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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
Anamorphic forms occurring (frequent, ‘hyphomycetous’, varied).
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing asci and ascospores; flat-irregular (or effuse), or erect-elongate, unbranched (rarely); when erect-elongate, clavate; discrete, or coalescing; brightly pigmented; perithecial, or cleistothecial (rarely non-ostiolate); comprising a pre-formed stroma bearing perithecia in which asci, spores and paraphyses develop, or comprising a perithecioid structure enclosing asci and spores (and paraphyses), with no stroma; stromata present, or absent. The asci cylindrical; with more or less conspicuous apical thickening (often with an apical I-ring), or without obvious apical thickening; thin walled. The walls of the asci not staining blue with iodine. The ascospores pale brown, or hyaline; septate; without a mucilaginous sheath.
The hyphae without clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, double layered, with both layers electron dense.
Ecology. Parasitic (necrotic), or saprophytic. The fruit-bodies borne on the ground, or borne on the ground and on dead wood (?). On plants or associated with fungi; Podostroma “in fir woods, amongst leaves and on furze” (Berkeley). Found in heathland, in coniferous woodland, and in mixed woodland.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. About 50 species in Britain; Arachnocrea, Hypocrea, Hypocreopsis, Hypomyces, Podostroma, Protocrea, Sarawakus, Sphaerostilbella.
World representation. 173 species; genera 14. “Widespread”.
Classification. Ascomycota; Ascomycetes; Sordariomycetidae; Hypocreales.
Illustrations. • Podostroma alutaceum (Berkeley). HYPOCREACEAE. 6, Podostroma alutaceum (Pers.) G.F. Atk. PYRONEMATACEAE. 1, Fimaria hepatica (Batsch) Brumm. TUBERACEAE. 2, Tuber aestivum Vittad. (Peasant's Truffle). ELAPHOMYCETACEAE. 3, Elaphomyces muricatus Fr. CLAVICIPITACEAE. 4, Cordyceps militaris (L.) Link; 5, Cordyceps entomorrhiza (Dicks.) Fr.; 7, Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul. 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’.
