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Gyromitra perlata

[ Ascomycetes > Pezizales > Discinaceae > Gyromitra . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Gyromitra perlata (also known as Discina perlata) can be separated from similar cup-shaped species in the genus by a combination of features: its upper surface is usually reddish brown or dark brown, and its spores have distinctive pointed apiculi (projections extending from the ends of the spore). Other species tend to be orange-brown or yellow-brown, and have spores that lack apiculi or have apiculi that look very different (for example, the scooped-out apiculi of Gyromitra leucoxantha).

Discina perlata is a former name. Abbott & Currah (1997) placed Discina macrospora and Discina warnei, two species previously separated by McKnight (1969), in synonymy with Gyromitra perlata. Weber (1995) anticipated this possibility a few years earlier but did not synonymize the species.

Thanks to the Herbarium of the University of Michigan for facilitating study of the collections cited below.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously; terrestrial, but like many species of Gyromitra often appearing near or on rotted wood and stumps; found primarily under conifers in western North America, and under conifers or hardwoods east of the Rocky Mountains; spring; widely distributed in North America but apparently not common in the southeast.

Fruiting Body: To 7 cm across; cup-shaped or bowl-shaped when young; flattening out with maturity, becoming irregularly saucer-shaped. Upper surface brown to reddish brown, darkening to dark brown or blackish, especially in raised areas (reminiscent of the blackening in Gyromitra esculenta); smooth or, more frequently, wavy to wrinkled or bumpy. Undersurface whitish to pale grayish brown or yellowish; bald or very finely hairy. Stem when present to 5 cm long and 3 cm wide; whitish; continuous with undersurface; usually broadly ribbed.

Microscopic Features: Spores 27.5-45.5 x 11.5-16 µ; fusoid; usually with one prominent oil droplet (sometimes with two or three droplets); smooth or roughened; apiculi pointed, extending up to 5.5 µ (best seen in a water mount). Asci 8-spored. Paraphyses with orangish to orange-brown granular contents; clavate or capitate to subcapitate; 6-9 µ wide.


REFERENCES: (Fries, 1822) Harmaja, 1969. (Harmaja, 1969; McKnight, 1969; Smith, 1975; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Breitenbach & Kränzlin, 1984; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Weber, 1995; Abbott & Currah, 1997; Evenson, 1997; Barron, 1999; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006; Trudell & Ammirati, 2009.) Herb. MICH AEF-1430, NSW-4543. Herb. BPI 1107963. Herb. Kuo 05249705, 05090605.


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Gyromitra perlata

Gyromitra perlata
Spores

Gyromitra perlata
Paraphyses



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2012, June). Gyromitra perlata. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/gyromitra_perlata.html