Bovista

Not to be confused with Boavista.
Bovista
Bovista plumbea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Agaricaceae
Genus: Bovista
Pers. (1794)
Type species
Bovista plumbea
Pers. (1795)

Bovista is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae, commonly known as the true puffballs. It was formerly classified within the now-obsolete order Lycoperdales, which, following a restructuring of fungal taxonomy brought about by molecular phylogeny, has been split; the species of Bovista are now placed in the family Agaricaceae of the order Agaricales. The 46 species have a widespread distribution,[1] and are found largely in temperate regions of the world. Various species have historically been used in homeopathic preparations.

Contents

Description

Fruit bodies are oval to spherical to pear-shaped, and typically 1 to 8 cm (0.39 to 3.1 in) in diameter with a white or light-colored thin and fragile exoperidum (outer layer of the peridium). Depending on the species, the exoperidium in a young specimen may be smooth, granular, or finely echinulate.[2] This exoperidium sloughs off at maturity to expose a smooth endoperidium with an apical pore. They may be attached to the ground by fine rhizomorphs that may appear like a small cord in some species. Spores are brown to purple-brown, roughly spherical or ellipsoid in shape, and 3.5–7 μm in diameter. At maturity, the entire fruit body may become detached from the ground, and the spores spread as the puffball is blown around.[3] In Bovista, the capillitium (a network of thread-like cells in which the spores are embedded) are not connected directly to the peridial wall, but rather, they are made of separate units and branch irregularly, ending in tapered points.[4]

Edibility

Puffballs of the genus Bovista are generally edible when young and white inside, but caution must be taken to prevent confusion with immature, and potentially deadly Amanitas. This is done by cutting fruit bodies longitudinally to ensure that they are white throughout, and do not have internal structures within.[5]

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic analysis has shown that Bovista, as defined by Kreisel,[6][7] is monophyletic.[8] Also, Bovista may be split into two clades, Bovista and Globaris, that roughly correspond to the subgeneric divisions suggested by Kreisel.[9] Bovistina is a related but separate genus that was created to describe species with the external features of a puffball, but with the glebal characters of a Geaster.[10] Bovistella is another similar genus, it may be distinguished from Bovista by its ample sterile base.[11]

Use in homeopathy

Reference to the genus has appeared in several 19th-century textbooks on homeopathy. Richard Hughes wrote in A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870) "Bovista is said to be indicated, and to have proved curative in head affections characterised by a sensation as if the head were enormously increased in size".[12] In Lectures on Clinical Materia Medica (1887), E. A. Farrington claims that Bovista spores restrict blood circulation through the capillaries, and suggests uses associated with menstrual irregularity, or trauma. He also mentions that Bovista produces some symptoms of suffocation, and might be useful in remedying asphyxiation resulting from inhalation of charcoal fumes.[13] Even more ailments have been suggested to be improved with use of Bovista, such as "awkwardness in speech and action", "stuttering or stammering children", "palpitation after a meal", diabetes mellitus, ovarian cysts, and "acne due to cosmetics".[14] However, claims of homeopathy's efficacy beyond the placebo effect are unsupported by the collective weight of scientific and clinical evidence.[15][16]

Species

reported in South Africa[17]
reported causing fairy rings in Chiba City (Japan)[19]
reported from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina[20]
found in Iceland[21]
found in Finland[24]
reported from Mexico[25]
reported from Nor Yungas, Bolivia[20]
reported form Viña del Mar, Chile[20]

