora" [Battarrea phalloides (Dicks.: Pers.) Pers., a remarkable addition to the Belgian fungal flora]. AMK Mededelingen (in Dutch) (4): 101–3. ISSN   0771-9884.
  29. ↑ Dittmer HJ. (1978). "A rare Gasteromycete in New Mexico USA". New Mexico Academy of Science Bulletin. 18 (1): 12.
  30. ↑ "AMP – Checklists of Arizona Fungi". Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium. Archived from the original on 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
  31. ↑ Cortez VG, Baseia IG, Silveira RMB (2009). "Gasteroid mycobiota of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: Tulostomataceae". Mycotaxon. 108: 365–84. doi: 10.5248/108.365 .
  32. ↑ Hemmes DE, Desjardin D (2002). Mushrooms of Hawai'i: An Identification Guide. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. p. 102. ISBN   1580083390.
  33. ↑ Sobestiansky G. (2005). "Contribution to a macromycete survey of the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina in Brazil". Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology. 48 (3): 437–57. doi: 10.1590/S1516-89132005000300015 .
  34. ↑ Outcoumit A. (2007). "Several remarks regarding a Moroccan crop of Batarrea phalloides". Bulletin de la Société Mycologique de France. 123 (1): 77–83.
  35. ↑ Karadelev, Mitko; Rusevska, Katerina (2016). "Distribution Maps of Critical Endangered Species from Macedonian Red List of Fungi" (PDF). Hyla. 1: 17. ISSN   1848-2007.
  36. ↑ Orchard AE. (1996). Fungi of Australia. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 331. ISBN   0-643-06907-0.
  37. 1 2 May TW, Milne J, Shingles S, Jones RH (2003). Fungi of Australia Volume 2B: Catalogue and Bibliography of Australian Fungi. 2. Basidiomycota p.p. & Myxomycota. CSIRO Publishing. p. 331. ISBN   0-643-06907-0.
  38. ↑ Siller I, Dima B, Albert L, Vasas G, Fodor L, Pal-Fam F, Bratek Z, Zagyva I (2006). "Protected macrofungi in Hungary". Mikologiai Kozlemenyek (in Hungarian and English). 45 (1/3): 3–158.
  39. ↑ Evans S. (2006). "Conservation corner". Field Mycology. 7 (4): 143–5. doi: 10.1016/S1468-1641(10)60582-8 .
  40. ↑ "Schedule 8 the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981". UKWildlife.com. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  41. ↑ Levin H, Branch M (1985). A Field Guide to the Mushrooms of South Africa. Cape Town: C. Struik. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-86977-229-4.
  42. ↑ Lloyd JU, Lloyd CG (1903). Bulletin of the Lloyd Library of Botany, Pharmacy and Materia. Volume 6. Cincinnati, Ohio: Lloyd Library and Museum. p. 11.

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Amanita ravenelii, commonly known as the pinecone lepidella, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. The whitish fruit bodies are medium to large, with caps up to 17 centimetres wide, and stems up to 25 cm (10 in) long. The cap surface has large warts and the stem has a scaly, bulbous base. The mushrooms have a unique chlorine like odor.

<i>Geastrum quadrifidum</i> Species of fungus in the family Geastraceaea

Geastrum quadrifidum, commonly known as the rayed earthstar or four-footed earthstar, is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi. First described scientifically by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1794, G. quadrifidum is a cosmopolitan—but not common—species of Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The fungus is a saprobe, feeding off decomposing organic matter present in the soil and litter of coniferous forests.

<i>Geastrum welwitschii</i> Species of fungus

Geastrum welwitschii is a species of fungus in the earthstar family. First collected from Spain in the mid-19th century, the fungus is distributed in Europe, North America, and Bermuda.

<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.

<i>Volvariella bombycina</i> Species of mushroom in the family Pluteaceae

Volvariella bombycina, commonly known as the silky volvariella, silky sheath, silky rosegill, silver-silk straw mushroom, or tree mushroom, is a species of edible mushroom in the family Pluteaceae. It is an uncommon but widespread species, having been reported from Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. The fruit body (mushroom) begins developing in a thin, egg-like sac. This ruptures and the stem expands quickly, leaving the sac at the base of the stem as a volva. The cap, which can attain a diameter of up to 20 centimetres, is white to slightly yellowish and covered with silky hairs. On the underside of the cap are closely spaced gills, free from attachment to the stem, and initially white before turning pink as the spores mature. The mushroom grows singly or in clusters, often appearing in old knotholes and wounds in elms and maples. V. bombycina contains compounds with antibacterial properties.

<i>Tuber microspermum</i> Species of fungus

Tuber microspermum is a species of truffle in the family Tuberaceae. Described as new to science in 2012, the edible species is found in China. The roughly spherical truffle is up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide and yellowish-brown in color. It is distinguished from other truffles by its small asci and small spores that have a network-like surface pattern punctuated by small spines.

<i>Pholiota nubigena</i> Species of fungus

Pholiota nubigena, commonly known as the gastroid pholiota or the bubble gum fungus, is a species of secotioid fungus in the family Strophariaceae. It is found in mountainous areas of the western United States, where it grows on rotting conifer wood, often fir logs. It fruits in spring, often under snow, and early summer toward the end of the snowmelt period in high mountain forests. Fruit bodies appear similar to unopened mushrooms, measuring 1–4 centimetres tall with 1–2.4 cm diameter caps that are whitish to brownish. They have a short but distinct whitish stipe that extend through the internal spore mass (gleba) of the fruit body into the cap. The gleba consists of irregular chambers made of contorted gills that are brownish in color. A whitish, cottony partial veil is present in young specimens, but it often disappears in age and does not leave a ring on the stipe.

Calostoma fuhreri is a species of gasteroid fungus in the family Sclerodermataceae. Found in Australia, the original specimens were collected by mycologist Bruce Fuhrer, for whom the species is named. Fruit bodies grow to 28 mm (1.1 in) tall, and comprise a pseudostipe that is 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in) long by 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) thick and supports a roughly spherical peridium. Atop the peridium is an irregular stoma (opening) that is red on the inside. Inside the peridium is a white gleba that consists of spores, basidia, and broken hyphae. The spores are oblong to elliptical, hyaline (translucent), and typically measure 20–26 by 9–11 µm.

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