Mycena haematopus

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Mycena haematopus
alt=Two purplish-pink mushrooms with bell-shaped caps; one mushroom is growing in rotting wood, the other has been pulled out and lies beside it.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Mycenaceae
Genus: Mycena
Species:
M. haematopus
Binomial name
Mycena haematopus
Synonyms[1]
  • Agaricus haematopus Pers. (1799)
  • Mycena haematopus var. marginata J.E.Lange (1914)
  • Galactopus haematopus (Pers.) Earle (1916)
Mycena haematopus
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Gills on hymenium
Cap is conical or campanulate
saprotrophic
Edibility is not recommended

Mycena haematopus, commonly known as the bleeding fairy helmet, the burgundydrop bonnet, or the bleeding Mycena, is a species of

classified in the section Lactipedes of the genus Mycena, along with other species that produce a milky or colored latex
.

The

bioluminescent. M. haematopus produces various alkaloid pigments unique to this species. The edibility
of the fruit bodies is not known definitively.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was initially named Agaricus haematopus by

Ancient Greek roots meaning "blood" (αἱματο-, haimato-) and "foot" (πους, pous),[8] owing to the red latex than can easily be produced by breaking the mushroom at the base.[9] It is commonly known as the blood-foot mushroom, the bleeding fairy helmet,[10] the burgundydrop bonnet,[11] or the bleeding Mycena.[12]

In 1914,

Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus considered the coloration of the gill edge too variable to have taxonomical significance.[14] Mycena haematopus var. cuspidata was initially found in Colorado in 1976, and described as a new variety by American mycologists Duane Mitchel and Alexander H. Smith two years later. The fruit bodies are characterized by a "beak" on the cap that often splits or collapses as the cap matures.[15] It was treated as Mycena sanguinolenta var. cuspidata by Maas Geesteranus in 1988.[14]

Description

A cluster of purplish-red mushrooms on their sides showing the underside of their caps.
Young fruit bodies are pruinose—as if covered with a fine white powder.
The underside of some light-pink mushrooms caps with small beads of reddish liquid on the gills.
Cut or injured mushroom tissue oozes a reddish latex.

The fruit bodies of Mycena haematopus are the reproductive structures produced by cellular threads or hyphae which grow in rotting wood. The shape of the cap of the fruit body will vary depending on its maturity. Young caps, or "buttons", are ovoid (egg-shaped) to conical; later they are campanulate (bell-shaped), and as the fruit body matures, the margins (cap edge) lift upward so that the cap becomes somewhat flat with an umbo (a central nipple-shaped bump).[16] The fully grown cap can reach up to 4 cm (1+5⁄8 in) in diameter. The surface of the cap initially appears dry and covered with what appears to be a very fine whitish powder, but it soon becomes polished and moist. Mature caps appear somewhat translucent, and develop radial grooves mirroring the position of the gills underneath.[17] The color of the cap is reddish- or pinkish-brown, often tinged with violet, and paler towards the edge. The margin is wavy like the edge of a scallop, and may appear ragged because of lingering remnants of the partial veil.

The mushroom flesh can range from pale to the color of red wine (vinaceous), and has no distinctive odor. It oozes a red latex when cut.[12] The gills have an adnate attachment to the stem, meaning they are more or less directly attached to it. They are initially whitish or "grayish vinaceous" in color, and can develop reddish-brown stains. Between 20 and 30 gills reach from the cap edge to the stem, resulting in a gill spacing that is described as "close to subdistant"—gaps are visible between adjacent gills. There are additional gills, called lamellulae, that do not extend directly from the margin to the stem; these are arranged in two or three series (tiers) of equal length. The stem is up to 9 cm (3+1⁄2 in) tall and 0.1 to 0.2 cm (1⁄32 to 3⁄32 in) thick, hollow and brittle, and a dark reddish-brown color. In young fruit bodies, the upper part of the stem is densely covered with a pale cinnamon-colored powder which wears off with age. The stem has a mass of coarse hairs at the base. Like the cap, the stem also bleeds a red latex when it is cut or broken.[16][17]

Mycena haematopus can be parasitized by Spinellus fusiger, another fungal species which gives the mushroom a strikingly hairy appearance.[8][18]

A cluster of pinkish mushrooms with caps covered with whitish hairs
Mycena haematopus parasitized by the bonnet mold Spinellus fusiger

Microscopic characteristics

The

cystidia are numerous on the edges on the gills; they measure 33–60 µm (sometimes up to 80) by 9–12 µm. Cystidia that are present on the stipe (caulocystidia) appear in clusters, and clublike to irregular in shape, measuring 20–55 by 3.5–12.5 µm.[19] The gill tissue contains numerous lactifers, cells that produce the latex that is secreted when it is cut.[17]

The surface

mycelium of M. haematopus is whitish and fluffy. Swelling at the terminal tips of hyphae (diameter up to 12 µm) is present, but not very abundant, and moniliform hyphae are very rare. Bioluminescence is present, but weak. Extracellular oxidase enzymes are present, consistent with its ecological role as a saprobe.[20]

Edibility

Although some sources claim that M. haematopus is edible,[21][22] it is "hardly worth collecting because of its small size."[12] Other sources consider the species inedible,[23] or recommend avoiding consumption, "since most of them have not yet been tested for toxins."[8] The taste of the mushroom is mild to slightly bitter.[24]

