Morchella dunalii
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''Morchella dunalii'' is a 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
Morchellaceae The Morchellaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi in the order Pezizales. According to a standard reference work, the family has contained at least 49 species distributed among four genera. However, in 2012, five genera that produce ascoma that ...
(
Ascomycota Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...
). A widespread species in the
Mediterranean basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...
, ''M. dunalii'' is so far known from the
Balearic islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
, the islands of
Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, where it appears to be abundant. It fruits very early in the season on
calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...
soil, usually in association with the Aleppo pine ('' Pinus halepensis''), Calabrian pine (''
Pinus brutia ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a naturalis ...
'') and holm oak (''
Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen tr ...
'').


Taxonomy and phylogeny

''Morchella dunalii'' was described with a watercolour plate in 1887 by French mycologist
Emile Boudier Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...
, based on a collection from the
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
area. For unknown reasons, Boudier did not include ''M. dunalii'' in his 1897 monograph and the species remained very poorly known, not appearing in any of the popular literature or
monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
ic works on the genus. The revival of the name is owed to Moreau and colleagues, who in 2011 designated a lectotype based on the original watercolour painting of this forgotten taxon, discovered in the archives of Pôle Patrimoine scientifique of the University of Montpellier. Subsequent
molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
studies by Richard and colleagues in 2014 matched this taxon to phylogenetic lineage ''Mel''-25, previously detected by Taşkın and colleagues, and designated an epitype. A 2016 study by Loizides and colleagues provided a detailed description, as well as notes on the ecology and distribution of ''M. dunalii'', which appears to be the most common and widespread
morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales (division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with ...
in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
region, frequently misidentified as '' M. conica'', '' M. deliciosa'', '' M. purpurascens'', or ''Morchella rielana''. Phylogenetically, ''M. dunallii'' is the sister species of '' M. kakiicolor''. The taxon ''Morchella fallax'', proposed by Clowez in 2012, is a later
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
of this species.


Description


Morphology

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 ...
are medium-sized to large, fleshy and have a short stipe proportionately to the cap, which is often submerged into the substrate. The cap is 4–8(–10) cm high by 2–5(–8) cm wide, broadly conical, cylindrical or ovoid, pale beige, buff, or olivaceous-buff when immature, gradually darkening to grayish-brown or olivaceous-gray. It is attached to the stipe with a broad, rounded sinus. The longitudinal primary ridges are moderately spaced to dense, thick, glabrous and partially anastomosed, at first the same colour as the pits, but gradually becoming pinkish-purple, sepia and finally black in full maturity, creating a sharp contrast with the pits which usually remain pale. There are numerous interconnecting ridges forming multiple sunken pits. The pits are distinctly rounded to somewhat elongated and more or less vertically arranged. The stipe is typically short, 2–4(–8) by 1.5–3(–4) cm, more or less cylindrical, weakly wrinkled and inflated at the base. The flesh is thick, with a strong, sweet odour. 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 ...
s are rather small, measuring (17–)17.5–23(– 26) × (10.5–)11–15(–16) μm, broadly elliptical to elliptical,
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 ...
(translucent) and appearing smooth under a light microscope, but when viewed in lactophenol cotton blue or under a scanning electron microscope, they are faintly roughened. The
asci ASCI or Asci may refer to: * Advertising Standards Council of India * Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy * Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative * American Society for Clinical Investigation * Argus Sour Crude Index * Association of ...
(spore-bearing cells) measure 250–400 × 15–22 μm, are cylindrical to clavate, have eight spores and often an enlarged, rounded or clavate base. The
paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...
measure 135–200 × 13–20 μm, are cylindrical to clavate or sometimes moniliform, have 2–3(–4) septa and variously shaped and frequently enlarged tips sometimes up to 30–40 μm. The acroparaphyses (cells on the sterile ridges) measure 65–145 × 18–30(–40) μm, are clavate, capitate, subcapitate or pear-shaped, fasciculate and have 2–3 septa. The stipe surface is composed of variously sized catenulate elements, with scattered clavate to subcapitate terminal elements measuring 55–110 × 5–25 μm.


Similar species

*''
Morchella deliciosa ''Morchella deliciosa'' is a species of edible fungus in the family Morchellaceae The Morchellaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi in the order Pezizales. According to a standard reference work, the family has contained at least 49 species ...
'' is similar to ''M. dunalii'', but produces more acutely conical fruit bodies with anastomosed or flexuous primary ridges forming elongated and angular primary pits. Microscopically, it has markedly slimmer, cylindrical, papillate to subcapitate acroparaphyses up to 9–12.5 μm wide and larger spores measuring 23–27 × 12.5– 16 μm. It is usually found in high elevation forests of ''
Larix Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains furth ...
'', ''
Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
'' and '' Pinus''. *''
Morchella purpurascens ''Morchella purpurascens'', the purple morel, is an ascomycete fungus in the family ''Morchellaceae''. It was first described as a variety of ''Morchella elata'' by Emile Boudier in 1897, based on a plate previously illustrated by Julius Vincen ...
'' usually produces slender fruit bodies with an elongated stipe. Microscopically, it has longer, clavate acroparaphyses up to 45 μm wide, slender paraphyses up to 12 μm wide, and larger, longitudinally striate spores when viewed in lactophenol cotton blue or under a scanning electron microscope. *''
Morchella kakiicolor ''Morchella kakiicolor'' is a species of fungus in the family ''Morchellaceae'' (Ascomycota). It was originally proposed as a form of '' Morchella quercus-ilicis'' in a 2012 study by Philippe Clowez, but was later re-combined as an autonomous spe ...
'', so far known only from the
Canary islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, produces long and slender fruit bodies with more or less ladder-like secondary ridges. Microscopically, it has more slender, cylindrical paraphyses up to 20–25 μm wide, and shorter terminal elements on the stipe measuring 15–75 × 8–22 μm.


Edibility

Like all morel species, ''Morchella dunalii'' is
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 ...
and choice, provided it is thoroughly cooked.


Ecology and distribution

''Morchella dunalii'' is widespread in the
Mediterranean basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...
but absent elsewhere. So far, its presence has been
phylogenetically 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 ...
verified in the
Balearic islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
,
Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. It is one of the first morels to appear early in the season, fruiting solitary or in small groups in late winter or early spring with a strong preference for
calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...
soils. Although its trophic status is not yet known with certainty, it is strongly suspected to be a biotroph and regularly fruiting under specific trees and shrubs. Most frequently associated tree species include the Aleppo pine ('' Pinus halepensis''), the Calabrian pine (''
Pinus brutia ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a naturalis ...
''), and holm oaks (''
Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen tr ...
'').


References


External links

*
''Morchella dunalii'' in Ascomycete.org
{{Taxonbar, from=Q24885533 Fungi described in 1887 Fungi of Europe dunalii