Conocybe aurea

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Conocybe aurea
2011-08-17 Conocybe aurea.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Bolbitiaceae
Genus: Conocybe
Species:
C. aurea
Binomial name
Conocybe aurea
Synonyms [1]
  • Galera aureaJul.Schäff. (1930)
  • Conocybe tenera var. aurea(Jul.Schäff.) Kühner (1935)
  • Conocybe tenera f. aurea(Jul.Schäff.) Enderle (1999)
  • Conocybe aurea var. hololeucaHauskn. (2000)

Conocybe aurea is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae. [2] [3]

Contents

Taxonomy

The fungus was first described to science in 1930 by German mycologist Julius Schäffer, who called it Galera aurea. Tsuguo Hongo transferred it to the genus Conocybe in 1963. [4] In 2000, Anton Hausknecht published the variety C. aurea var. hololeuca, but this taxon is not considered to have independent taxonomic significance by Index Fungorum. [5]

The species is related to Conocybe tenera . [6]

Habitat and distribution

Conocybe aurea is a saprobic fungus that prefers to grow in nitrate-rich soils, fields, woodchip mulch, old compost, and greenhouses. A rare but widespread species, it is found in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and New Zealand. [7]

Description

The cap is orangish yellow, and up to 5 cm in diameter. [6] The gills and stipe are beige, the former browning with age. [6]

Cap: 0.8-2.2 cm wide or more, starting globose to campanulate before expanding to convex. The surface is smooth but not sticky and is golden yellow to orangy yellow with a deeper colour in the centre of the cap. The cap dries to a chrome yellow colour with paler centre flesh when dry. Gills: Adnate and subdistant with a ventricose bulge. 1.5-3mm wide. They start whitish before developing a cinnamon colour. Stem: 2.5-6.5 cm long and 2-3mm thick and equal across its length or tapering slightly upwards with a slightly bulbous 4-6mm thick base. The interior is hollow and the exterior surface is pruinose with striations and pale yellowish but often discolours to a brownish yellow (fulvous). Flesh: Thin, soft and the same colour as the surface of the cap. Smell: Slight. Taste: Mild. Spores: 10.5-13.5 x 6-7 μm. Elliptical and smooth with a hyaline, apical germ pore. Under the microscope they are yellow. Basidia: 29-37 x 11-12 μm. Four spored. Cheilocystidia: 22-30 x 8-11 μm. Pin-headed and hyaline with a thin wall. Caulocystidia: 22-30 x 7.5-10 μm. Similar to the cheilocystidia. [4]

Etymology

The specific epithet aurea is Latin for golden yellow. [8]

Toxicity

The toxicity is unknown. Related species are known to be toxic. [9]

Similar species

Conocybe apala is common, but with a whiter and more fragile conical cap. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Conocybe</i> Genus of fungi

Conocybe is a genus of mushrooms with Conocybe tenera as the type species and at least 243 other species. There are at least 50 different species in North America.

<i>Conocybe rugosa</i> Species of mushroom

Conocybe rugosa is a common species of mushroom that is widely distributed and especially common in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It grows in woodchips, flowerbeds and compost. It has been found in Europe, Asia and North America. It contains the same mycotoxins as the death cap mushroom. Conocybe rugosa was originally described in the genus Pholiotina, and its morphology and a 2013 molecular phylogenetics study supported its continued classification there.

<i>Pholiotina cyanopus</i> Species of fungus

Pholiotina cyanopus is a species of fungus that contains psychoactive compounds including psilocybin and the uncommon aeruginascin. Originally described as Galerula cyanopus by American mycologist George Francis Atkinson in 1918. It was transferred to Conocybe by Robert Kühner in 1935 before being transferred to Pholiotina by Rolf Singer in 1950. A 2013 molecular phylogenetics study found it to belong to a group of species currently assigned to Pholiotina that are more closely related to Galerella nigeriensis than to Pholiotina or Conocybe. It is likely that it will be moved to a different genus in the future, but this has not happened yet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolbitiaceae</span> Family of fungi

The Bolbitiaceae are a family of mushroom-forming basidiomycete fungi. A 2008 estimate placed 17 genera and 287 species in the family. Bolbitiaceae was circumscribed by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1948.

