Phallus calongei

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Phallus calongei
Scale bar=1 cm
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Phallales
Family: Phallaceae
Genus: Phallus
Species:
P. calongei
Binomial name
Phallus calongei
G. Moreno & Khalid
Known only from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(dark red), Pakistan

Phallus calongei is a species of

stinkhorn mushroom. Found in Pakistan, it was described as new to science in 2009. Starting out as an "egg", the fully expanded fruit body consists of a single, thick, stipe with a cap attached to the apex and covered with olive-green, slimy spore-containing gleba. It is distinguished from other similar Phallus species by a combination of features, including a pinkish, reticulated (network-like) cap, and a stipe that is tapered at both ends. The edibility
of the mushroom is unknown.

Systematics

Phallus calongei was discovered on June 16, 2008, near the

Gasteromycetes,[1] and who has himself published or co-published three Phallus species: P. atrovolvatus (Kreisel & Calonge),[2] P. maderensis (Calonge)[3] and P. minusculus (Kreisel & Calonge).[4] P. calongei is one of four Phallus species known to exist in Pakistan, the others being P. celebicus, P. impudicus, and P. rubicundus.[5]

According to the infrageneric

classification scheme proposed by German mycologist Hanns Kreisel in 1996,[6] Phallus calongei belongs in the subgenus Phallus, section Flavophallus of the genus Phallus. Other species in this section include P. flavocostatus, P. tenuis, P. formanosus, P. calichrous, P. multicolor, and P. cinnabarinus. A number of features distinguish P. calongei from these, including: an undeveloped white volva, a stipe tapered at both ends, a deeply pitted and reticulate cap surface with pinkish ridges, and no indusium (a lacy "skirt" hanging from the cap, present in some Phallus species).[5]

Description

As a member of the genus Phallus, the shape of P. calongei mushrooms assume the general form of a phallus (an erect human penis) with a single elongated hollow stipe topped by a bulbous cap-like structure at the apex.[7] The fruit bodies of P. calongei start out appearing similar to whitish "eggs", with a membranous exoperidium (outer tissue layer) and gelatinous, translucent endoperidium (inner tissue layer). The exoperidium remains at the base of the fruit body as a thin, membranous, undeveloped white volva.

The fully expanded fruit body consists of a single, thick, stalk with a ridged and pitted cap attached to the apex; the cap is covered with olive-green, slimy gleba. The fruit body can reach up to 24 centimetres (9+1⁄2 inches) tall and 3 cm (1+1⁄8 in) thick. It is whitish and hollow, slightly tapered at both ends, and has a wall that consists of layers of perforated chambers. At the apex of the stalk is the "cap", which can be up to 7 cm (2+3⁄4 in) high and 4 cm (1+5⁄8 in) thick. It is bell-shaped to conical-truncate with a pitted surface. As the gleba dissipates, the cap surface becomes strongly reticulated—forming a network of raised pinkish ridges. The tip of the cap is truncated, with a depressed and perforated surface. The gleba is olive-green, fetid, and deliquescent (melting away gradually).

The spores are ellipsoid, smooth, and hyaline (translucent), measuring 3.5–4.5 by 1.5–2.0 µm. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined.[5]

Similar species

The only other Phallus species known with a pinkish-colored cap is P. rubicundus; its conical cap has a surface that is wrinkled, not reticulate. Other similar species include P. hadriani, which has a purple volva, P. macrosporus, which has a reddish volva, and P. formanosus, which has a pale pink stipe and volva.[5]

Habitat and distribution

P. calongei is known only from the

saprobic, feeding off dead and decaying organic matter.[6]

References

  1. ISBN 978-3-443-65008-7
    .
  2. ^ Calonge FD, Kreisel H, Mata M (2005). "Phallus atrovolvatus, a new species from Costa Rica". Boletín de la Sociedad Micológica de Madrid. 29: 5–8.
  3. ^ Calonge FD, de Sequeira MM, Freitas T, Rocha E, Franquinho L (2008). "Phallus maderensis sp. nov., encontrado en Madeira, Portugal" [Phallus maderensis sp. nov., found in Madeira, Portugal] (PDF). Boletin de la Sociedad Micologica de Madrid. 32: 101–4.
  4. hdl:10261/91831
    .
  5. ^
    doi:10.5248/108.457
    .
  6. ^
    doi:10.33585/cmy.48407
    .
  7. ISBN 0-916422-74-7
    .

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