Clavulinopsis fusiformis
Clavulinopsis fusiformis, commonly known as golden spindles, spindle-shaped yellow coral, or spindle-shaped fairy club, is a species of coral fungus in the family Clavariaceae.
Clavulinopsis fusiformis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Agaricales |
Family: | Clavariaceae |
Genus: | Clavulinopsis |
Species: | C. fusiformis |
Binomial name | |
Clavulinopsis fusiformis | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Taxonomy
The species was first described as Clavaria fusiformis by English botanist James Sowerby in 1799, from collections made in Hampstead Heath in London.[2] Elias Fries called it a variety of Clavaria inaequalis in 1828.[3] It was transferred to Clavulinopsis by E.J.H. Corner in 1950.[4] Ronald H. Petersen transferred it to Ramariopsis in 1978.[5]
The specific epithet fusiformis, derived from Latin, means "spindle-shaped".[6] It is commonly known variously as "golden spindles",[7] "spindle-shaped yellow coral",[8] or "spindle-shaped fairy club"[9] or, recently "French Fries Mushroom".[10]
Description
The fruit bodies take the shape of bright yellow, thin clubs 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) tall, with narrow, pointed tips. The firm and brittle flesh, also yellow, becomes hollow in maturity. The spores are broadly ellipsoid to roughly spherical, smooth, with dimensions of 5–9 by 4.5–8.5 µm. They have an apiculus that measures 1–2 µm long, and either a large oil droplet or several oil droplets. The basidia (spore-bearing cell) are club-shaped, measure 40–65 by 6–9 µm with a long cylindrical base that is 1.5–2.5 µm wide. It has a clamp connection at the base. Most basidia are four-spored, although there are occasionally two- and three-spored versions.[4] The flesh comprises both inflated hyphae up to 12 µm, and narrow hyphae up to 4 µm.[9] It is nonpoisonous,[11] and has been described as both edible[8][12] and inedible[7] in field guides. Fruit bodies are commonly collected and consumed in Nepal,[13] where it is known locally as Kesari chyau.[14]
Similar species
Clavaria fragilis is similar in size and morphology, but is white. Clavaria amoenoides is similar in size, and like Clavulinopsis fusiformis, grows in dense clusters, but it is much rarer.[7] It can be readily distinguished from C. fusiformis by microscopic examination, as it has inflated hyphae that lack clamp connections.[15] Clavulinopsis laeticolor is similar in color and form, but smaller, up to 5 cm (2.0 in) tall, lacks pointed tips, and tends to grow singly, scattered, or in loose groups.[16] Similarly, C. helvola and C. luteoalba have similar coloration, but are smaller and do not typically grow in clusters.[7]
Habitat and distribution
Clavulinopsis fusiformis is a saprobic species.[7] Fruit bodies grow on the ground in loose to dense clusters and scattered troops in grassy areas and among moss.[7] In Asia, it has been reported from Iran,[17] China,[18] Nepal,[13] and Japan. It is also found in Europe and North America.[4] In China it is one of the dominant macrofungal species found in Fargesia spathacea-dominated community forest at an elevation of 2,600–3,500 m (8,500–11,500 ft).[18]
Chemistry
The extract of Clavulinopsis fusiformis contains anti-B red blood cell agglutinin.[19]
References
- "Clavulinopsis fusiformis (Sowerby) Corner :367, 1950". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
- Sowerby J. (1799). Coloured Figures of English Fungi. Vol. 2. London, UK: J. Davis. p. 98; plate 234.
- Fries EM (1828). Elenchus Fungorum. Vol. 1. Greifswald, Germany: Ernestus Mauritius. p. 231.
- Corner EJH (1950). A monograph of Clavaria and allied genera. Annals of Botany Memoirs. Oxford University Press. p. 367.
- Petersen RH (1978). "Notes on clavarioid fungi. XV. Reorganization of Clavaria, Clavulinopsis and Ramariopsis". Mycologia. 70 (3): 660–71. doi:10.2307/3759402. JSTOR 3759402.
- Konstantinidis G. (2005). Elsevier's Dictionary of Medicine and Biology: In English, Greek, German, Italian and Latin. Elsevier. p. 607. ISBN 978-0-08-046012-3.
- Roberts P, Evans S (2011). The Book of Fungi. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. 494. ISBN 978-0226721170.
- Bessette A, Bessette AR, Fischer DW (1997). Mushrooms of Northeastern North America. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 421. ISBN 978-0815603887.
- Tylukti EE (1987). Mushrooms of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Vol 2. Non-gilled Hymenomycetes. Moscow, Idaho: The University of Idaho Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-89301-097-9.
- "Mushroom Identification Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuide. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-7627-3109-1.
- Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 345. ISBN 978-1-55407-651-2.
- Christensen M, Bhattarai S, Devkota S, Larsen HO (2008). "Collection and use of wild edible fungi in Nepal". Economic Botany. 62 (1): 12–23. doi:10.1007/s12231-007-9000-9. S2CID 6985365.
- Adhikari MK, Devokta S, Tiwari RD (2005). "Ethnomycological knowledge on uses of wild mushrooms in western and central Nepal" (PDF). Our Nature. 3: 13–19. doi:10.3126/on.v3i1.329.
- Roberts P. (2008). "Yellow Clavara species in the British Isles". Field Mycology. 9 (4): 142–145. doi:10.1016/S1468-1641(10)60593-2.
- Davis RM, Sommer R, Menge JA (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. University of California Press. pp. 291–292. ISBN 978-0-520-95360-4.
- Saber M. (1989). "New records of Aphyllophorales and Gasteromycetes for Iran". Iranian Journal of Plant Pathology. 25 (1–4): 21–26. ISSN 0006-2774.
- Zhang Y, Zhou DQ, Zhao I, Zhou TX, Hyde KD (2010). "Diversity and ecological distribution of macrofungi in the Laojun Mountain region, southwestern China". Biodiversity and Conservation. 19 (12): 3545–3563. doi:10.1007/s10531-010-9915-9. S2CID 24882278.
- Furukuwa K, Ying R, Nakajima T, Matsuki T (1995). "Hemagglutinins in fungus extracts and their blood group specificity". Experimental and Clinical Immunogenetics. 12 (4): 223–231. PMID 8919354.