Macrotyphula juncea

[ Basidiomycota > Agaricales > Typhulaceae > Clavaria . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Macrotyphula juncea is a super skinny club fungus found decomposing forest litter across North America. It reaches heights of about 8 centimeters, but is usually only about 1 millimeter thick. Other distinguishing features include the copious rhizomorphs at the base of the stem, extending into the substrate, and the whitish to pale yellowish surface.

Clavaria fuscata is similar, but smells strongly of garlic and lacks the rhizomorphs.

Synonyms include Clavaria juncea, Clavariadelphus junceus, and Typhula juncea. There is a long history of uncertainty about the relationship between the genera Clavaria, Typhula, and Macrotyphula. One recent investigation (Dentinger & McLaughlin 2006) places species of Typhula and Macrotyphula together (strangely, near Phyllotopsis nidulans), but the authors make no related taxonomic proposals. Olariaga & Salcedo (2012) propose folding the type species of Macrotyphula, Macrotyphula fistulosa, into Typhula, but do not directly address Macrotyphula juncea (which by the rules must be done for the name to be changed).

Description:

Ecology: Probably saprobic; growing gregariously to densely gregariously on forest litter in both hardwood and conifer forests; summer and fall, or over winter in warmer climates; widely distributed in North America; fairly common. The illustrated and described collection is from Illinois.

Fruiting Body: 4–8 cm high and 0.5–1 mm wide; cylindric; apex rounded or slightly narrowed; bald; dry; whitish to creamy yellowish; fertile surface not clearly delineated from sterline stem surface.

Flesh: Thin; whitish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: Iron salts and KOH both negative on surface.

Spore Print: Reported as white by Corner (1950).

Microscopic Features: Spores 7–10 x 3.5–5 µm; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia clavate; 4-sterigmate. Hymenial cystidia not found. Clamp connections present.

REFERENCES: (Albertini & Schweinitz, 1805) Berthier, 1974. (Fries, 1818; Coker, 1923; Corner, 1950; Arora, 1986; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; Dentinger & McLaughlin, 2006; Olariaga & Salcedo, 2012; Desjardin, Wood & Stevens, 2015; Siegel & Schwarz, 2016.) Herb. Kuo 10061201.

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Spores

Clamp connection

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2017, September). Macrotyphula juncea. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/macrotyphula_juncea.html