''Hypomyces cervinigenus'' is a

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

ascomycete fungus that grows on elfin saddle ('' Helvella'') mushrooms in Europe and North America. It was described as new to science in 1971 by Clark Rogerson and Horace Simms. The type collection was made in Pierce County, Washington, where the fungus was found growing on the stipe and

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 ...

of what they identified as a fruit body of '' Helvella lacunosa''; later molecular work demonstrated that the European ''H. lacunosa'' is not found in North America, and that the North American versions are in fact two similar species, '' H. vespertina'' and '' H. dryophila''. ''H. cervinigenus'' has

perithecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mos ...

that are white to pale

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

with a waxy texture. The

ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or ...

s are two-celled, smooth-walled, and measure less than 25 µm long. The anamorph form of the fungus is known as ''Mycogone cervina''.

References

Fungi described in 1971 Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Hypocreaceae Parasitic fungi {{Hypocreales-stub