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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
‘Ergots’.
Anamorphic forms frequently occurring (involving at least 7 generic names).
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing asci and ascospores; erect-elongate, unbranched (1–10 cm long); linear, or ligulate to clavate, or capitate (in Cordyceps entomorrhiza); solitary; small to large; (0.5–)3–10 cm high; brightly pigmented, or not brightly pigmented; buff to light brown, or reddish-brown, or orange, or yellow, or blackish; perithecial (superficial or immersed in the stroma, fleshy); comprising a pre-formed stroma bearing perithecia in which asci, spores and paraphyses develop; stromata present (usually brightly coloured). The asci cylindrical, with a prominent apical cap; asci operculate (the pore narrow); with more or less conspicuous apical thickening; thin walled. The walls of the asci not staining blue with iodine. The ascospores filiform (usually fragmenting); pale brown, or hyaline; (multi-) septate; without a mucilaginous sheath.
The hyphae without clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, double layered, with both layers electron dense.
Ecology. Parasitic; on insects (Cordyceps militaris on larvae and pupae of Lepidoptera (usually subterranean), Cordyceps entomorrhiza on beetle larvae), or on other fungi (Cordyceps ophioglossoides and Cordyceps capitata on fruit bodies of Elaphomyces), or on vascular plants (Claviceps purpurea infecting infloresences of grasses, notoriously Rye).
Representation in Britain and Ireland. About 30 species in Britain; Byssostilbe, Claviceps, Cordyceps, Epichloë, Neobarya, Torrubiella.
World representation. 157 species; genera 31. Widespread, but mainly tropical.
Classification. Ascomycota; Ascomycetes; Sordariomycetidae; Hypocreales.
Comments. Ergot deadly poisonous.
Illustrations. • Claviceps purpurea, Cordyceps entomorrhiza, C. capitata, C. militaris, C. ophioglossoides. CLAVICIPITACEAE. 1, Claviceps purpurea (on a grass panicle). 2, Cordyceps ophioglossoides (on Elaphomyces muricatus); 3, Cordyceps militaris (on a lepidopteran pupa); 4, Cordyceps entomorrhiza (on a beetle larva); 5, Cordyceps capitata (on Elaphomyces granulatus). Sunesen & Dahlstrøm, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Cordyceps entomorrhiza, C. militaris, and Claviceps purpurea (Berkeley). CLAVICIPITACEAE. 4, Cordyceps militaris (L.) Link; 5, Cordyceps entomorrhiza (Dicks.) Fr.; 7, Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul. PYRONEMATACEAE. 1, Fimaria hepatica (Batsch) Brumm. TUBERACEAE. 2, Tuber aestivum Vittad. (Peasant's Truffle). ELAPHOMYCETACEAE. 3, Elaphomyces muricatus Fr. HYPOCREACEAE. 6, Podostroma alutaceum (Pers.) G.F. Atk. From Berkeley (1860).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2008 onwards. The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
