Ascobolus stercorarius (Bull. ex St.-Amans) J. Schroet.
no common name
Ascobolaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
no common name
Ascobolaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Photograph
Species Information
Summary:
Features include small cup-shaped to cushion-shaped yellow to green yellow fruitbodies that become dark brown, scurfy exterior and margin that are lighter in color, growth on dung, especially of cow, and microscopic characters including elliptic spores ornamented by 7-9 anastomosing light colored lines. Van Brummelen gives Ascobolus stercorarius (Bull. per St. Amans) Schroet. as a synonym, and the online Species Fungorum, accessed November 3, 2013, gave the latter as the valid name with Ascobolus furfuraceus Pers. as a synonym. On the other hand Dennis says Ascobolus stercorarius (Bull. ex St.-Amans) J. Schroet. emend. Olive may be distinguished from Ascobolus furfuraceus Pers. ex Fr. by the former''s shorter spores 17-22 x 9.5-12.5 microns on which about 5-7 freely anastomosing striae are visible at one time.
Microscopic:
spores 23-26 x 10-14 microns, elliptic, colorless when young and surrounded with a gelatinous sheath, "violet-brown when mature and ornamented with 7-9 anastomosing light-colored longitudinal ribs", asci 8-spored, 200-220 x 20-22 microns, amyloid; paraphyses "slender, septate, with slight clavate thickenings to 8 microns at the tips", (Breitenbach), spores (16)19-28(32) x (9)10-14(16) microns, elliptic, "ornamented with more or less longitudinal, occasionally anastomosing striae, rarely swollen and reticulated, with unilateral mucilaginous substance", at first colorless then violet, finally often purplish brown, when mature biseriate or irregularly disposed; asci 8-spored, (120)180-250 x (20)24-30(32) microns, clavate, walls amyloid, narrowing downward into rather short stem, rounded at top; paraphyses filiform, 2-4 microns thick, "usually scarcely thickened above, only very rarely with ellipsoid, strongly swollen cells up to 21 microns thick", simple or branched, septate, embedded in yellowish or yellowish green mucus, (Brummelen), spores 22-28 x 12-13 microns, elliptic, ornamented with longitudinal occasionally anastomosing lines, about 8 or 9 of which are visible on each view of the spore, spores violet then brown; paraphyses slender, embedded in yellow mucus, (Dennis)
Notes:
Ascobolus stercorarius is found at least in BC, WA, OR, ID, CA, and CO, (Larsen for A. furfuraceus Pers. ex Pers.). Collections of A. furfuraceus Pers. per Hook. were examined from OR, ID, AL, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, MA, ME, MO, MT, NC, NE, NH, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, WY, Bermuda, Greenland, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Algeria, Madagascar, and Australia, (Brummelen).
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Ascobolus lignatilis differs by stemmed fruitbodies and smaller spores on the average, (13)16-18(21) x 8-9(10) microns, (Breitenbach).Habitat
sometimes single, but usually gregarious to crowded on dung, principally of cow, (Breitenbach), single or gregarious on dung of cow, horse, deer, goat, bear, pig, fox, rabbit, and hare, on manured soil, on rotten refuse, and on rotten stems of cabbage, (Brummelen)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Merulius incrassatus Berk. & M.A. Curtis
Serpula incrassata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Donk