The Sclerodermataceae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of fungi in the order

Boletales The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. ...

, containing several genera of unusual fungi that little resemble

bolete A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique cap. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surface with pores, instead of the gills typical of mushrooms. A similar pore surface i ...

s. Taxa, which include species commonly known as the ‘hard-skinned

puffball Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that (when mature) bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass sever ...

s’, ‘

earthball ''Scleroderma'' is a genus of fungi, commonly known as earth balls, now known to belong to the Boletales order, in suborder (biology), suborder Sclerodermatineae. The best known species are ''Scleroderma citrinum, S. citrinum'' and ''Scleroder ...

s’, or ' earthstars', are widespread in both

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

regions. The best known members include the earthball ''

Scleroderma citrinum ''Scleroderma citrinum'', commonly known as the common earthball, pigskin poison puffball, or common earth ball, is a species of earthball fungus found in Europe and in North America. It is the most common species of Scleroderma (genus), earthba ...

'', the dye fungus '' Pisolithus tinctorius'' and the ' prettymouths' of the genus '' Calostoma''.

Description

Fruit-bodies are mostly epigenous (above ground), rarely hypogeous (underground), more or less spherical in shape, without a stem or with an irregular root-like stem. The peridium (outer wall) is mostly simple, rarely 2-layered, firm, rarely thin, membranous, breaking open irregularly or in lobes or decaying, revealing the

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 conti ...

. The gleba typically has sharply defined

basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

-bearing sectors, which are partitioned from one another by sterile veins, and in which the basidia are regularly scattered through the tissue. The gleba, which is brown or white in young specimens, turns dark purple to brownish purple in age, and crumbles to a powder of spores and disintegrating tissues at maturity. The basidia are roughly clavate (club-shaped).

Spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) 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 plant ...

are brown, roughly spherical in shape, thick-walled, with spines or warts, or with a network-like appearance. Spores are spread by wind, by predators, or are washed into the soil by rainwater.

Habitat

Taxa are found growing on the ground or associated with rotten wood, and are mostly

ectomycorrhizal An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobion ...

with woody plants.

Genera

*'' Calostoma'' - "prettymouths" *'' Chlorogaster'' *''

Favillea ''Favillea'' is a genus of fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. Th ...

'' *'' Horakiella'' *'' Pisolithus'' - including ''P. tinctorius'' (dyemaker's puffball) *''

Scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas ...

'' - "earthballs" The genera '' Pisolithus'', ''

'' and '' Calostoma'' are known to be

Taxonomy

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis places the Sclerodermataceae in the bolete clade. Older analysis suggests that the Sclerodermataceae (including the genera ''Scleroderma'' and '' Veligaster''), the Pisolithaceae (''Pisolithus''), the

Astraeaceae Diplocystaceae (alternatively spelled Diplocystidaceae or Diplocystidiaceae) is a family (biology), family of fungi in the Boletales order. The family was described by mycologist Hanns Kreisel in 1974. References

Boletales Basidiomycota ...

(''

Astraeus In Greek mythology, Astraeus () or Astraios () is the son of Crius and Eurybia, and the consort of Eos. He is said to be the father of the winds. Etymology His name "Astraeus" (Ancient Greek , translit. ''Astraîos'') is derived from the G ...

''), Calostomataceae ('' Calostoma''), and the new families Gyroporaceae (''

Gyroporus The Gyroporaceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the order Boletales. The family is monogeneric, containing the single genus ''Gyroporus'', which, according to a 2008 estimate, contains ten widely distributed species, though a more rec ...

'') and Boletinellaceae ('' Boletinellus'' and '' Phlebopus''), should form a new

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

, the Sclerodermatineae.Binder M, Bresinsky A. (2002). Derivation of a polymorphic lineage of Gasteromycetes from boletoid ancestors. ''Mycologia'' 94(1): 85-98.

Gallery

Image: Scleroderma citrinum LC0159.jpg, ''

'' Image: Scleroderma geaster.jpg, ''

Scleroderma geaster Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas of ...

'' Image: Calostoma_cinnabarina.jpg, '' Calostoma cinnabarina'' Image: Pisolithus arrhizus.jpg, '' Pisolithus arhizus''

References

External links

Index Fungorum
{{Authority control Boletales Sclerodermataceae