Similar species

Another Mycena that produces a reddish latex is Mycena sanguinolenta, the "terrestrial bleeding Mycena". It may be distinguished from M. haematopus in several ways: it is smaller, with cap diameters between 0.3 to 1 cm (1⁄8 to 3⁄8 in) wide; grows in groups rather than clusters; is found on leaves, dead branches, moss beds and pine needle beds rather than decaying wood; and the edges of its gills are consistently dark brownish-red.[25] Furthermore, range of cap color in M. sanguinolenta is different than in M. haematopus, varying from reddish-to orange-brown, and it lacks a band of partial veil remnants hanging from the margin.[22]

Other similar species include Mycena californiensis and M. purpureofusca.[26]

Ecology, distribution and habitat

A cluster of about a dozen pinkish-purple mushrooms growing from the stump of a tree
Fruit bodies typically grow in clusters joined at a common base.

Mycena haematopus obtains nutrients from decomposing organic matter (

white rot species. The initial stage of wood decay by white rot fungi involves the breakdown of "acid-unhydrolyzable residue" and holocellulose (a mixture of cellulose and hemicellulose).[27]

In North America, Mycena haematopus is known to be distributed from Alaska southward.[16] According to Mycena specialist Alexander H. Smith, it is "the commonest and the most easily recognized one in the genus."[17] The species is common in Europe,[12] and it has also been collected from Japan,[28] and Mérida, Venezuela, as the variety M. haematopus var. marginata.[29] In the Netherlands, M. haematopus is one of many mushrooms that can regularly be found fruiting on ancient timber wharves.[30] The fruit bodies can be found year-round in mild weather.[31]

Bioluminescence

Both the mycelia

oxidation of a luciferin (a pigment).[33] The biological purpose of bioluminescence in fungi is not definitively known, although several hypotheses have been suggested: it may help attract insects to help with spore dispersal,[34] it may be a by-product of other biochemical functions,[35] or it may help deter heterotrophs that might consume the fungus.[34]

Natural products

Chemical structure of haematopodin B
Chemical structure of haematopodin
Haematopodin B (left) and its more stable breakdown product Haematopodin (right)

Several unique chemicals are produced by Mycena haematopus. The primary

antifungal and antimicrobial activities.[36] Additional alkaloid compounds in M. haematopus include the red pigments mycenarubins D, E and F. Prior to the discovery of these compounds, pyrroloquinoline alkaloids were considered to be rare in terrestrial sources.[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Species Fungorum – Species synonymy". Index Fungorum. CAB International. Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  2. ^ Persoon CH. (1799). Observationes mycologicae (in Latin). Vol. 2. Leipzig, Germany: Gesnerus, Usterius & Wolfius. p. 56.
  3. ^ Fries EM. (1821). Systema Mycologicum (in Latin). Vol. 1. Lundae: Ex Officina Berlingiana. p. 149.
  4. ^ Kummer P. (1871). Der Führer in die Pilzkunde (in German). Zerbst. p. 109.
  5. ^ Earle FS. (1906). "The genera of North American gill fungi". Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden. 5: 373–451.
  6. ISBN 978-0-85199-826-8
    .
  7. ^ Smith, 1947, p. 132.
  8. ^ a b c Volk T. (June 2002). "Mycena haematopus, the blood-foot mushroom". Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month. UW-Madison Department of Botany. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  9. ISBN 978-0-88192-935-5
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-9739819-0-2
    .
  11. ^ Marren, Peter (2009-10-29). "The magic of Britain's wild mushrooms". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-88192-586-9
    .
  13. ^ Lange JE. (1914). "Studies in the Agarics of Denmark. Part I. Mycena". Dansk Botanisk Arkiv. 1 (5): 1–40.
  14. ^
    ISSN 0023-3374
    .
  15. JSTOR 3759137
    .
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-0-520-03656-7
    .
  17. ^ a b c d Smith, 1947, pp. 140–44.
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-1-58729-627-7
    .
  19. ^ Aronsen A. "Mycena haematopus (Pers.) P. Kumm". A key to the Mycenas of Norway. Archived from the original on 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  20. ^ a b Treu R, Agerer R (1990). "Culture characteristics of some Mycena species". Mycotaxon. 38: 279–309.
  21. ISBN 978-0-395-91090-0
    .
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-0-89815-169-5
    .
  23. ISBN 978-0-7112-2378-3
    .
  24. ^ Kuo M (December 2010). "Mycena haematopus". MushroomExpert.Com. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  25. ^ Smith, 1947, pp. 146–49.
  26. OCLC 797915861
    .
  27. S2CID 39919592
    .
  28. PMID 18264584
    .
  29. JSTOR 4115784
    .
  30. ISSN 0929-7839
    .
  31. ISBN 978-0-8156-0388-7
    .
  32. JSTOR 3760392
    .
  33. ISBN 978-981-256-801-4
    .
  34. ^
    doi:10.1155/1981/79890
    .
  35. ^ Buller AHR. (1924). "The bioluminescence of Panus stypticus". Researches on Fungi. Vol. III. London: Longsman, Green and Co. pp. 357–431.
  36. ^
    doi:10.1002/anie.199310871
    .
  37. ^
    doi:10.1002/ejoc.200700739
    .
  38. doi:10.1002/jlac.199619960709
    .

Books cited

External links

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