Chorioactis
Chorioactis | |
---|---|
Chorioactis geaster | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Pezizomycetes |
Order: | Pezizales |
Family: | Chorioactidaceae |
Genus: | Chorioactis Kupfer ex Eckblad (1968)[1] |
Species: | C. geaster
|
Binomial name | |
Chorioactis geaster | |
Distribution in Texas (above), and Japan (below) shown in red and dark green, respectively. | |
Synonyms | |
Urnula geaster Peck (1893)[2] |
Chorioactis is a genus of fungi that contains the single species Chorioactis geaster.[4] The mushroom is commonly known as the devil's cigar or the Texas star in the United States, while in Japan it is called kirinomitake (キリノミタケ). This extremely rare mushroom is notable for its unusual appearance and
Fruit bodies were first collected in
History
The fungus was first collected in 1893 by botanist Lucien Marcus Underwood, who sent the specimens to mycologist Charles Horton Peck for identification. Peck described the species as Urnula geaster in that year's Annual Report of the New York State Botanist, although he expressed doubt about its generic placement in Urnula.[2] In 1902, student mycologist Elsie Kupfer questioned the proposed classification of various species in the genera Urnula and Geopyxis, as suggested in an 1896 publication on the Discomycetes by German mycologist Heinrich Rehm. She considered Rehm's transfer of the species to the genus Geopyxis illogical:
"Even externally the fungus does not closely answer Rehm's own description of the genus Geopyxis under which he places it; the texture of the apothecium is described as fleshy, the stem, as short and sometimes thin; while in this plant, the leathery character of the cup and the length and thickness of the stem are its noticeable features."
Working with Underwood's guidance, Kupfer compared the microscopic structure of the hymenium (the fertile, spore-bearing tissue) of the Texan species with a number of similar ones—Geopyxis carbonaria, Urnula craterium, and Urnula terrestris (now known as Podophacidium xanthomelum). She concluded that the Texan species was so dissimilar as to warrant its own genus, which she named Chorioactis.[3] Although this taxonomical change was opposed in later studies of the fungus by Frederick De Forest Heald and Frederick Adolf Wolf (1910)[5] and Fred Jay Seaver (1928, 1942),[6][7] Chorioactis was established as a valid genus in 1968 by Finn-Egil Eckblad in his comprehensive monograph about the Discomycetes.[1][8]
Classification and naming
Historically, Chorioactis was considered to be in the family
The
In 1997, Texas State Senator
In Japan the mushroom is called kirinomitake (キリノミタケ), because the immature, unopened fruit body bears a superficial resemblance to the seed pods of kiri, the empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa).[21]
Description
Young specimens of C. geaster have a hollow, club-shaped, dark-brown fruit body, connected to a stem. The stem, which is usually buried in the ground, is shorter than the hollow fruit body or equals it in length, although the stem length is somewhat variable depending on the depth of the underground root to which it is attached. The flesh of the stem and the wall of the fruit body are white, while the inner surface is yellowish-white, turning light brown with age. The fruit body varies in width from 1.2 to 3.5 cm (0.5 to 1.4 in) in the thickest portion, and has a length of 4 to 12 cm (1.6 to 4.7 in); the stem is 0.75 to 1.5 cm (0.3 to 0.6 in) wide by 1 to 5 cm (0.4 to 2.0 in) long.[5] Both stem and fruit body are covered by a dense layer of soft, brown, velvety "hairs", or tomentum. In maturity, the fruit body splits open into four to seven rays that curve downward, similar to mushrooms of the genus Geastrum. The spores are borne on the inner surface of the rays, which, depending on the maturity of the specimen, may range in color from whitish to saffron to salmon to butterscotch to chestnut.[15] The leathery rays are up to 0.35 cm (0.1 in) thick.[5]
The fruit body remains closed until shortly before spore discharge; dehiscence (fruit body opening) is caused by the pressure exerted by swollen paraphyses—sterile (i.e., nonreproductive) cells that are interspersed between the ascospores.[22] Dehiscence is accompanied by the release of clouds of spores, resembling smoke.[23] The spore puffing upon rupture is thought to be caused by the sudden change in relative humidity between the interior chamber of the fruit body and the outside environment.[5] Dehiscence is accompanied by a hissing sound, an auditory phenomenon known to occur in about 15 other fungal species.[17]
Microscopic characteristics
