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Xerula megalospora [ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Marasmiaceae > Xerula . . . ]
by Michael Kuo To the naked eye, Xerula megalospora is a dead ringer for several other species of Xerula, including Xerula incognita and pale, small forms of Xerula furfuracea. This means you will probably need a microscope, or the ability to conduct mating studies in a mycological laboratory, in order to identify it with certainty--unless you are willing to dry and preserve your specimen for a few years; Xerula megalospora appears to be the only North American species of Xerula that develops bright orange gills when stored in a herbarium. However, the orange color takes a few years to develop, and apparently fades to yellow within about 50 years (see Redhead and collaborators, 1987 for details). The easier course is to study Xerula megalospora with a microscope. Its large spores are decidedly lemon-shaped, and feature finely dimpled surfaces; its cheilocystidia have swollen, capitate ends; and its pileipellis features hyaline, thin-walled pileocystidia. Description: Ecology: Saprobic on decaying debris of hardwoods--but not typically growing on logs or stumps, unless they are well decomposed; usually terrestrial; spring through fall; fairly widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains. Cap: 2-8 cm; convex or broadly conical when young, becoming broadly convex to flat in age; fairly smooth, or wrinkled in a zone around the center; greasy in normal weather conditions; pale grayish brown to buff or nearly white; the margin often uplifted in maturity. Gills: Attached to the stem or notched; distant or nearly so; whitish; thick. Gills of dried specimens become bright orange after several years in storage. Stem: 6-13 cm long above ground; up to about 1 cm thick; tapering to apex; fairly smooth; white; with a long, tapered tap root extending underground; the tap root sometimes bruising rusty brown. Flesh: Whitish, thin. Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive, or reminiscent of carrots; taste not distinctive. Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface negative. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 18-23 x 10-14 µ; finely pitted; inamyloid; prominently lemon-shaped to flask-shaped. Cheilocystidia usually conspicuously capitate; up to 120 x 22 µ. Pleurocystidia fat-cylindric; thin-walled; hyaline. Pileipellis hymeniform and somewhat gelatinized; pileocystidia frequent, thin-walled, hyaline, up to 300 x 13 µ. Caulocystidia absent. REFERENCES: (Clements, 1896) Redhead, Ginns & Shoemaker, 1987. (Redhead, Ginns & Shoemaker, 1987; Phillips, 1991/2005; Petersen & Methven, 1994; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 05169505, 06070802, 07120805, 07200802. Further Online Information: Xerula megalospora at Roger's Mushrooms |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2008, October). Xerula megalospora. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/xerula_megalospora.html |