''Ileodictyon cibarium'' is a

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (f ...

species of

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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Phallaceae Phallaceae is a family of fungi, commonly known as stinkhorns, within the order Phallales. Stinkhorns have a worldwide distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical regions. They are known for their foul-smelling, sticky spore masses, ...

. It is native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where it is commonly known as the basket fungus or the white basket fungus, alluding to its

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 ...

, shaped like a round or oval ball with interlaced or latticed branches, resembling

polyhedra In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all on t ...

similar to closed

fullerene A fullerene is an allotrope of carbon whose molecule consists of carbon atoms connected by single and double bonds so as to form a closed or partially closed mesh, with fused rings of five to seven atoms. The molecule may be a hollow sphere, ...

s. Although the immature spherical fruitbodies are reportedly edible, the mature fruit body is foul-smelling and partly covered with a

slime layer A slime layer in bacteria is an easily removable (e.g. by centrifugation), unorganized layer of extracellular material that surrounds bacteria cells. Specifically, this consists mostly of exopolysaccharides, glycoproteins, and glycolipids. There ...

containing

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 (

gleba Gleba (, from Latin ''glaeba, glēba'', "lump") is the fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of certain fungi such as the puffball or stinkhorn. The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp. The continu ...

) on the inner surfaces.

Taxonomy and etymology

''Ileodictyon cibarium'' was originally described by

Edmond Tulasne Louis René Étienne Tulasne, a.k.a. Edmond Tulasne (12 September 1815 – 22 December 1885) was a French botanist and mycologist born in Azay-le-Rideau. He originally studied law at Poitiers, but his interest later turned to botany. As a yo ...

and

Charles Tulasne Charles Tulasne (5 September 1816 – 28 August 1884) was a French physician, mycologist and illustrator born in Langeais in the département of Indre-et-Loire. He received his medical doctorate in 1840 and practiced medicine in Paris until 185 ...

in a paper by

Étienne Raoul Étienne Fiacre Louis Raoul (23 July 1815 – 30 March 1852) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. He was born in Brest, France, Brest, the son of Joseph-François Raoul, a captain in the French Navy, and studied at the medical school in Brest ...

in 1844. The type specimen was collected in New Zealand. The

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

has 35 different names referring to ''I. cibarium''. These include tūtae kēhua ("ghost droppings"), tūtae whatitiri, and whareatua ("house of the devil"), kōkirikiriwhetū, kōpurawhetū, korokorowhetū, wheterau, popowhaitiri, tikowhatitiri, paruwhatitiri, matakupenga, and tūtae whetū. Several of the names refer to

whaitiri Whaitiri is a female atua and personification of thunder in Māori mythology. She is the grandmother of Tāwhaki and Karihi. Whaitiri is the granddaughter of Te Kanapu, son of Te Uira, both of whom are personified forms of lightning (Reed 196 ...

, the

atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori mythology, Māori or the Hawaiian religion, Hawaiians (see also ); the Polynesian languages, Polynesian word literally means "power" or "strength" and so the concept is s ...

and personification of thunder, this is because of the frequent appearance of ''I. cibarium'' fruit bodies following thunderstorms. In a 2018 poll, ''I. cibarium'' was ranked second by

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute whose focus of research is the environment, biodiversity, and sustainability. History Manaaki Whenua was originally part of the Department of Scientific and Industr ...

for its pick as New Zealand's national fungus, being defeated by ''

Entoloma hochstetteri ''Entoloma hochstetteri'', also known as the blue pinkgill, sky-blue mushroom or similar names, is a species of mushroom that is native to New Zealand. The small mushroom is a distinctive all-blue colour, while the gills have a slight reddish ti ...

''.

Description

Prior to the opening of the outer skin, the fruit body is egg-shaped and white to greyish. After opening, it is a whitish mesh-like ball measuring up to 25 cm in diameter. The different growth stages of ''L. cibarium'' were illustrated by John Buchanan. ''Ileodictyon cibarium'' is similar to and sometimes confused with '' Ileodictyon gracile'' (smooth cage fungus)'','' which is also native to Australia. The two species are both whitish, mesh balls of similar size, but can be differentiated by characteristics of the receptacle arms that form the mesh. ''I. cibarium'' has a thicker mesh with arms that are wrinkled, about 5 times wider, elliptical in cross section, and not thickened where the arms meet, compared to ''I. gracile.''

Distribution and Habitat

''Ileodictyon cibarium'' is native to New Zealand and Australia and has also been found in Chile and Brazil as well as in Africa, probably as a result of it being introduced. It is also known from several sites in England, where it is certainly introduced. It grows alone or clustered together near woody debris, in lawns, gardens, and cultivated soil, along roads, in forest.

Edibility

The immature fruitbodies are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

References

External links

''Ileodictyon cibarium'' in the NZFUNGI database''Ileodictyon cibarium'' occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
*''Ileodictyon cibarium'' discussed in RNZ ''

Critter of the Week ''Critter of the Week'' is a weekly RNZ National programme about endangered and neglected native plants and animals of New Zealand. Beginning in 2015, ''Critter of the Week'' is an approximately 15-minute discussion between Nicola Toki of the ...

''
19 August 2022
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5997602 Phallales Fungi described in 1844 Fungi of New Zealand Fungi of Australia Taxa named by Edmond Tulasne Taxa named by Charles Tulasne