''Mycorrhaphium africanum'' is a 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

Steccherinaceae The Steccherinaceae are a family of about 200 species of fungi in the order Polyporales. It includes crust-like, toothed, and poroid species that cause a white rot in dead wood. Taxonomy The family was circumscribed by Czech mycologist Erast ...

. It was described as new to science in 2003 by mycologists Dominique Claude Mossebo and

Leif Ryvarden Leif Randulff Ryvarden (born 9 August 1935) is a Norwegian mycologist. Early life and education Leif Ryvarden was born in Bergen as a son of Einar Norberg Johansen (1900–1959) and Hjørdis Randulff (1912–1975). He finished his secondary edu ...

. The type was collected in the

Dja Faunal Reserve Dja Faunal Reserve (Réserve de faune du Dja, also known as Réserve de Biosphère Dja), located in south eastern Cameroon, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987. Causes of inscription include diversity of species present in the park, ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, where it was found fruiting on fallen dead

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

branches.

Description

The brownish, funnel-shaped cap measures in diameter, and is supported by a smooth stipe that is long and 3–6 mm in diameter. It is initially whitish before becoming pale brown to reddish brown with pink or white spots. The spines on the cap underside are white but become brownish when dry. They are densely packed, and measure up to long. ''Mycorrhaphium africanum'' has a dimitic

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, comprising generative and skeletal hyphae. The skeletal hyphae are confined to the

context Context may refer to: * Context (language use), the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary Computing * Context (computing), the virtual environment required to su ...

of the stipe. Basidia are club-shaped, measuring 12–14 by 4–5

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 ...

. The spores are smooth,

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

, and cylindrical, with dimensions of 4.5–5 by 2 µm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10591215 Steccherinaceae Fungi of Africa Fungi described in 2003 Taxa named by Leif Ryvarden