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Leotia lubrica

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Leotia lubrica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Leotiomycetes
Order: Leotiales
Family: Leotiaceae
Genus: Leotia
Species:
L. lubrica
Binomial name
Leotia lubrica
(Scop.) Pers. (1797)
Synonyms[1]
  • Helvella lubrica Scop. (1772)
  • Peziza cornucopiae Hoffm. (1790)

Leotia lubrica, commonly referred to as a jelly baby, is a species of fungus in the family Leotiaceae. L. lubrica was first validly described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, but it was later transferred to Leotia by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon. Its relationship with other members of the genus, of which it is the type species, is complicated.

The species produces small fruit bodies up to 6 centimetres (2+1⁄2 in) in height, featuring a "head" and a stalk. The youngest fruit bodies are small and conical, but the fertile head quickly grows from the stalk. Ochre with tints of olive-green, the heads are irregularly shaped, while the stalk, of a similar colour, attaches them to the ground. The appearance can be somewhat variable and is similar to a number of other species, including Cudonia confusa, C. circinans, L. atrovirens and L. viscosa.

L. lubrica has been recorded in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia. Growing in woodland among moss, plant detritus or other habitats, the fruit bodies are typically found in large numbers, though they can grow in tight clumps or even individually. The species may feed as a saprotroph or possibly obtains nutrition from living trees through ectomycorrhizae. It is often described as inedible, despite its common name, but has occasionally been reported as a good edible.

Taxonomy

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The first species was first validly described scientifically by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1772.[2] Scopoli either named the species Elvella lubrica[3] or Helvella lubrica,[1] with the specific name lubrica meaning 'slimy'.[4] Christiaan Hendrik Persoon transferred the species to Leotia, where it remains, in 1794.[3] Other synonyms include Leotia gelatinosa, used by John Hill in 1751,[Note 1][5] Helvella gelatinosa, used in Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard's Histoire des champignons de la France,[3][6] and Peziza cornucopiae, a name given by Georg Franz Hoffmann in 1790. The fruit bodies of the mushrooms are typically referred to as jelly babies,[7][8] but other common names include the lizard tuft,[9] the ochre jelly club,[10] the slippery cap,[11] the green slime fungus, and the gumdrop fungus.[12] The term "yellow jelly babies" is sometimes used to differentiate the species from green jelly babies, Leotia viscosa.[13]

Leotia lubrica is the type species of the genus Leotia.[3] It has been hypothesised that the species has a close relationship with L. atrovirens; mycologist Geoffrey Kibby suggested that greenish color of L. atrovirens may be due to infection by an imperfect fungus on L. lubrica,[14] while David Arora proposed that the two species may intergrade.[15] In 2004, results of phylogenetic analysis suggested that L. lubrica, L. atrovirens and L. viscosa, while morphologically well-defined, were not monophyletic. L. lubrica specimens could be split into at least two different groups, one of which also contained specimens of L. viscosa. These groups could be differentiated morphologically by the colour of the stalk when dried. The most basal was shown to be L. atrovirens.[16]

Description

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Leotia lubrica
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Smooth hymenium
Cap is convex
Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
Stipe is bare
Ecology is saprotrophic or mycorrhizal
L. lubrica fruit bodies

Leotia lubrica produces fruit bodies which range from 1 to 6 centimetres (1⁄2 to 2+1⁄4 inches) in height.[8] The youngest fruit bodies are conical in shape. When the body reaches around 2 millimetres (1⁄16 in) in length, the tip of the cone begins to expand, forming the head. This is the stage at which the hymenium becomes differentiated from the rest of the body, and the bodies quickly reach their mature form, maturing only through growth after that point.[17]

Each fruit body has a single fertile "head" measuring 1–3 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 in) across,[8] which is an olive-greenish ochre and gelatinous.[7][18] To the touch, the surface of the head can be smooth, clammy or slimey.[8] While in shape it is convex, the head is made up of irregular lobes and undulations, and the edge is rolled inward.[7][8] The underside is paler in colour than the upper surface, and smooth.[19] The head is attached to a central stalk, which ranges from 2–8 cm (3⁄4–3+1⁄8 in) and 3–10 mm (1⁄8–3⁄8 in) wide,[18] though thinner toward the substrate.[7] The stalk is typically cylindrical, but can be flattened, and occasionally has furrows.[8] The colour is similar to that of the head, though more yellow, and the surface is covered in very small granules of a greenish colour.[7][8] The flesh is gelatinous in the head, while the stalk is mostly hollow,[7] but it can be filled with gel.[15] It has no discernible smell or taste.[9]

