Calocera viscosa is a species of fungus in the family Dacrymycetaceae. In the UK, it has the recommended English name of yellow stagshorn.[1] In North America it is variously called coral jelly fungus,[2] jelly staghorn,[3] yellow false coral,[4] yellow tuning fork,[5] and jelly antler.[6] Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are gelatinous, bright golden yellow, and branched. It grows exclusively on logs and dead wood of conifers. Calocera viscosa is a common species throughout Europe and has also been recorded from North America, Asia, and Australia.
| Calocera viscosa | |
|---|---|
| |
| Calocera viscosa. Durmitor National Park, Montenegro | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Dacrymycetes |
| Order: | Dacrymycetales |
| Family: | Dacrymycetaceae |
| Genus: | Calocera |
| Species: | C. viscosa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Calocera viscosa | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Clavaria viscosa Pers. (1794) | |
Calocera viscosa | |
|---|---|
 | Smooth hymenium |
 | No distinct cap |
 | Hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable |
 | Stipe is bare |
 | Spore print is white |
 | Ecology is saprotrophic |
 | Edibility is not recommended |
Taxonomy edit
The species was originally described as Clavaria aurea by the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt in 1793, but the name is illegitimate since it had already been used for a different species.[7] The species was legitimately described as Clavaria viscosa from Germany in 1794 by South African-born mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon. It was transferred to the genus Calocera by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1827.
A white fungus from Italy was described as Calocera cavarae in 1896, but later studies suggested that this was only an aberrant form of C. viscosa lacking yellow pigments.[8][9]
Description edit
Calocera viscosa forms bright golden to orange-yellow (rarely white), firmly gelatinous fruit bodies up to 10 centimetres (4 in) tall, with a paler stem and coral-like branches.[10]
Microscopic characters edit
Hyphae lack clamp connections. The basidia are two-spored and typical of the Dacrymycetaceae. The spores are weakly allantoid (sausage-shaped), 8 to 12.5 by 3.5 to 4.5 μm, thin-walled, becoming tardily once-septate.[10][11]
Similar species edit
Similar species include Calocera cornea and C. furcata, as well as Ramariopsis corcea and Clavulinopsis corniculata.[12]
Habitat and distribution edit
Calocera viscosa is a wood-rotting species, found on logs and dead wood of conifers. It was originally described from Germany and is common throughout Europe, but has also been recorded from North America, Asia, and Australia.[10][11] It appears from October to March on the West Coast of North America, and July to September elsewhere on the continent.[12]
References edit
- ^ Holden L. (April 2022). "English names for fungi 2022". British Mycological Society. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ McKnight KH, McKnight VB (1987). A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. p. 429. ISBN 0-395-91090-0.
- ^ McKnight KB, Rohrer JR, Ward KM, McKnight KH (2021). Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. p. 416. ISBN 0544236114.
- ^ Bessette, Alan E. (1997). Mushrooms of Northeastern North America. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0815603886.
- ^ Rhodes LH (2013). Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and the Midwestern States. Ohio State University. p. 163.
- ^ Winkler D (2022). Fruits of the forest: A field guide to Pacific Northwest edible mushrooms. Mountaineers Books. p. 384. ISBN 1680515314.
- ^ Roberts P (2011). "Alexander von Humboldt's fungal collections at Kew". Kew Bulletin. 66: 1–4.
- ^ Reid DA (1988). "Calocera viscosa var. cavarae, a white variant of the species new to Britain". Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 91: 705–707.
- ^ Roberts P (1994). "Profiles of fungi No. 61: Calocera viscosa var. cavarae". Mycologist. 8: 61.
- ^ a b c McNabb, RF (1965). "Taxonomic studies in the Dacrymycetaceae: II. Calocera (Fries) Fries". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 3 (1): 31–58. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1965.10428712.
- ^ a b Reid DA (1974). "A monograph of the British Dacrymycetales". Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 62: 433–494.
- ^ a b Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-593-31998-7.