Glutinoglossum glutinosum
Glutinoglossum glutinosum | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Geoglossomycetes |
Order: | Geoglossales |
Family: | Geoglossaceae |
Genus: | Glutinoglossum |
Species: | G. glutinosum |
Binomial name | |
Glutinoglossum glutinosum (Pers.) Hustad, A.N.Mill., Dentinger & P.F.Cannon (2013) | |
Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Glutinoglossum glutinosum, commonly known as the glutinous earth tongue, is a widely distributed species of earth tongue fungus in the family Geoglossaceae. The smooth, nearly black, club-shaped fruit bodies have sticky stipes.
Taxonomy
The fungus was first officially described in 1796 as Geoglossum glutinosum by Dutch mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon.[3] In 1908, Elias Judah Durand transferred it to Gloeoglossum, a genus he circumscribed to contain species with paraphyses present as a continuous gelatinous layer on the stipe; Gloeoglossum has since been put into synonymy with Geoglossum.[4] In 1942 Japanese mycologist Sanshi Imai thought the species should be in Cibalocoryne, a genus name used earlier by Frigyes Ákos Hazslinszky.[5] It was transferred to the newly created genus Glutinoglossum in 2013 when molecular analysis revealed that it and the species G. heptaseptatum formed a well-defined clade in the Geoglossaceae.[6] The species is commonly known as the "glutinous earth tongue".[7]
Description
"But of all the wicked-looking Fungi, none have so weird an appearance as the black Geoglossum. It is well termed Earth-tongue, for it springs in a tongue shape from the ground, black and glutinous."
The fruit bodies, which have a distinct blackish head and a more lightly colored stipe, grow to heights ranging from 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 in). The head is up to 0.7 cm (0.3 in) tall and ranges in shape from fuse-shaped to narrowly ellipsoidal to nearly cylindrical. The nearly black, somewhat waxy head may be compressed, and it may have a longitudinal groove. The stipe measures 2.5–6 cm (1.0–2.4 in) long by 2–3 mm thick. It has a glutinous, dark grey-brown surface. The flesh is also dark greyish; it lacks any distinctive odor or taste.[7]
The spores are smooth and cylindrical, sometimes with a slight swelling in the middle, and sometimes slightly curved; they measure 50–70 by 4.5–6 µm. They have between two and seven septa, although three is most typical. The thin-walled asci (spore-bearing cells) are fuse-shaped to club-shaped, eight-spored, and measure 200–250 µm long by 12–15 µm wide. The paraphyses, which measure 200–280 long, feature a long and cylindrical neck that is (2–3.5 µm wide) supporting a club-shaped to ellipsoidal head that is 5–8 µm wide. The glutinous layer on the stipe is a gelatinous matrix comprising a 250 µm-thick layer of crowded paraphyses.[7]
Geoglossum nigritum is similar in appearance, but lacks a slimy stipe.[9]
Habitat and distribution
Glutinoglossum glutinosum is a saprophytic species. Its fruit bodies grow scattered on soil in moss beds[7] or in grassy areas. The fungus has been used as an indicator of medium-quality grassland in the UK.[10]
The fungus has been recorded from Australia,[7] New Zealand,[6] eastern Asia, Europe, and North America.[5] It is considered critically endangered in Bulgaria. Threats to the fungus include "habitat changes as result of agriculture activities (crops, livestock), atmospheric and land pollution, drought, global warming."[11] New Zealand populations have been parasitized by the fungus Hypomyces papulasporae, which appears as a white, cottony mycelium that extends to the base of the stipe.[12]
References
- ↑ "Synonymy: Glutinoglossum glutinosum (Pers.) Hustad, A.N. Mill, Dentinger & P.F. Cannon, Persoonia, Mol. Phyl. Evol. Fungi 31: 104 (2013)". Index Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ↑ Imai S. (1942). "Contributiones ad studia monographica Geoglossacearum". Botanical Magazine Tokyo 56: 523–7.
- ↑ Persoon CH. (1796). Observationes mycologicae (in Latin) 1. Leipzig: Wolf. p. 11.
- ↑ Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA. (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CAB International. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-85199-826-8.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mains EB. (1954). "North American species of Geoglossum and Trichoglossum". Mycologia 46 (5): 586–631. JSTOR 4547871.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hustad VP, Miller AN, Dentinger BTM, Cannon PF. (2013). "Generic circumscriptions in Geoglossomycetes" (PDF). Persoonia 31: 101–11.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Bougher NL, Syme K. (1998). Fungi of Southern Australia. University of Western Australia Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-875560-80-6.
- ↑ Dallas WS. (1863). The Popular Science Review. Robert Hardwicke. p. 331.
- ↑ Kuo M. (January 2005). "Geoglossum nigritum". MushroomExpert.Com. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
- ↑ Hurford C, Schneider M. (2006). Monitoring Nature Conservation in Cultural Habitats: A Practical Guide and Case Studies. Springer. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4020-3757-3.
- ↑ Dimitrova E. "Geoglossum glutinosum". Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 – Plants & Fungi.
- ↑ Rogerson CT, Samuels GJ. (1985). "Species of Hypomyces and Nectria occurring on Discomycetes". Mycologia 77 (5): 763–83. JSTOR 3793285.