Microscopic features

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L. lubrica spores are borne in asci measuring around 150 by 10–12 micrometres (μm).[7] They are club-shaped, and each ascus typically bears eight spores.[3] The asci are inoperculate, meaning that they lack a "lid" and must split to release their spores.[19] The elongated ascospores themselves measure 20 to 25 by 5 to 6 μm, and are subfusiform, that is, they taper slightly at each end.[7][20] The surface is smooth, and they can be curved,[19] and the spores typically contain four small drops of oil.[3] The mature spores are septate; that is, they are divided by several septa throughout their length, with 5 to 7 partitions typical,[19][20] and hyaline.[11] The threadlike, colourless paraphyses measure 105 to 124 by 1.8 to 2.8 μm.[3]

Similar species

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Lookalike species: Cudonia confusa (left) and Leotia atrovirens (right)

L. lubrica fruit bodies are similar to those of Cudonia confusa, commonly known as the cinnamon jellybaby. The species can be differentiated by the fact that L. lubrica fruit bodies are more sturdy, and those of C. confusa are much paler in colour.[8] Another Cudonia species, C. circinans (which is highly similar to C. lutea), is similar to L. lubrica, though it can be differentiated by its colour (which is more brown), spores (which are smaller and thinner) and texture (which is less slimy and gelatinous than L. lubrica).[10] L. lubrica fruit bodies can also be mistaken for those of the much rarer L. atrovirens, which can be differentiated by its darker colouration.[9] L. viscosa can again be differentiated by colouration; the species has a green head,[19] although L. lubrica fruit bodies can also be greenish.[13]

Distribution and habitat

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L. lubrica fruit bodies grow in large numbers, typically on soil, moss or plant waste.

Fruit bodies are typically encountered from late summer to late autumn in Europe,[7] and from late spring to autumn in North America,[19] where it is the most common Leotia species.[15] It has also been recorded in eastern Asia, in China and Tibet,[3] as well as in New Zealand and Australia.[16]

L. lubrica favours damp deciduous woodland,[7][8] but can also be found under conifers.[19] Particular favoured habitats include path sides and underneath bracken,[7] while favoured substrates include soil, moss and plant waste.[8]

Fruit bodies are typically found growing in large numbers,[8] sometimes in clumps,[11] though solitary specimens are occasionally encountered.[11] Several bodies can be connected at their bases, or younger bodies can grow out of the bases of older ones.[17]

Ecology

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Several examples of yellow fungi colonized by brown spots at different stages of infestation
Hypomyces leotiicola infecting Leotia lubrica (Michigan, United States)

While it has been conventionally regarded as a saprotroph,[19] molecular, isotopic and other lines of evidence have suggested that L. lubrica forms ectomycorrhizae.[21][22]

Fruit bodies can be infected by the mould Hypomyces leotiarum (asexual reproduction form of Hypomyces leotiicola).[23]

Toxicity

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Its fruit bodies are of little culinary interest,[20] and, contrary to what is suggested by the common name, are often described as inedible by field guides.[7][24] It has also been reported that the species is in fact edible yet insipid.[18] Charles McIlvaine even considered it good,[11] although others describe it as bland.[25] L. lubrica fruit bodies have been found to contain low levels of monomethylhydrazine, a toxic chemical associated with the poisonous false morel Gyromitra esculenta.[26]

