Peziza michelii

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by Michael Kuo

I don't know what "Michael" old Boudier had in mind when he named Peziza michelii from the Parisian woods in the late nineteenth century--but I'm going to go ahead and assume that this is my cup fungus. Thanks, Jean!

My cup fungus might easily be described as a purple version of the better known Peziza succosa--a brownish species that has yellowing flesh and produces a yellow juice--except that Peziza michelii is usually smaller, and a bit less juicy.

Frankly, Mr. Shankly, I doubt that either of these European names should actually be applied to North American material--but let's not go there.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic, or perhaps mycorrhizal; growing alone or gregariously, often near roadbanks, paths, and so on; May through September; apparently fairly widely distributed east of the Great Plains (my collections come from northern Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee).

Fruiting Body: Goblet-shaped to cup-shaped when young, becoming saucer-shaped; 5-30 mm across; upper surface bald, lilac to purple; undersurface bald or very finely granular, nearly whitish at first, becoming yellowish, staining slowly yellow; stem absent; attached to the substrate at a central location; odor and taste not distinctive; flesh whitish to yellowish, when squeezed exuding a juice that stains surfaces slowly bright yellow to brownish yellow.

Spore Print: Not recorded.

Microscopic Features: Spores 13-17 x 7-9 µ; at maturity warty; ellipsoid; biguttulate. Asci eight-spored; with blue tips in Melzer's reagent; up to 300 x 18 µ. Paraphyses with subclavate or merely rounded apices 3-6 µ wide.

REFERENCES: (Boudier, 1891) Dennis, 1960. (Saccardo, 1895; Dennis, 1968; Breitenbach & Kränzlin, 1984.) Herb. Kuo 06160304, 09120407, 05210703, 07140805.

This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.

Spore

Ascus tips and spores in Melzer's reagent

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2013, December). Peziza michelii. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: December://www.mushroomexpert.com/peziza_michelii.html.