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Species Information
Summary: Features include turbinate to somewhat cylindric fruiting body with orange spore-bearing upper surface that has a fringe-like border, seated on conspicuous mycelial growth, whitish or pale orange underside, growth in early spring, and microscopic characters including spores in the range 18.4-25.6 x 8-9.6 microns. The description is derived from Seaver for Humarina aggregata (Berk. & Broome) Seaver except where noted. This is the most commonly collected species in the genus. The online Species Fungorum, accessed December 14, 2013, gives the current name Thelebolus terrestris Alb. & Schwein. with Byssonectria terrestris (Alb. & Schwein.) Pfister as a synonym, and gives the "aggregata" names as synonyms of Byssonectria fusispora (Berk.) Rogerson & Korf. Here we follow Pfister(3) who includes the "aggregata" names and Thelebolus terrestris Alb. & Schwein. as synonyms of Byssonectria terrestris (Alb. & Schw.:Fr.) Pfister - see SIMILAR. Byssonectria aggregata (a synonym here) is thought to associate with Nannfeldtia aggregata.
Byssonectria terrestris is found in WA, and also AB, MB, NB, ON, PQ, AK, ME, MI, NH, NY, TN, WI, and WY, (Pfister), and Europe including Denmark (Perry). Oluna Ceska identified and vouchered it (as Byssonectria fusispora) from BC.
Upper surface: 0.2-0.3cm, somewhat cylindric or turbinate [top-shaped], spore-bearing upper surface concave or nearly flat, surrounded by a delicate fringe-like border; bright orange
Underside: whitish or pale orange
Stem: seated on a conspicuous mycelial growth
Microscopic: spores 22-25 x 8-9 microns, (Pfister gives a range of 18.4-25.6 x 8-9.6 microns), fusoid [spindle-shaped], colorless, containing 2 oil droplets, uniseriate, often with ends strongly overlapping or irregularly crowded and partially biseriate; asci 8-spored, reaching a length of 200-225 microns and a width of 10-12 microns, cylindric to clavate, narrowing rather abruptly in lower part; paraphyses rather strongly enlarged in upper part, (Seaver), subiculum less than 0.2cm thick (Pfister)
Habitat / Range
gregarious or more often crowded together into confluent masses, on the ground, (Seaver), "covering and binding leaves, mosses, pine needles, and twigs and on soil in areas where animals have urinated", "dung sometimes present"; found in early spring, (Pfister)
Similar Species
Pfister(3) recognizes 4 species of Byssonectria: B. terrestris, B. cartilagineum [sic], B. fusispora (examined from Nunavut, IN, FL, United Kingdom), and B. seaveri (examined from NJ, SC), and gives a key. B. terrestris has fruitbodies gregarious on extensive mycelial mats, subiculum less than 2 mm thick, arachnoid, "covering and binding leaves, mosses, pine needles, and twigs and on soil in areas where animals have urinated", "dung sometimes present", spores 18.4-25.6 x 8-9.6(10.4) microns. B. cartilagineum [sic] has fruitbodies gregarious on extensive mycelial mats, subiculum 0.2-0.5cm thick, covering and binding rodent dung under or associated with melting snow, spores 20-24 x 8-9.6 microns. B. fusispora has fruitbodies formed on mycelial tufts, subiculum scanty or lacking, associated with burned areas, spores 24-28.8 x 7.2-11 microns (23-28 microns long in another part of the article), paraphyses straight or curved, not interwoven. B. seaveri has fruitbodies formed on mycelial tufts, subiculum scanty or lacking, on sandy soil often associated with burned plant debris, spores 29-36 x 8-10 microns, paraphyses sometimes interwoven to form a thin epithecium, (Pfister). Oluna and Adolf Ceska reported B. fusispora from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, with spore size (20)23-25 x 8-9(10) microns. According to Pfister(3), "Rifai (1968) largely discounted the use of ascospore size differences to distinguish species. He examined primarily type collections and proposed a broad species concept recognizing a single species Inermisia fusispora (Berk.) Rifai with a wide ascospore size range." . See also SIMILAR section of Byssonectria cartilaginea.