<i>Mycena nargan</i> Species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae

Mycena nargan, commonly known as the Nargan's bonnet, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, and the sole member of the section Nargan in the genus Mycena. Reported as a new species in 1995, it is known predominantly from Southern Australia. The saprobic fungus produces mushrooms that grow on well-decayed wood, often on the underside of wood lying in litter. The dark chestnut-coloured caps are covered with white, easily removed scales, and reach diameters of up to 2 cm (0.8 in) wide. The pale, slender stems are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and have white scales at the base. On the underside of the cap, the cream-coloured gills are widely spaced and bluntly attached to the stem. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown.

<i>Psilocybe yungensis</i> Psychedelic mushroom in the family Strophariaceae

Psilocybe yungensis is a species of psychedelic mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. In North America, it is found in northeast, central and southeastern Mexico. In South America, it has been recorded from Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador. It is also known from the Caribbean island Martinique, and China. The mushroom grows in clusters or groups on rotting wood. The fruit bodies have conical to bell-shaped reddish- to orangish-brown caps that are up to 2.5 cm (1.0 in) in diameter, set atop slender stems 3 to 5 cm long. The mushrooms stain blue when bruised, indicative of the presence of the compound psilocybin. Psilocybe yungensis is used by Mazatec Indians in the Mexican State of Oaxaca for entheogenic purposes.

<i>Boletus rubroflammeus</i> Species of fungus

Boletus rubroflammeus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. First described from Michigan in 1971, it is found in the eastern United States and Mexico, where it grows in a mycorrhizal association with hardwood trees. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) of the fungus have caps that are deep red to purplish red, and dark red pores. The stem has coarse, dark red reticulations and a narrow yellow area at the top. All parts of the mushroom quickly stain blue when injured or cut. Lookalikes include Boletus flammans, a lighter-colored species that grows with conifers. Other similar species can be distinguished by differences in distribution, morphology, staining reaction, and microscopic characteristics. Boletus rubroflammeus mushrooms are poisonous, and can cause gastrointestinal distress if consumed.

Leucocoprinus minutulus is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae.

<i>Conocybe macrospora</i> Species of fungus

Conocybe macrospora is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe anthuriae is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe volvata is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe volviradicata is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe corneri is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe vaginata is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe volviornata is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe crispella is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

<i>Conocybe mesospora</i> Species of fungus

Conocybe mesospora is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe subxerophytica is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe affinis is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

Conocybe subpallida is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Bolbitiaceae.

References

  1. "GSD Species Synonymy: Conocybe aurea (Jul. Schäff.) Hongo". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  2. "Species fungorum - Conocybe aurea (Jul. Schäff.) Hongo". www.speciesfungorum.org.
  3. "Mycobank Database - Conocybe aurea".
  4. 1 2 Hongo, Tsuguo (1963). "Notes on Japanese larger fungi (16)". The Journal of Japanese Botany. 38 (8): 233–240. doi:10.51033/jjapbot.38_8_4966.
  5. Hausknecht A. (2000). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Bolbitiaceae 6. Die Conocybe tenera-Gruppe in Europa, Teil 1". Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde (in German). 9: 73–109 (see p. 86).
  6. 1 2 3 4 Trudell, Steve; Ammirati, Joe (2009). Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press Field Guides. Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 180. ISBN   978-0-88192-935-5.
  7. Overall A, Hodge V. (2015). "Conocybe aurea, a rare British native or another coloniser?". Field Mycology. 16 (1): 14–15. doi: 10.1016/j.fldmyc.2015.01.006 .
  8. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). Latin for Gardeners (PDF). University of Chicago Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-226-00919-3.
  9. Siegel, Noah; Schwarz, Christian (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. p. 145. ISBN   9781607748175.