Hairy Disco's

Chris Yeates · #1 (**permalink**) 25-04-2009, 08:45 PM

hello all

this time of year is an excellent time to look for discomycetes (although we could do with some rain!); the following are some species I have seen in recent days - they give an idea of the range of different features used to identify them (and are rather beautiful to my eyes)

all are in the family Hyaloscyphaceae and most would have been incuded in the genus Dasyscyphus until relatively recently

this is the common Lachnum nudipes on Rosebay (Epilobium angustifolium) (not its var. nudipes which often occurs on this host); another Lachnum - L. clavigerum differs in having balls of crystals on the tips of the hairs

on the same stems were rather dried up fruit-bodies; I kept them damp in a container and some days later they developed into the attractive Brunnipila clandestina:

the 'frosted' look to the fruit-bodies is due to the presence of crystals on the tips of the roughened brown, thick-walled hairs:

careful examination of dead stems of Water Horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile) turned up Psilachnum inquilinum, with its relatively short, smooth hairs with few septa:

an even smaller species was spotted on dead stems of Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata); I was rather pleased that my suspicion as to what it was in the field was confirmed under the microscope - it is Urceolella crispula (rather rarely reported probably due to its small size), interestingly, two of the six previous Yorkshire records were on Myrrhis; the thick glassy hairs, which are characteristically 'bent', are distinctive:

also on Myrrhis was Lasiobelonium mollissimum, a species with a preference for dead umbellifer stems (like the previous species); this rather resembles L. sulphureum, which normally is rather more brightly-coloured, tends to occur in the late summer and autumn, and has longer spores (rather more than twice as long); fruit-bodies:

coloured outer hairs:

colourless inner hairs (air bubbles in microscopical mounts are usually a nuisance, but here they show up the granular coating on the hairs rather well - right hand image) :

and finally the spores:

phew!

cheers

Chris

NickCantle · #2 (**permalink**) 25-04-2009, 08:54 PM

You're like a gold mine of obscure and fascinating information Professor Yates. It's this sort of thing that makes WAB such a valuable resource. Where else could I read a combination of fact and experience from the comfort of my own sofa and in the company of like minded mycologists. Nowhere.

I need to find time to look for more Discomycetes- I don't have as much time as I did last Spring due to more 'adult' commitments, but once they've settled down I shall be posting left right and centre.

I do pity the outsider that takes the thread title incorrectly though

Tiggrx · #3 (**permalink**) 25-04-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickCantle

I do pity the outsider that takes the thread title incorrectly though

Yes, my first thought was "I've been to some of those".

Fascinating thread though - keep up the good work Chris!

CapAndBracket · #4 (**permalink**) 25-04-2009, 10:25 PM

You folks have said it all, (thinks i'm going to be a novice for long time yet).

Cheers J.P.

Alantb · #5 (**permalink**) 26-04-2009, 07:59 PM

Hi Chris - did that Brunnipila once be Dasyscyphus clandestinus? I looked it up in Dennis, which is all I have for asco's ...... when names change like this it would be nice to get the ref to make it less confusing.
Cheers, Alan

Chris Yeates · #6 (**permalink**) 26-04-2009, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alantb

Hi Chris - did that Brunnipila once be Dasyscyphus clandestinus? I looked it up in Dennis, which is all I have for asco's ...... when names change like this it would be nice to get the ref to make it less confusing.
Cheers, Alan

hi Alan

yes it is the same taxon . . . .
Brunnipila clandestina (Bull.) Baral, in Baral & Krieglsteiner, Beih. Z. Mykol. 6: 49 (1985)

Synonymy:
Atractobolus clandestinus (Bull.) Kuntze, Revis. gen. pl. (Leipzig) 3: 445 (1898)
Dasyscyphus clandestinus (Bull.) Fuckel, Jb. nassau. Ver. Naturk. 23-24: 305 (1870) [1869-70]
Lachnella clandestina (Bull.) W. Phillips, Man. Brit. Discomyc. (London): 236 (1887)
Peziza clandestina Bull., Herb. Fr. Champ., Histoire des Champignons (Paris) 1: 251 (1791)
Peziza clandestina Bull., Herb. Fr. Champ., Histoire des Champignons (Paris) 1: 251 (1791) var. clandestina

the old Dasyscyphus has few species left in it; it has (justifiably I think) been split into genera such as Albotricha, Cistella, Lachnum, Lasiobelonium, Brunnipila, Fuscolachnum, Discocistella, Clavidisculum etc. . . . . and some people complain about what has happened to Coprinus

!!

cheers
Chris

mollisia · #7 (**permalink**) 27-04-2009, 09:54 PM

Hello,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

the old Dasyscyphus has few species left in it

none, to my knowledge. The last was cerinus, which is now Neodasyscyphus cerinus. So wasn't it Spooner who killed the last Dasyscyphus?!?

best regards,
Andreas

solus · #8 (**permalink**) 28-04-2009, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mollisia

Spooner ... killed the last Dasyscyphus?!?

That sounds like it could be the No. 1 hit at Chris's Hairy Disco this Saturday night.

Alantb · #9 (**permalink**) 29-04-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

hi Alan

yes it is the same taxon . . . .
Brunnipila clandestina (Bull.) Baral, in Baral & Krieglsteiner, Beih. Z. Mykol. 6: 49 (1985)

Synonymy:
Atractobolus clandestinus (Bull.) Kuntze, Revis. gen. pl. (Leipzig) 3: 445 (1898)
Dasyscyphus clandestinus (Bull.) Fuckel, Jb. nassau. Ver. Naturk. 23-24: 305 (1870) [1869-70]
Lachnella clandestina (Bull.) W. Phillips, Man. Brit. Discomyc. (London): 236 (1887)
Peziza clandestina Bull., Herb. Fr. Champ., Histoire des Champignons (Paris) 1: 251 (1791)
Peziza clandestina Bull., Herb. Fr. Champ., Histoire des Champignons (Paris) 1: 251 (1791) var. clandestina

the old Dasyscyphus has few species left in it; it has (justifiably I think) been split into genera such as Albotricha, Cistella, Lachnum, Lasiobelonium, Brunnipila, Fuscolachnum, Discocistella, Clavidisculum etc. . . . . and some people complain about what has happened to Coprinus

!!

cheers
Chris

What a shame, I rather like Atractobolus .
PS off topic On the subject of name changes, why oh why was Mycena longiseta altered to M. aciculata - it was such an appropriate name......
Cheers, Alan

Chris Yeates · #10 (**permalink**) 29-04-2009, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alantb

. . . On the subject of name changes, why oh why was Mycena longiseta altered to M. aciculata - it was such an appropriate name......
Cheers, Alan

hi Alan
it wasn't - longiseta still exists - it's just that it has been realised that what European mycologists have been calling Mycena longiseta Höhn. (a species described from rotting leaves and branches in Java

) is actually something different: originally called Mycena codoniceps var. aciculata A.H. Sm., (and described from material on redwood cones in the USA

- if they were the same it would be a very widespread, plurivorous fungus, able to live in a range of climates

); it was recently raised to specific rank

and of course 'aciculata' from acicula "A slender, needlelike part or structure, such as the spines or bristles of some plants and animals and the crystals of certain minerals" is just as apt . . .

I think the reason that the genus Atractobolus
'died' was that a type had not been designated - Andreas may know more . . .

cheers

Chris