A surprising mass fruiting of Monilinia fructigena

During a general survey for the current Danish basidiomycote atlas a rather unpromising locality in Northern Jutland produced a series of rather interesting records including the subject of this blog.

Under a smallish apple tree (Malus domestica) lots of this years fruits showed signs of Molinia (fructigena) infections and a closer inspection of the soil in the shade of the crown produced many sclerotized apples covered in big, stipitate apothecia, some of which displayed a rather peculiar dark grey brown color.

Under the microscope the colour was shown to be caused by (over-) mature ascospores that made the preparation superficially resemble one of a Hypoxylon species! [sp. ca. 10. x 4.8 µm with some of the pigmented ones clearly bigger; one side flattened and one end slightly more pointy than the other - very close to a Hypoxylon spore without a visible germination apparatus].

The spores match otherwise M. fructigena but at present we cannot exclude M. laxa and M. fructicola. We have so far been unable to locate information on the darkening of the ascospores. The apothecia are ± hairy, even at the apothecial margin, up to 5 mm wide and 10 mm high including the stipe.

[UPDATE: as seen in the comments below, this may not be a Monilinia at all but rather a Lambertella (and if so, the first finding of this genus in Denmark)]

Thomas Læssøe & Jens H. Petersen

Fruitbodies growing on last years sclerotized apples.

From Caroline Hobart we have this announcement of a translation of Stangls book on Inocybe:

It's a translation in English, bigger than the original and thicker with some up to date comments about status of different sp and their occurrence in UK. Index clear and helpful. I have just had my copy and its excellent ....I'm hopeless at German....

Please send a cheque made out to Archie McAdam for £20 + p&p

Address is
Silverdale
Raikeswood Crescent
Skipton
BD23 1ND
01756 793359

Angel's Share Fungus - An Ascomycete Alcoholic

This article appeared in a June issue of WIRED - it describes tracking down a mysterious fungus that causes black staining on a variety of substrates, particularly around breweries, distilleries, and bakeries. Baudoinia compniacensis is the culprit, a heavily melanized anamorphic fungus in the Capnodiales. The fungus uses volatile alcohol as a carbon source. Want to culture it in vitro? Just add a shot of Jack Daniels to the media...

Retirement of Dr Machiel Noordeloos

After a mycological career of almost 40 years at the Rijksherbarium Leiden (now Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity NCB-Naturalis), Machiel Noordeloos retired from his post in July 2011. His departure marks the end of a period of a strong taxonomic tradition founded by R.A. Maas Geesteranus and M. Donk, followed by J. van Brummelen, C. Bas and W. Jülich. Machiel will continue in mycology, sharing his knowledge with others, but in a more leisurely way, leaving more time for his other passions, music and painting.
Many mycological colleagues and friends from the Netherlands and Belgium.
attended the farewell lecture and party, where he among other things was presented a full set of water soluble oil paints.

New book on Strophariaceae

Just published: a monograph of the Strophariaceae family for Europe:
Machiel Noordeloos, Strophariaceae s.l. in Fungi Europei vol. 13. 648 pp, 43 plates with line-drawings, and 377 colored photographs. Edizioni Candusso, 2011. Price Euro 69.--


This monograph combines up to date knowledge of the species with a modern classification, based on morphology and recent molecular/phylogenetic studies.

The book contains keys, descriptions and line drawings of about 100 species, distributed over 12 genera: Stropharia, Leratiomyces, Hemistropharia, Hypholoma, Deconica, Psilocybe, Pholiota, Flammula, Hemipholiota, Kuehneromyces, Meottomyces, and Phaeonematoloma. In additions most species have been depicted in colour, often with several photographs, in order to show variability. Micrographs of spores and cystidia are also given.

The book can be obtained from the publisher: www.edizionicandusso.it, booksellers and the author.

Bhutan 5

So, finishing the Bhutan trip we know that the medium high areas around the capital Thimphu will not be "in full fruitbody" till maybe middle of Juli, whereas the lowlands with their stronger monsoon rain is filled with Russulas and Boletes already in middle June. Also, we are as always left with a number of new weird fungi which doesn't fit into our European concepts. Here is a couple:

A Mycena with leopard-speckled pileus:

Another Mycena with pale violet colours and cystidia everywhere:

A species we first treated as a Chrysomphalina till we discovered its weird chilocystidia and amyloid spores:

   

Our notes says:

    Spores globose to subglobose; spores smooth; spores amyloid; spores length 6,5-8 µm, width 5-6 µm; basidia 4-spored; cheilocystidia rather extreme with a swollen basal part and an extremely outdrawn thin apical part, to 80 µm.

There are many more peculiar specimens in the capsules right now and we just hope eventually to get these out of Bhutan for further study. For now I will just close with a couple of nice pictures from the trip:

The Paro Dzong

Rice-country

And some butterflies

Mexican mystery fungus also Bhutanese?

During our workshop in Thimphu, Bhutan this month we have encountered what would appear to to match Campanophyllum proboscideum, a fungus known from Mexico south to Ecuador (and further down?). It it attached by a peculiar snout-like dorsal extension - hence the epithet. It was found on 4 big logs in a wet montane forest in upper Thimphu Valley (Dodena) and was photographed by Morten Christensen.