|
| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
‘False Club Fungi’.
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing basidia and basidiospores; simple, or compound; discoid, cup- or funnel-shaped with the hymenium on top (Ditiola), or more or less prostrate and cushion-shaped or contorted-folded and brain-like with the hymenium external (Dacrymyces), or erect-linear and unbranched, or erect-clavate and unbranched, or branched, or pustulate (Calocera species being clavarioid or coralloid); tiny to medium sized; in Dacrymyces deliquescens, 0.2–0.5 cm across; in Calocera viscosa, 3–8 cm high; gelatinous and somewhat translucent when moist; brightly pigmented; orange to yellow (usually, with orange pigments), or grey. The hymenium smooth, or irregularly folded, ridged or wrinkled. The basidia ‘modified’; bifurcate, with only two stout sterigmata each bearing a spore; with only two (distal) sterigmata, these strongly curved. The basidiospores often transversely septate, germinating to produce microconidia but no other secondary spores; ballistosporic.
The hyphal walls lamellate, with a thin, electron-dense outer layer and a relatively thick, electron-transparent inner layer. The hyphae with dolipore septa.
Chemical reactions. The context hyphae not xanthochroic (?).
Ecology. Saprophytic. The fruit-bodies on dead wood. Associated with conifers. The fruit-bodies on dead trees and fallen logs. On fallen pine branches. Found in coniferous woodland and in mixed woodland.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. 29 species in Britain; Calocera, Dacrymyces, Ditiola, Guepiniopsis.
World representation. 64 species; genera 8. “Widespread”.
Classification. Basidiomycota; Basidiomycetes; Tremellomycetidae; Dacrymycetales.
Illustrations. • Calocera viscosa and Dacrymyces deliquescens (LH). DACRYMYCETACEAE. 1, Calocera viscosa. 2, Dacrymyces deliquescens. Sunesen & Dahlstrøm, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Dacrymyces stillatus (Berkeley). DACRYMYCETACEAE. 8, Dacrymyces stillatus Nees. CLAVULINACEAE. 3, Clavulina rugosa (Bull.) J. Schrot. CLAVARIACEAE. 2, Clavaria amethystina (Bull.) Donk.; 4, Clavulinopsis umbrinella (Sacc.) Corner. AURICULARIACEAE. 1, Auricularia mesenterica (Dicks.) Pers.; 7, Auricularia auricula-judae (Jew's Ear). RAMARIACEAE. 5, Ramaria stricta (Pers.) Quél.). HELOTIACEAE. 6, Ascocoryne sarcoides (Jacq.) Groves & Wilson. 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’.