Spores are oblong to spindle-shaped, and are flattened on one side; they have dimensions of 54–68 µm by 10–13 µm. The spores each contain three to five oil drops. Although the spores have been described as smooth in older literature,[24] when viewed with transmission electron microscopy, they are seen to have minute spots or punctures.[16] The spores develop simultaneously (synchronously) within the ascus, a developmental feature shared with the Sarcoscyphaceae genera Cookeina and Microstoma.[16] Like other members of the Pezizales order, the asci of C. geaster have an operculum—a "lid"—that opens when the spores are discharged. However, the operculum of C. geaster develops a two-layered ring zone upon dehiscence, making it structurally distinct from members of both the Sarcosomataceae and the Sarcoscyphaceae families.[16]
Similar to other Discomycetes, the fruit body consists of three distinct layers of tissue: the hymenium, the hypothecium, and the excipulum. The spore-bearing hymenium, the outermost layer of cells, contains asci interspersed with sterile cells called paraphyses.[25] In C. geaster, the club-shaped asci are 700–800 µm long and 14–17.25 µm thick;[5] they are abruptly constricted at the base to a narrow pedicel. The paraphyses are initially filamentous or thread-like (filiform) but swell with age to resemble a string of beads (moniliform).[16] The swelling of the paraphyses is believed to cause the expansion of the hymenium and subsequent splitting of the fruit body into rays; this development places the asci into an optimal position for spore release and dispersal.[26] Supporting the cells of the hymenium is a thin layer of tightly interwoven hyphae called the hypothecium, and underneath this is a thick layer of loosely interwoven hyphae known as the excipulum. This tissue layer, analogous to parenchyma found in plants, gives the tissue a fibrous texture. The excipulum layer averages 34 µm in diameter, while the hypothecium is 10–14 µm.[3] When viewed with electron microscopy, the dark brown "hairs" on the surface of the fruit body can be seen to be adorned with conical warts or spines.[12]
Anamorph form
Many fungi have an asexual stage in their
Distribution, ecology, and habitat
Chorioactis geaster has a
Although it is not known definitively, Chorioactis is believed to be saprobic, deriving nutrients from decomposing organic matter.[14] In Texas, fruit bodies are found growing singly or in groups from roots, stumps, and dead roots of cedar elm trees (Ulmus crassifolia)[37] or Symplocos myrtacea;[15][38] in Japan, the usual host is dead oak trees.[31] Fruit bodies can be clustered together close to the base of the stump, or from the roots away from the stump; the stem of the fruit body tends to originate from a point 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) below the ground.[5] In Texas, fruit bodies usually appear between October and April, as this period is associated with somewhat cooler weather, and the temperature and moisture conditions during this time seem to be more favorable for growth.[5]
Scientists do not know why the fungus mysteriously lives only in Texas and Japan, locations of approximately the same latitude,[21] but separated by 11,000 km (6,800 mi). Fred Jay Seaver commented "this is only another illustration of the unusual and unpredictable distribution of many species of the fungi. It would be difficult indeed to account for it, and we merely accept the facts as they are."[39] In 2004, a research study compared the DNA sequences of both populations and used a combination of molecular phylogenetics and molecular clock calculations to estimate the extent of genetic divergence. It concluded that the two populations have been separated for at least 19 million years, ruling out the possibility of human introduction of the species from one location to the other.[21] Although no consistent differences in morphology are seen between the two populations, several differences exist in their life histories. The preferred host of Texan populations is typically roots and stumps of Ulmus crassifolia, while the Japanese populations tend to grow on the fallen trunks of Symplocos myrtacea and Quercus gilva. Texan species grow in areas subjected to periodic flooding, unlike their Japanese counterparts. Finally, only Japanese specimens can be grown in culture—the spores of Texan material have not been successfully germinated on artificial media.[21][27]
References
- ^ a b c Eckblad F-E. (1968). "The genera of the operculate Discomycetes. A reevaluation of their taxonomy, phylogeny and nomenclature". Nytt Magasin for Botanikk. 15: 1–191.
