Dermea prunastri (Pers.) Fr.
no common name
Dermateaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
no common name
Dermateaceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Photograph
Species Information
Summary:
Features include 1) minute, smooth, dark brown to black fruiting bodies with concave to slightly convex black spore-bearing surface, the margin at first thick, raised, sometimes incurved, the consistency hard, leathery to horny, lacking a stem or with small ill-defined stem, 2) erumpent growth from cracks on bark on dead twigs of Prunus spp., and 3) microscopic characters. The conidial stage of Dermea prunastri is found quite often on small, dead twigs of Prunus, but the sexual fruitbodies less often.
Microscopic:
spores (12)15-20(25) x 5.0-7.5 microns, elliptic-fusiform, straight or slightly curved, colorless becoming yellowish, 1-4-celled, irregularly biseriate in ascus; asci 8-spored, (80)90-115(125) x (10)12-14(15) microns, cylindric-clavate, short-stemmed; paraphyses 1.5-2.0 microns wide, filiform [thread-like], colorless, septate, simple or branched, the tips slightly swollen to 2.5-3 microns "and glued together forming a yellowish epithecium"; conidia (15)20-30(35) x (4.0)5.0-7.0 microns, elongate-fusiform, "almost straight to slightly sickle-shaped, occasionally sigmoid, ends pointed", colorless to slightly greenish yellow, 1-celled; conidiophores 20-35 x 2.5-3.0 microns, "cylindric, tapering to a slender point", colorless, septate, simple [unbranched]; microconidia 7-10 x 1.5 microns, "filiform, straight or slightly curved", colorless to yellowish, 1-celled, ends rounded, (Groves), spores 15-20 x 5-7.5 microns, narrowly elliptic, straight or slightly curved, irregularly biseriate; asci 8-spored, up to 120 x 15 microns, cylindric-clavate, the pore sometimes turning feebly blue in iodine; paraphyses usually branched near apex, tips closely septate, enlarged to 3 microns wide and adhering together; the conidia 20-30 x 4-7 microns, narrowly fusiform, more or less sickle-shaped, colorless, non-septate, (Dennis), spores 15-25 x 5-7.5 microns, elliptic-fusiform, straight or slightly curved, colorless becoming yellowish, simple or 1-3-septate, irregularly biseriate; asci 8-spored, reaching a length or 90-125 microns and a width of 12-15 microns, cylindric-clavate, short-stemmed; paraphyses 1.5-2 microns wide, filiform, colorless, simple or branched, the tips swollen to 2.5-3 microns and glued together to form a yellowish epithecium; conidia 20-35 x 5-7 microns, elongate-fusiform, almost straight or slightly sickle-shaped, simple, transparent, slightly greenish, the ends acute, microconidia 7-10 x 1.5 microns, filiform, straight or slightly curved, colorless to yellowish, simple, ends rounded, conidiophores 20-35 x 2.5-3 microns, cylindric, colorless, simple, tapering to a slender point, (Seaver)
Notes:
It is found from NH to WA and SC, (Seaver). Collections were examined from WA, ID, NS, ON, PQ, NH, NY, SC, and Germany, (Groves). There is a collection from BC at the Pacific Forestry Centre labeled as this species. It is also found in Europe including the United Kingdom (Dennis).
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Dermea padi (Alb. & Schwein.) Fr. (examined from NY, Austria) and Dermea cerasi (Pers.) Fr. are also found on Prunus: ascospore and ascus characters are similar and the characters that most clearly separate them are the size and shape of the conidia. In D. cerasi 1) the sexual fruitbodies, usually occurring in clusters, are relatively large, usually exceeding 0.1cm and often more than 0.15cm in diameter, 2) the conidial fruitbodies consist of fleshy stromata usually containing several cavities, and 3) the conidia are mostly 40-60 x 2.5-4.5 microns and sharply pointed at the ends. In Dermea padi, 1) the sexual fruitbodies are smaller, mostly about 0.1cm in diameter and mostly occurring singly, 2) the conidial fruitbodies consist of hard, horny, rostrate stromata, usually containing a single cavity, and 3) the conidia are similar in shape to those of D. cerasi but much smaller, 20-30 x 2.5-4.0 microns. In Dermea prunastri, 1) the sexual fruitbodies are usually in clusters, more brownish than those of the other 2 species, and usually less than 0.1cm in diameter, 2) the conidial fruitbodies are usually cespitose, long-rostrate, very hard and horny in consistency, and contain a single cavity, and 3) the conidia are 20-30 x 4-7 microns, about the same length as those of D. padi but thicker and not as sharply pointed at the ends. (Groves).Habitat
"erumpent, scattered, cespitose, occasionally single", on Prunus spp.; conidial fruitbodies "erumpent, cespitose, occasionally single", (Groves), erumpent in small groups from cracks in bark, on dead twigs of Prunus, (Dennis), single or cespitose [clustered], erumpent, on various species of Prunus, conidial bodies also erumpent, occasionally single, more often cespitose, (Seaver)
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Cenangium prunastri Fr.
Dermatella prunastri Dowson
Hydnellum stereosarcinon (Wehm.) Stalpers
Hydnum stereosarcinon (Wehm.) K.A. Harrison
Tympanis prunastri Wallr.