Notes

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  1. ^ Though this description was earlier than Scopoli's, it is not valid, as it was published before Carl Linnaeus's Species Plantarum. See binomial nomenclature.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Leotia lubrica (Scop.) Pers. 1797". Mycobank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  2. ^ Flora Carniolica exhibens plantas Carnioliae indigenas et distributas in classes, genera, species, varietates, ordine Linnaeano (1772).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Bi, Zhishu; Zheng, Guoyang; Li, Taihui (1993). The Macrofungus Flora of China's Guangdong Province. Chinese University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-962-201-556-2.
  4. ^ Mosley, Oswald; Brown, Edwin (1863). The Natural History of Tutbury. p. 353.
  5. ^ "Leotia lubrica synonymy". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  6. ^ Bulliard, Jean Baptiste François Pierre (1780–93). Histoire des Champignons de la France (in French). Vol. 433. Paris, France: Chez l'auteur.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Phillips, Roger (1981). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe. London: Pan Books. p. 276. ISBN 0-330-26441-9.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sterry, Paul; Hughes, Barry (2009). Complete Guide to British Mushrooms & Toadstools. HarperCollins. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-00-723224-6.
  9. ^ a b c Garnweidner, Edmund (2011). Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe. Translated by Monika Shaffer-Fehre. HarperCollins. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-261-67406-6.
  10. ^ a b Bessette, Alan; Bessette, Arleen Raines (2007). Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States. Syracuse University Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8156-3112-5.
  11. ^ a b c d e McKnight, Kent H.; McKnight, Vera B.; Peterson, Roger Tory (1998). A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-395-91090-0.
  12. ^ Dickinson, Colin; Lucas, John (1982). VNR Color Dictionary of Mushrooms. New York, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-0-442-21998-7.
  13. ^ a b Russell, Bill (2006). Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic. Penn State University Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-271-02891-0.
  14. ^ Kibby, Geoffrey (1994). An Illustrated Guide to Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Stamford, Connecticut: Lubrecht & Cramer Ltd. p. 178. ISBN 0-681-45384-2.
  15. ^ a b c Arora, David (1986). Mushrooms Demystified: a Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi. Ten Speed Press. p. 874. ISBN 0-89815-169-4.
  16. ^ a b Zhong, Zhihong; Pfister, Donald H. (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships among species of Leotia (Leotiales) based on ITS and RPB2 sequences". Mycological Progress. 3 (3): 237–246. doi:10.1007/s11557-006-0094-8. S2CID 20086665.
  17. ^ a b Brown, William H. (1910). "The Development of the Ascocarp of Leotia". Botanical Gazette. 50 (5). The University of Chicago Press: 443–459. doi:10.1086/330408. JSTOR 2467537. S2CID 84309803.
  18. ^ a b c Davis, R. Michael; Sommer, Robert; Menge, John A. (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 391. ISBN 978-0-520-95360-4. OCLC 797915861.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Kuo, Michael (June 2003). "Leotia lubrica". MushroomExpert.com. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  20. ^ a b c Kibby, Geoffrey (2003). Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Northern Europe. Hamlyn. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-7537-1865-0.
  21. ^ Kühldorf, Katja; Münzenberger, B.; Begerow, D.; Gomez-Laurito; Hüttl, R.F. (2015). "Leotia cf. lubrica forms arbutoid mycorrhiza with Comarostaphylis arbutoides (Ericaceae)". Mycorrhiza. 25 (2): 109–120. doi:10.1007/s00572-014-0590-7. PMC 4305366. PMID 25033922.
  22. ^ Tedersoo, Leho; Smith, Matthew (2017). "Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Lineages: Detection of Four New Groups and Notes on Consistent Recognition of Ectomycorrhizal Taxa in High-Throughput Sequencing Studies". Biogeography of Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. Ecological Studies. Springer. pp. 125–142. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-56363-3_6. ISBN 9783319563633.
  23. ^ Rogerson, Clark T.; Samuels, Gary J. (1985). "Species of Hypomyces and Nectria occurring on Discomycetes". Mycologia. 77 (5): 763–783. doi:10.2307/3793285. JSTOR 3793285.
  24. ^ Wilkinson, John; Buczacki, Stefan (1982). Mushrooms & Toadstools. HarperCollins. p. 233. ISBN 0-00-458812-6.
  25. ^ Sundberg, Walter J.; Bessette, Alan (1987). Mushrooms: A Quick Reference Guide to Mushrooms of North America (Macmillan Field Guides). Collier Books. p. 14. ISBN 0-02-063690-3.
  26. ^ Andary, Claude; Privat, Guy; Bourrier, Marie-Jo (1985). "Variations of monomethylhydrazine content in Gyromitra esculenta". Mycologia. 77 (2): 259–264. JSTOR 3793077.

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