Calostoma | |
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Calostoma cinnabarinum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Phylum: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Boletales |
Suborder: | Sclerodermatineae |
Family: | Sclerodermataceae |
Genus: | Calostoma Desv. |
Type species | |
Calostoma cinnabarinum Corda |
Calostoma is a genus of 29 species in the Sclerodermataceae family of fungi. Like the other Sclerodermatacae species, Calostoma do not have the spore discharge mechanism associated with typical gilled fungi (ballistospory), and instead have enclosed spore-bearing structures. Resembling round, orange to red gelatinous puffballs on thick stalks, species have been collected in regions of deciduous, temperate, tropical or subtropical forests. They have a worldwide distribution, including eastern North America, Asia, and Australasia. The common name given to some species, "prettymouth", alludes to the bright red fruiting bodies with openings that may somewhat resemble lips. The unusual fruiting body structure has historically led mycologists to suggest various classification schemes based on presumed relationships to other puffball or "stomach mushrooms". Phylogenetic analyses performed in the 2000s show the genus to be evolutionarily related to the Bolete mushrooms; Calostoma is classified in the Sclerodermatineae suborder of the Boletales. Calostoma species are ectomycorrhizal, forming symbiotic associations with trees from various families. The type species, Calostoma cinnabarinum, is ectomycorrhizal with Oak.
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The original genus description, based on the type species Calostoma cinnabarinum (synonymous with cinnabarina)[1], was published by French botanist Nicaise Auguste Desvaux in 1809.[2] Before the advent of modern genetic analysis, the Calostoma was considered to be part of the Gasteromycetes, a grouping of fungi with enclosed spore-bearing structures. Specifically, it was classified in the order of stalked puffballs,[3] although some mycologists have suggested that the genus Calostoma should be merged with Tulostoma[4] (xerophilic stalked puffballs), Scleroderma[5] (hard puffballs), Geastrum[6] (earthstars), or Pseudocolus[7] (stinkhorns). Some authors have placed Calostoma in its own family, the Calostomataceae.[8][9][10]
In the 2000s, a phylogenetic analyses using nuclear and mitochondrial ribosomal gene sequences helped to clarify the phylogeny of Calostoma. Using the species C. cinnabarinum and C. ravenelli as representative examples, the research showed the genus evolutionarily related to the monophyletic Boletales clade, and separate from clades containing most of the gilled mushrooms, puffballs, stalked puffballs, earthstars, stinkhorns and non-bolete Gasteromycetes.[11] Calostoma belongs to the suborder Sclerodermatineae in the Boletales order. The Boletales comprise the following genera: Boletinellus, Calostoma, Gyroporus, Phaeogyroporus, Phlebopus, Pisolithus, Scleroderma, and Veligaster.[12] Calostoma is thought to have diverged evolutionarily from the other Boletales between 52–115 million years ago.[11]
The genus name Calostoma is derived from the Greek kallos or "beauty", and stoma (στóμα) or "mouth"; similarly, several species are referred to in the vernacular as "prettymouths". In Korea, it is called Yongi, or "red cheeks".[13]
