Humaria hemisphaerica is a species of fungus in the family Pyronemataceae. In the UK it has the recommended English name of glazed cup;[1] in North America it has been called the hairy fairy cup[2] or the brown-haired fairy cup.[3] Ascocarps (fruit bodies) are cup-shaped and can be recognized by their smooth, white inner surface and hairy, brown outer surface. The species is ectomycorrhizal and occurs in Europe and North America.

Humaria hemisphaerica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Order: Pezizales
Family: Pyronemataceae
Genus: Humaria
Species:
H. hemisphaerica
Binomial name
Humaria hemisphaerica
(F.H. Wigg.) Fuckel (1870)
Synonyms

Peziza hemisphaerica
  F.H. Wigg. (1780)
Lachnea hemisphaerica
  (F.H. Wigg.) Gillet (1879)
Mycolachnea hemisphaerica
  (F.H. Wigg.) Maire (1937)
Peziza hispida
  Sowerby (1799) nom. illegit.

Humaria hemisphaerica
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Smooth hymenium
Hymenium attachment is not applicable
Lacks a stipe
Ecology is mycorrhizal
Edibility is inedible

Taxonomy

edit

This species was originally described in 1780 by German mycologist Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers as Peziza hemisphaerica. Fries placed it within the Lachnea series, a name he applied to cup fungi with hairy apothecia.[4] In 1870 Leopold Fuckel transferred P. hemisphaerica to the genus Humaria.[5]

The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word hemisphaericum, meaning half a sphere.

Description

edit

Humaria hemisphaerica has fruiting bodies (apothecia) that typically measure 5 to 30 millimetres (14 to 1+18 inches) in diameter by 1 to 1.5 cm (38 to 58 in) deep.[6] The fruiting bodies are initially spherical and expand to become cuplike at the fungus matures. This species typically does not have a stipe; when it does, it is present as a small abrupt base. The inner surface of the fruiting body (the hymenium) is white, while the outer hairy surface is brown and covered with brown hairs that taper to a sharp point. These hairs are 400–500 x 15–20 μm. The ascospores are elliptical, hyaline, 20–22 x 10–11 μm, and have 2–3 oil droplets.[7]

Similar species

edit

Similar species of Humaria may exist in North America, but are not circumscribed.[8]

There are several other similar cup fungi in the Pyronemataceae family with hairy exteriors. Jafnea semitotsa is larger (2–5 cm in diameter) with a brown interior and a short stipe.[2] The cups of Trichophaea species are usually less than 1 cm across;[8] Trichophaea boudieri and T. bullata are 1–6 millimetres wide, and T. abundans prefers to grow in burnt areas.[2] Chaetothiersia vernalis grows in a more disclike form, and Wilcoxina rehmii produces tiny discs.[8]

Distribution and habitat

edit

H. hemisphaerica grows year-round on North America's west coast[8] and is common in the Pacific Northwest;[9] further east, it fruits from July to October.[8] Specimens usually grow alone,[8] but also appear scattered or grouped on the ground, and sometimes on decaying wood.[2]

Toxicity

edit

The fungus is inedible.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ Holden L. (April 2022). "English names for fungi April 2022". British Mycological Society. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ a b c d Arora D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press. pp. 839–840. ISBN 0-89815-169-4.
  3. ^ a b Roody WC. (2003). Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians. Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 465. ISBN 0-8131-9039-8.
  4. ^ Fries EM. (1823). Systema mycologicum. Vol 2. Ex Officina Berlingiana, Lundae, Sweden. 620 pp.
  5. ^ Fuckel L. (1870). Symbolae mycologicae. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der rheinischen Pilze. Jahrbuch des Nassauischen Vereins für Naturkunde 23–24:1–459.
  6. ^ Rosanne A. Healy; Huffman, Donald R.; Lois H. Tiffany; George Knaphaus (2008). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of the Midcontinental United States (Bur Oak Guide). Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-58729-627-7.
  7. ^ Tylutki, Edmund E. (1979). Mushrooms of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Moscow: University Press of Idaho. p. 90. ISBN 0-89301-062-6.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-593-31998-7.
  9. ^ Trudell, Steve; Ammirati, Joe (2009). Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press Field Guides. Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-88192-935-5.
edit