''Climacodon sanguineus'' is a rare species of

tooth fungus The hydnoid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota with basidiocarps (fruit bodies) producing spores on pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections. They are colloquially called tooth fungi. Originally such fungi were referred to the g ...

in the family

Meruliaceae The Meruliaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 47 genera and 420 species. , Index Fungorum accepts 645 species in the family. Taxonomy The family was formally circumscribed by E ...

that is found in Africa.

Taxonomy

The fungus was originally described as ''Hydnum sanguineum'' by Belgian mycologist

Maurice Beeli Maurice Philippe Gaspard Beeli (21 October 1879, St-Gilles-lez-Bruxelles – 17 March 1957) was a Belgian mycologist. For more than thirty years, being encouraged by Émile De Wildeman and Walter Robyns, successive directors of the National Bo ...

in 1926. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

collection was made near

Kalo, Democratic Republic of the Congo Kalo is a community in Kwilu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Populated places in Kwilu Province {{DRC-geo-stub ...

Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus Rudolf Arnold Maas Geesteranus (20 January 1911 in The Hague – May 18, 2003 in Oegstgeest), was a Dutch mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry ...

transferred the species to genus ''

Climacodon ''Climacodon'' is a widespread genus of tooth fungi in the family Phanerochaetaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by Finnish mycologist Petter Karsten in 1881 with ''Climacodon septentrionalis'' as the type species. This fungus was orig ...

'' in 1971.

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

data shows that ''C. sanguineus'' forms a well-supported

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

with the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''

'', '' C. septentrionale'', which nests in the Phlebioid clade.

Description

The bright red, funnel-shaped

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

of this fungus are up to tall. They have sharp, cylindrical spines on the underside of the cap. ''C. sanguineus'' has a monomitic

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or ...

l system, containing only generative hyphae. These hyphae have a

septum In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; plural septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatri ...

; some of the hyphae comprising the cap and in the core of the spines have

clamps Clamp may refer to: Tools and devices *Brick clamp, an early method of baking bricks *Clamp (tool), a device or tool used to hold objects in a fixed relative position (many types listed) **C-clamp **C-clamp (stagecraft) **Riser clamp, a device u ...

. The cystidia, which are scattered on the surface on the spines (the spore-bearing surface), are double-walled with a discontinuous internal lumen. The spores are

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

in shape,

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions a ...

, and measure 4–5 by 2–2.5

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q55607787 Fungi described in 1926 Fungi of Africa Phanerochaetaceae