Hymenoscyphus fructigenus

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by Michael Kuo

This tiny cup fungus competes with Bisporella citrina for the honor of being the smallest mushroom treated at MushroomExpert.Com, with caps maxing out at 4 mm. Growing in clusters on beech nuts, hickory shells, and acorns, Hymenoscyphus fructigenus is often found fruiting alongside Mycena luteopallens--a tiny gilled mushroom that seems enormous by comparison, since a single hickory shell can hold dozens of specimens of Hymenoscyphus fructigenus.

I have no information on the edibility of Hymenoscyphus fructigenus. Before you decide to experiment, however, take a moment to make a casual estimate of the number of mushrooms it would take to make one bite!

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on beech nuts, hickory shells, acorns, and other nuts; growing gregariously or in clusters; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America.

Fruiting Body: Cup shaped to disc shaped; the disc up to 4 mm across; with a tiny stem that may become elongated; smooth or finely downy on the underside and stem; uniformly whitish to very pale yellow.

Microscopic Features: Spores 13-25 x 3-5 µ cylindrical; smooth; often septate.

REFERENCES: (Bulliard) Gray. (Lincoff, 1981; Barron, 1999.) Herb. Kuo 09280302.

Further Online Information:

Hymenoscyphus fructigenus images at BioImages

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, February). Hymenoscyphus fructigenus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hymenoscyphus_fructigenus.html