| | The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
‘Jelly Fungi’.
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing basidia and basidiospores; simple, or compound; discoid, cup- or funnel-shaped with the hymenium on top (Exidia recisa being cup-like), or attached laterally and bracket-shaped, or more or less prostrate and cushion-shaped or contorted-folded and brain-like with the hymenium external, or erect-linear and unbranched, or erect-clavate and unbranched (i.e., sometimes clavarioid); small to large; 1–10 cm across; gelatinous and somewhat translucent when moist; not brightly pigmented (?); white or whitish to straw-coloured, or honey-coloured, or yellowish-brown to light brown, or blackish. The hymenium with pegs or spinose, or irregularly folded, ridged or wrinkled. The basidia ‘modified’; cruciately divided. The basidiospores 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.
Ecology. Saprophytic. The fruit-bodies borne on the ground, or on dead wood (commonly, or in the case of Sebacina incrustans, encrusting grass).
Representation in Britain and Ireland. Basidiodendron, Bourdotia, Ceratosebacina, Craterocolla, Cristella, Efibulobasidium, Eichleriella, Endoperplexa, Exidia, Exidiopsis, Guepinia, Gyrocephalus, Heterochaete , Heterochaetella, Hirneolina, Hydnogloea, Microsebacina, Myxarium, Phlogiotis, Protodontia, Protohydnum, Pseudohydnum, Pseudostypella, Sebacina, Serendipita, Soppittiella, Stypella, Tremellodon, Tremiscus, Ulocolla.
World representation. 194 species; genera 28. “Widespread”.
Classification. Basidiomycota; Basidiomycetes; Tremellomycetidae; Tremellales.
Comments. The haplophase mycelial, lacking a conidial state.
Illustrations. • Exidia albida, E. glandulosa, E. recisa, and Pseudohydnum gelatinosum (LH). EXIDIACEAE. 1, Exidia glandulosa; 2, Exidia albida; 3, Exidia recisa. 4, Pseudohydnum gelatinosum. Sunesen & Dahlstrøm, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Sebacina incrustans (Berkeley). EXIDIACEAE. 6, Sebacina incrustans (Pers.) Tul. & C. Tul. FISTULINACEAE. 1, Fistulina hepatica (Lightf.) With. (Beefsteak Fungus). HYDNACEAE. 2, Hydnum repandum L. MERULIACEAE. 3, Mycoacia uda (Fr.) Donk. THELEPHORACEAE. 4, Thelephora anthocephala (Bull.) Fr.; 5, Thelephora mollissima Pers. STEREACEAE. 7, Stereum hirsutum (Willd.) Gray. 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’.
