''Gymnopilus cyanopalmicola'' is a species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

-forming

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

in the family

Hymenogastraceae The Hymenogastraceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales with both agaric and false-truffle shaped fruitbodies. Formerly, prior to molecular analyses, the family was restricted to the false-truffle genera. The mushroom genus ''Psilocybe' ...

. Found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Mexico, it was described as new to science by Mexican mycologist

Laura Guzmán Dávalos Laura Guzmán Dávalos (born 1961) is a Mexican mycologist, biologist and lichenologist. She has been the head of the Botany and Zoology Department at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) from 1994–1998. From 2007 to 2014, she served as the ge ...

in 2006. The flesh of this mushroom turns blue when bruised, hence the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

Systematics

The species was first described by mycologist

in 2006 based on a type collection found on the roots of dead palm trees in the main city square of Puerto de Veracruz,

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, Mexico. The species epithet ''cyanopalmicola'' refers to the blue-staining fruit bodies and the microscopic similarity to '' Gymnopilus palmicola''.

Description

The

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 ''Gymnopilus cyanopalmicola'' have yellow, convex to plane

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s in diameter, with fibrillose scales that are erect near the center and appressed near the margin. The

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are crowded,

ventricose Ventricose is an adjective describing the condition of a mushroom, gastropod or plant that it is "swollen, distended, or inflated especially on one side". Mycology In mycology, ventricose is a condition in which the cystidia, lamella or stipe of a ...

, with adnate to decurrent gill attachment. The

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

is long by thick, cylindrical, fibrillose, tapering at the base in larger fruit bodies. It is colored yellowish white, and turns purple, dark reddish or dark brown when bruised or dried. The stipe has a conspicuous but soon fading membranous yellowish-white annulus. The pileus trama is light yellow, similar to the color of the cap. The odor is fungal. The verrucose

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s are ellipsoid to oblong, amygdaliform, thick walled, and lack a germ pore and plague, but have a superhilar depression. They typically measure 8.0 - 8.8 (-11.2) x by 5–6 (6 - 8) μm. They are

dextrinoid In mycology a tissue or feature is said to be amyloid if it has a positive amyloid reaction when subjected to a crude chemical test using iodine as an ingredient of either Melzer's reagent or Lugol's solution, producing a blue to blue-black staini ...

, orange-brown in KOH, not metachromatic, and have cyanophilic ornamentation.

Basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-c ...

are clear to yellowish, four spored, 26.4 - 37.5 x 6.4 - 7.7 μm, cylindrical to clavate, constricted in the middle, with sterigmata 3.2–4.8 μm long. The bases of the basidia have clamp connections.

Cystidia A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that ar ...

on the gill edge (cheilocystidia) are clear to yellowish, sometimes with granulose yellow brown contents, narrowly lageniform with a subcapitate to capitate apex, and have dimensions of 21.6–28 × 6.4–7.6 μm, with an apex of 4.8–7.2 μm. The base of the cheilocystidia have clamp connections.

Pleurocystidia A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that ar ...

(cystidia on the gill face) are extremely rare. When present they are clear to yellowish, utriform, 21.6–26 × 7 μm, with an obtuse to subcapitate apex that has a diameter of 3.4–5.6 μm. The hymenophoral trama is subparallel, clear to yellowish, with hyphae 3.4 - 14.7 μm in diameter and many

refractive In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...

drops. The subhymenium is cellular and clear, with some elongated inflated elements. The pileus trama is yellowish to brownish, radial, with interwoven zones near the

pileipellis The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fruit body In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowe ...

, and has hyphae 4.8 - 8.7 μm in diameter, with .5 to 2.5 μm walls. The

cap cuticle The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fruit body. It covers the trama, the fleshy tissue of the fruit body. The pileipellis is more or less synonymous with the cuticle, but the cuticle generally describes ...

is a cutis with prostrate hyphae. The scales are a trichoderm with septate hyphae 7.2 to 23.5 μm in diameter, with clamp connections and yellowish brown pigment encrusted in bands. Pileocystidia are absent.

Caulocystidia A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as t ...

are narrowly lageniform to narrowly utriform, 31 - 44 x 5.6 - 11 μm, with a 3 - 7 μm capitate to subcapitate apex.

Similar species

''Gymnopilus cyanopalmicola'' is closely related to '' Gymnopilus palmicola'', however that species is smaller and does not stain blue. Other Mexican blue staining ''

Gymnopilus ''Gymnopilus'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms within the fungal family Strophariaceae containing about 200 rusty-orange spored mushroom species formerly divided among ''Pholiota'' and the defunct genus ''Flammula''. The fruit body is typically ...

'' species include '' G. subearlei'' and '' G. subpurpuratus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5624773 cyanopalmicola Fungi described in 2006 Fungi of Mexico

Systematics

Description

Similar species

See also

References