Guepiniopsis alpina
| Guepiniopsis alpina | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Division: | |
| Class: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | G. alpina
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| Binomial name | |
| Guepiniopsis alpina (Tracy & Earle) Brasf. (1938)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Guepinia alpina Tracy & Earle (1901) | |
Guepiniopsis alpina | |
|---|---|
 | Smooth hymenium |
 | No distinct cap |
 | Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable |
 | Stipe is bare |
 | Ecology is saprotrophic |
 | Edibility is unknown |
Guepiniopsis alpina, commonly known as the jelly cup, alpine jelly cone, or poor man's gumdrop, is a species of fungus in the family Dacrymycetaceae. The small, gelatinous fruit bodies are orange and cone- or cup-shaped, producing a yellowish spore print.
Found in western North America and Iran, the fungus grows on decaying conifer wood. It is of little to no culinary interest.
Taxonomy
[edit]The fungus was first described in 1901 by Samuel Mills Tracy and Franklin Sumner Earle under the name Guepinia alpina in 1901.[2] It was later transferred to Heterotextus in 1932,[3] and then to Guepiniopsis in 1938.[4]
It is commonly known as the "jelly cup",[5] "alpine jelly cone", or "poor man's gumdrop".[6]
Description
[edit]The fruit bodies are cone-shaped, measuring up to 2.5 cm (1 in) across.[6] They hang from a narrow attachment to the substrate.[6] They are bright yellow to orange, with a gelatinous texture and a smooth and sticky surface on top, but have external hairs.[7] The dried fruit bodies deepen to reddish-orange and become hard.[8] The basidiospores are produced on the inner surface of the cup and are yellowish in deposit.[6] The spores are sausage shaped, 11–18 by 4–6 μm, and have three or four septa.[6] Like all members of the Dacrymycetes, the basidia are Y-shaped.[6]
Similar species
[edit]Species with which G. alpina could be confused include Bisporella citrina, Dacrymyces capitatus (up to 3 millimetres wide), and D. stillatus (never cone-shaped).[8][9] Guepiniopsis chrysocomus is a related species with a somewhat similar appearance. It has a yellow fruit body, larger spores, and uses rotting hardwood as a substrate.[6]
Habitat and distribution
[edit]The fruit bodies grow scattered, in groups, or clusters on decaying, bark-free conifer wood. A snowbank fungus, it is most common at higher elevations after snowmelt in the spring. It is found in North America west of the Rocky Mountains.[8] In 2010, it was recorded for the first time in Iran.[10] It may also appear in Sweden.[citation needed]
Edibility
[edit]The edibility of G. alpina is unknown, but it is too small to be considered for the table.[8] It has been claimed to be edible, but tastes bland at best.[11] One guide classifies it as inedible.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Guepiniopsis alpina (Tracy & Earle) Brasf. :225, 1938". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2013-09-12.
- ^ Greene EL. (1901). Plantae Bakerianae. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C. p. 23.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Martin GW. (1932). "On certain species of Heterotextus". Mycologia. 24 (2): 215–20. doi:10.2307/3753682. JSTOR 3753682.
- ^ Brasfield TW. (1938). "The Dacrymycetaceae of temperate North America". The American Midland Naturalist. 20 (1): 211–35. doi:10.2307/2485192. JSTOR 2485192.
- ^ McKnight VB, McKnight KH (1987). A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. p. 65. ISBN 0-395-91090-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g Arora D. (1986) [1979]. Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. p. 674. ISBN 978-0-89815-170-1.
- ^ Trudell, Steve; Ammirati, Joe (2009). Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press Field Guides. Portland, OR: Timber Press. pp. 272–273. ISBN 978-0-88192-935-5.
- ^ a b c d Davis RM, Sommer R, Menge JA (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. University of California Press. pp. 307–8. ISBN 978-0-520-95360-4.
- ^ Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-593-31998-7.
- ^ Asef MR. (2010). "Guepiniopsis alpina، نخستين گزارش از جنس Guepiniopsis در ايران" [Guepiniopsis alpina, first record of the genus Guepiniopsis for Iran] (PDF). Rostaniha. 11 (1): 111.
- ^ Meuninck, Jim (2017). Foraging Mushrooms Oregon: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Mushrooms. Falcon Guides. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4930-2669-2.
- ^ Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 358. ISBN 978-1-55407-651-2.
External links
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