Fruiting bodies, technically known as gasterocarps, form spherical spore-bearing heads with a peridium (outer tissue layer) made of two to four clearly defined layers of tissue. The outermost peridial layer is a thick gelatinous or shiny cuticle, which during maturity peels away to reveal the brightly-colored that has a star-shaped through which spores may escape. The innermost layer of the peridium is papery and membranous, and remains attached to the outer layers only at the apex of the star-shaped apical pore or slit. The fruiting bodies may either have no stalk (sessile), or be atop a stalk. The stalk, made of thick, intertwined and fused cords of hyphae, is hygroscopic, and will expand upon absorbing moisture.[11] The spore mass in the head, the gleba, is pale, and initially has thick-walled skeletal hyphae called capillitia. Clamp connections are present in the fungal hyphae.[3]
The spores are spherical to elliptical in shape, and typically have surfaces that are reticulate (with interconnected grooves resembling a net) or pitted.[8] The variations in the elaborate pitted-spore reticulations have inspired investigation with techniques such as scanning probe microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The latter technique was used to distinguish subtle details (at the nanometer scale) and differences in the fine structure of the spores of various Calostoma species.[13] The spore reticulations have purpose: they become entangled and interwoven with nurse cells and scaly hyphae, the net effect of which is to prevent the spores from being blown away simultaneously.[14]
When grown in humid conditions, such as might typically be found in a temperate deciduous forest, Calostoma species develop a thicker, more gelatinous exoperidium (the outermost peridial layer). As the stalk expands, the exoperidium becomes sloughed off, exposing the endoperidum and a raised peristome—the ridge of tissue around the opening suggestive of the common name, "prettymouth".[15] The exoperidium may help to protect the maturing gleba of late-fruiting species from harmful variations in temperature or humidity, or from insect predation.[8]
The species in Calostoma have been collected in regions of deciduous, temperate, tropical or subtropical forests, containing tree species from the families Fagaceae, Nothofagaceae, Myrtaceae, and Dipterocarpaceae. The type species C. cinnabarinum was shown using isotopic labeling, molecular and morphological analyses to form ectomycorrhizae with Quercus species;[16] the ectomycorrhizal mode of nutrition is predominant in the Sclerodermatineae suborder. Historically, it had been assumed to be saprobic, due to its taxonomic uncertainly, and presumed relatedness to other saprobic fungi like the stalked puffballs and the earthstars.[8][17]
The genus has a worldwide distribution, and species have been found in Indonesia (Borneo, Java, Sumatra, New Guinea), Ceylon, Himalaya, Nepal, Taiwan, China, New Zealand, North America, and Latin America.[15] Australian species include C. fuhreri, C. fuscum, C. insigne, C. rodwayi, and C. viride.[18] David Arora mentions a preference for humid forests in eastern North America, particularly in the southern Appalachian Mountains.[19]
In general, Calostoma species are not considered edible; because they typically begin their development underground, by the time fruit bodies appear they are too tough for consumption.[19] However, a 2009 study reported that in the community of Tenango de Doria (Hidalgo state, Mexico), Calostoma cinnabarinum used to be collected by children and consumed "like a tidbit", although the tradition seems to have been abandoned in recent years. Locals called the young fruit bodies "yemitas".[20]
Calostoma cinnabarinum contains a pigment named calostomal that is responsible for its red color. The chemical structure is all-trans-16-oxohexadeca-2,4,6,8,10,12,14-heptaenoic acid.[21]
The following species list is compiled from Index Fungorum[22] as well as species published in the literature, but missing in Fungorum, specifically C. formosanum, C. junghuhnii, and C. sarasinii. The name listed under the species binomial is the authority—the author of the original description of that species, followed by the year of publication.
