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Snowbank Fungus
A snowbank fungus is any one of a number of diverse species of fungus, fungi that occur adjacent to or within melting snow. They are most commonly found in the mountains of western North America where a deep snowpack accumulates during the winter and slowly melts through the spring and summer, often shaded by coniferous forest. They may be saprotrophic, mycorrhizae, mycorrhizal, or in the case of ''Caloscypha, Caloscypha fulgens'', pathogenic. History William Bridge Cooke was the first to discuss the snowbank fungi as a distinct ecological group in 1944 when he discussed the fungal flora of Mount Shasta in California. He followed this with another publication 11 years later. In his 1975 book ''A Field Guide to Western Mushrooms'', Alexander H. Smith discussed what he called the "snowbank flora", noting "It seems obvious to me that the species in this group are well established throughout the forest zone, and have adjusted to this fruiting pattern, possibly as a response to the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clitocybe Glacialis
''Clitocybe glacialis'' is a species of mushroom in the family Tricholomataceae. Formerly known as ''Lyophyllum montanum'', this is a snowbank fungus, snowbank mushroom, always associated with melting snow along snowbanks and thus ''glacialis''. Originally described by Alexander H. Smith in 1957, this North American species is typically found growing under conifers on mountains. Taxonomy The original specimen was collected in the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming by mycologist Harry D. Thiers. In 1957, Alexander H. Smith, who had received the specimen from Thiers, described it as ''Lyophyllum montanum'', placing it in the genus ''Lyophyllum'' because of its dark gray color and gills that became ash-gray (''cinereous'') with age. However, it later became clear that this species lacked siderophilous granules—iron-absorbing particles that darken when heated in acetocarmine—a trait characteristic of other ''Lyophyllum'' species. For this reason, Redhead ''et al.'' in 2000 moved t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
