Calostoma cinnabarina

[ Basidiomycetes > Boletales > Sclerodermataceae > Calostoma . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Readers who are used to my admonitions against identifying mushrooms by comparing them to photographs may be surprised to hear me say that Calostoma cinnabarina is perobably an exception. Field guides sometimes call Calostoma cinnabarina the "Stalked Puffball-in-Aspic," which is a very apt description of this beautifully disgusting fungus.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously in woods, along the edges of roads and paths, and so on; spring through fall; eastern North America, Texas, and perhaps in the Southwest; apparently more common at higher elevations within its range.

Fruiting body: At first appearing like a raised gelatinous egg or lump, with a translucent outer layer and a red inner layer; later appearing like a smooth or dusted pinkish to red balloon with a central pore, raised on a shaggy reddish to reddish brown stem that is surrounded by the deciduous, gelatinous material (often containing reddish chunks, as in the illustration); finally appearing like a pinkish to reddish, perforated balloon about 2 cm across, atop a shaggy or even coarsely reticulate stem that is 2-4 cm long and 1-2 cm thick. The spore mass within the ball is white, becoming buff or yellowish at maturity.

Microscopic Features: Spores 14-28 x 6-11 µ; elliptical; pitted.

REFERENCES: Desvaux. (Coker & Couch, 1928; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Weber & Smith, 1985; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Metzler & Metzler, 1992; Roody, 2003; Miller & Miller, 2006.)

Calostoma cinnabarinum is a synonym.

Calostoma lutescens has a yellow, rather than red, spore case, and a longer stem; Calostoma ravenelii has a yellowish spore case and lacks the gelatinous covering.

Recent DNA research has placed species of Calostoma within the Boletales.

Further Online Information:

Calostoma cinnabarinum at Roger's Mushrooms

C. lutescens or C. ravenelii? See comments to the left.

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, August). Calostoma cinnabarina. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/calostoma_cinnabarina.html