Binomial Authority |
Year | Distribution | Notes |
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C. aeruginosum Massee |
1891 | ||
C. berkeleyi Massee |
1888 | On the islands south of Sri Lanka[6] | |
C. brookei L. Fan & B. Liu |
1995 | In a Malaysian forest[23] | |
C. cinnabarinum Corda |
1809 | China,[24] Colombia,[25] Costa Rica,[26] India,[27] Mexico,[15][28] Taiwan,[29] and the United States[10][30] | |
C. formosanum Sawada |
1931 | Asia | This is a form of C. junghuhnii with a very short rooting stem.[31] |
C. fuhreri Crichton & J.H. Willis[32] |
1986 | In damp depressions on sand ridges in Victoria, Australia | It has dark grey to brown fruiting bodies made of a short gelatinous stalk, up to 2 cm (0.8 in) long, and a spherical head up to 0.8 cm (0.3 in) wide. The outer layer of the peridium does not fall off in one piece (as in C. fuscum) but persists as small black granules. The spores are elliptical, white, and smooth-walled, with dimensions of 22–25 by 10–11.5 µm.[33] |
C. fuscum (Berk.) Massee |
1888 | Tasmania and south Australia[6] | |
C. guizhouense B. Liu & S.Z. Jiang |
1985 | In a montane forest in Guizhou, China[34] | |
C. hunanense B. Liu & Y.B. Peng |
1979 | In the soil in the woods of Hunan, China[35] | |
C. insigne (Berk.) Massee |
1888 | Sri Lanka[6] | |
C. japonica Henn. |
1902 | Japan[36] | |
C. jiangii B. Liu & Yin H. Liu |
1985 | In a montane forest, in Guizhou, China[35] | |
C. junghuhnii (Schlect. & Müll.) Massee |
Collected in the Himalayas,[6] southeast Tibet and Bhutan,[37] several times in Nepal,[38][39][40] Japan,[36] and Taiwan.[29] | Originally described as Mitremyces junghuhnii by Schlechtendal and Müller in 1844, this species was discovered in 1842 on an expedition to collect biota in the forest of Batta-Lauder, near Tapoilang, Java.[41] It has bright orange to red fruiting bodies made of a stalk 1.5 to 2.5 cm (0.6 to 1.0 in) long and 1.5 to 2.0 cm (0.6 to 0.8 in) thick. The spores are spherical, covered with rounded to pyramid-shaped warts 1–2 µm long, with diameters of 12.5–15 µm; the spore surface ornamentation appears to be unique in the genus.[42] | |
C. luridum (Berk.) Massee |
1888 | Near the Swan river in western Australia[6] | |
C. lutescens (Schw.) Burnap |
North America | This species is commonly known as the "lattice puffball".[43] | |
C. miniata M. Zang |
1987 | Growing with moss in Sichuan, China[35] | |
C. oriruber Massee |
1888 | Larut, Perak, and the Malay Peninsula[6] | |
C. pengii B. Liu & Yin H. Liu |
1984 | In a forest in Hunan, China[35] | |
C. ravenelii (Berk.) Massee |
1888 | In the mountains of South Carolina,[6] and Japan[44][45] | |
C. ravenelii var. microsporum (G.F. Atk.) Castro-Mend. & O.K. Mill. (1983) | This variant was first described by George Atkinson in 1903, who noticed a close resemblance to C. ravenelii, but believed that an often longer stalk and smaller, oblong spores (measuring 6–9 by 3.5–4.5 µm) were sufficient to warrant naming it a new species.[46] | ||
C. ravenelii var. ravenelii (Berk.) Massee | 1988 | ||
C. retisporum Boedijn |
1938 | ||
C. rodwayi Lloyd[47] |
1925 | ||
C. sarasinii | 1969 | Singapore[48] | |
C. singaporense L. Fan & B. Liu |
1995 | Singapore[49] | |
C. variispora B. Liu, Z.Y. Li & Du |
1975 | China | Characterized by its variable sized elliptical spores, which range from 9–18.9 by 5.7–8.6 µm.[50] |
C. viride (Berk.) Massee |
1988 | Tonglu and Sinchal, in the Sikkim Himalayas at an elevation of 7,000–9,000 feet (2,100–2,700 m)[6] | |
C. yunnanense L.J. Li & B. Liu |
1984 | Yunnan, China[51] | |
C. zanchianum (Rick) Baseia & Calonge |
2006 | First studied by Brazilian mycologist Johann Rick, the species was published posthumously, 15 years after his death in 1946.[52] Initially named Myremyces zanchianus, only a single specimen is known.[53] The species has an egg-shaped head, 1.3 cm (0.5 in) long by 1 cm (0.4 in) wide, atop a stalk. The "mouth" is star-shaped and made of 4 long slits that open at maturity. The spores are 30–35 by 15–20 µm, spindle-shaped to elliptical, smooth, and have a prominent longitudinal groove.[53] |