- ^ a b Peck CH. (1893). "Forty-sixth report on the State Museum". Report of the N. Y. State Botanist. 49: 39.
- ^ JSTOR 2478861.
- Geastraceae.
- ^ JSTOR 2467693.
- ^ Seaver FJ. (1928). The North American Cup-Fungi (Operculates). New York, New York: Hafner Publishing Co. p. 200.
- ^ a b Seaver FJ. (1942). The North American Cup-Fungi (Operculates) (Supplemented ed.). Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The Lancaster Press. p. 200.
- ^ "Genus Record Details: Chorioactis Kupfer". Index Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- JSTOR 1219292.
- ISBN 978-0-12-045604-8.
- JSTOR 4393775.
- ^ ISSN 0029-5035.
- JSTOR 3761192.
- ^ S2CID 20890635.
- ^ PMID 18406592.
- ^ a b c d e Pfister DH, Kurogi S (2004). "A note on some morphological features of Chorioactis geaster (Pezizales, Ascomycota)". Mycotaxon. 89 (2): 277–81.
- ^ .
- ^ "75(R) SCR 27 Engrossed version – Bill Text". Texas Legislature Online. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- ISBN 978-0-7627-4109-0.
- ISBN 9781625110664.
- ^ a b c d e Peterson KR, Bell CD, Kurogi S, Pfister DH (2004). "Phylogeny and biogeography of Chorioactis geaster (Pezizales, Ascomycota) inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences". Harvard Papers in Botany. 8 (2): 141–52.
- JSTOR 3759326. Archived from the originalon 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ISBN 978-0-292-75452-2.
- JSTOR 3758070.
- ISBN 978-0-471-52229-4.
- JSTOR 3754200. Archived from the originalon 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ S2CID 27704164.
- ^ Imazeki R. (1938). "A rare fungus, Urnula Geaster Peck grows in Kyusyu, Japan". Journal of Japanese Botany (in Japanese). 14 (1–3): 680–4.
- ^ Imazeki R, Otani Y (1975). "Rediscovery of Chorioactis geaster in Kyushu, Japan". Nippon Kingakukai Kaiho (in Japanese). 16 (3): 222–9.
- ^ Maruyama K, Sakuma D, Kotera Y, Kimura M, Kikuchi J (2008). Endangered fungi Chorioactis geaster, newly recorded in Central Japan. The 52nd Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of Japan. Tsukuba, Ibaraki: Mycological Society of Japan. p. P041.
- ^ a b "Red List of Threatened Fungi of Japan". Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- ^ Ubelaker JE, Starks JK (2005). "A new record of the Devil's Cigar, Chorioactis geaster (Pezizales: Ascomycota), from Collin County, Texas". SIDA, Contributions to Botany. 21 (3): 1939–40.
- ^ Watson T. (February 2010). "Rare mushroom found at Onion Creek" (PDF). Hays County Master Naturalists Newsletter: 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ Mims FM. (2004). "The rare and exotic devil's cigar". Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. Seguin, Texas. Archived from the original on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- ^ Jensen, Julien (2019-02-16). "Chorioactis, The Devil's Cigar". Save the Uglies. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
- ISSN 1536-7738.
- ISSN 0541-4938. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
Abstracts of Papers and Posters Presented at the MSA Annual Meeting held 27–31 July at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN
- ISBN 978-0-8156-3112-5.
- JSTOR 3754533. Archived from the originalon 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
37. Shugg, J (2018).
External links
- Chorioactis Kupfer ex Eckblad and Chorioactis Kupfer in MycoBank.
- C. geaster (Peck) Kupfer ex Eckblad and C. geaster (Peck) Kupfer in MycoBank.
- キリノミタケ Chorioactis geaster by I. Asai – several photos