External links

References

  1. ^ Bisby, Guy Richard; Ainsworth, G. C.; Kirk, P. M.; Aptroot, André (2001). Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi / by P. M. Kirk... [et al.]; with the assistance of A. Aptroot... [et al.]. Oxon: CAB International. p. 77. ISBN 0-85199-377-X. 
  2. ^ Ellis JB, Ellis MB. (1990). Fungi without Gills (Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes): An Identification Handbook. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 220. ISBN 0-412-36970-2. 
  3. ^ Miller HR, Miller OK. (1988). Gasteromycetes: Morphological and Developmental Features, with Keys to the Orders, Families, and Genera. Eureka, Calif: Mad River Press. ISBN 0-916422-74-7. 
  4. ^ Smith AH. (1951). Puffballs and their allies in Michigan. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 75. 
  5. ^ McKnight VB, McKnight KH. (1987). A Field Guide to Mushrooms, North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-91090-0. 
  6. ^ Kreisel H. (1964). Vorläufige Übersicht der Gattung Bovista Dill. ex Pers. Feddes Repertorium 69: 196–211.
  7. ^ Kreisel H, 1967. Taxonomisch-Pflanzengeographische Monographie der Gattung Bovista. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia 25: 1–244.
  8. ^ Kruger D, Binder M, Fischer M, Kreisel H. (2001). The Lycoperdales. A molecular approach to the systematics of some gasteroid mushrooms. Mycologia 93(5): 947–957.
  9. ^ Larsson E, Jeppson M (January 2008). "Phylogenetic relationships among species and genera of Lycoperdaceae based on ITS and LSU sequence data from north European taxa". Mycol. Res. 112 (Pt 1): 4–22. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.10.018. PMID 18207380. 
  10. ^ Long WH, Stouffer DJ. (1941). Studies in the Gasteromycetes: II. Bovistina, a new genus. Mycologia 33(3): 270–273.
  11. ^ Miller, Hope Ridings; Miller, Orson K. (2006). North American mushrooms: a field guide to edible and inedible fungi. Guilford, Conn: Falcon Guide. ISBN 0-7627-3109-5. 
  12. ^ Hughes, Richard Arthur Warren (1868). A Manual of Pharmacodynamics - Google Book Search. http://books.google.com/?id=ghg4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA154&dq=bovista. Retrieved 2008-11-25. 
  13. ^ Farrington, E. A (1999-10-20). Lectures on Clinical Materia Medica - Google Book Search. ISBN 9788180561948. http://books.google.com/?id=8oY4Hrq36WoC&pg=PA174&dq=bovista. Retrieved 2008-11-25. 
  14. ^ Jain, J. P (1997-01-01). Highlights of Homoeopathic Materia ... - Google Book Search. ISBN 9788170217855. http://books.google.com/?id=xzExF8ZLQd4C&pg=PA83&dq=bovista. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 
  15. ^ Ernst E (2002). "A systematic review of systematic reviews of homeopathy". Br J Clin Pharmacol 54 (6): 577–582. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2125.2002.01699.x. PMC 1874503. PMID 12492603. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1874503. .
  16. ^ "Effectiveness of homeopathy". National Health Service. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Homeopathy/Pages/Results.aspx?url=Pages/What-it-is.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-25. .
  17. ^ De Villiers J Jr, Eicker A, An der Westhuizen GCA. (1989). A new species of Bovista Gasteromycetes from South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 552): 156–158.
  18. ^ Coetzee JC, Van Wyk AE. (2005). Lycoperdaceae-Gasteromycetes - Bovista capensis, the correct name for Bovista promontorii. Bothalia 35(1): 74–75.
  19. ^ Terashima Y, Fukiharu T, Fujiie A. (2004). Morphology and comparative ecology of the fairy ring fungi, Vascellum curtisii and Bovista dermoxantha, on turf of bentgrass, bluegrass, and Zoysiagrass. Mycoscience 45(4): 251–260
  20. ^ a b c Suarez VL, Wright JE. (1994). Three new South American species of Bovista (Gasteromycetes). Mycotaxon 50: 279–289.
  21. ^ Hallgrimsson H. (1988). Bovista lomosa Rostr. found in Iceland. Natturufraedingurinn 58(1): 27–30.
  22. ^ Devilliers JJR, Eicker A, Van der Westhuizen GCA. (1989). A new species of Bovista (Gasteromycetes) from South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 55(2): 156–158.
  23. ^ Devilliers JJR, Eicker A, Van der Westhuizen GCA. (1989). Notes on the structure of Bovista oblongispora and an amplified description of the species. South African Journal of Botany 55(2): 154–155.
  24. ^ Haeggstrom C-A. (1997). Bovista pusilloformis found in Finland. Memoranda Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica 73(2): 59–64.
  25. ^ Calong FD, Kreisel H, Guzmán G. (2004). Bovista sclerocystis, a new species from Mexico. Mycologia 96(5): 1152–1154.