Specimen #16: Gilled Mushroom

Figure 1. Clitocybe candicans.

Name: Clitocybe candicans

Family:  Tricholomataceae

Collection Date:  October 4, 2011

Habitat: On woody debris.

Location: The West Woods Park in Geauga County.

Description: Cap 2-10 cm broad, convex becoming plane to broadly umbonate; surface smooth or with whitish down, or sometimes with riverlike lines; waterly brown to pale buff. Flesh thin, colored like cap; odor unpleasant or mild. Gills adnate to decurrent, close, pale buff or colored more or less like cap. Stalk 3-8 cm, 0.4-2 cm thick, equal or tapered at either end, often hollow in age, sometimes fluted; colored more or less like cap. Favors hardwoods.

Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Collector: Cara Tompot

 Key Used: Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Keying Steps:

Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi

Basidiomycetes Pg 52.

Fruiting body with a cap and stalk, or just a cap; spores borne on gills (radiating blades) on underside of cap; spore print obtainable (if spores are being produced) Agarics (Gilled Mushrooms) p. 58.

Key to Agarics:

1b. Spores forcibly discharged, hence a spore print obtainable if spores are being dispersed; gills exposed at maturity; common and widespread.

2a. Spore print white to buff, yellow, yellow-orange, or lilac-tinged.

3b. Neither volva nor warts present (but cap and stalk may have scales or fibrils.)

4b. Not as above- (above: gills typically free and veil present; veil usually forming an annulus (ring) on stalk, or if not then stalk typically scaly or slimy below the veil); veil absent, or if present then gills normally attached to stalk.

6b. Not as above- (above: gills decurrent and foldlike (at least when young), i.e., gills thick, blunt, shallow, and usually forked or with cross-veins); gills usually platelike or bladelike.

7b. Not as above- (above: gills and/or flesh exuding a latex (milk or juice) when broken; stalk typically more than 3 mm think; spores with amyloid warts or ridges.

8b. Not with above features- (above: fruiting body brittle and rather rigid, the stalk snapping open cleanly like a piece of chalk (i.e., without fibrous context); cap usually plane to depressed at maturity; stalk typically at least 3 mm thick; veil absent; usually but not always terrestrial; cap and stalk tissue typically containing nests of sphaerocysts; spores with amyloid warts of ridges.)

9b. Gills not normally waxy; stalk central to lateral or absent; on ground or wood. Tricholomataceae, p.129.

 Key to Tricholomataceae:

1b. Not growing on other mushrooms, or if so then gills well-developed, thin, close.

2b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body pinkish to salmon, orange, or yellow-orange; cap surface conspicuously reticulate (netted or veined and pitted); cap 2-5 cm broad; stalk central to off-center, tough; spore print pinkish; found on dead eastern hardwoods; infrequent.)

3b. Stalk present, well-developed, more or less central; growing on ground or wood.

6b. Not as above- (above: stalk arising from an underground “tuber;” cap usually scaly, fibrillose, or granulose; not common.)

7b. Veil absent, or if present then cap and stalk not granulose.

8b. Veil absent or rudimentary and evanescent, not forming an annulus.

9b.Not as above- (above: gills and stalk bruising dark gray.)

10a. Stalk fleshy, usually at least 5 mm thick.

11b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body partially or completely purple, violet, or lilac when fresh (at least the gills); odor not radishlike; usually on ground or compost.)

13b. Spore print variously colored (white, buff, pinkish, etc.)

14a. Spore print white, yellowish, or buff.

15b. Not with above features- (above: typically growing in dense clusters in disturbed soil; stalk at least 1 cm thick; caps typically at least 3 cm broad; basidia with siderphilous granules.)

16b. Not with above features- (above: gills pinkish, flesh-colored, cinnamon, or somewhat vinaceous, thickish and fairly well-shaped; cap up to 6 cm broad; stalk rather tough and fibrous, not white; spores spiny.)

17a. Gills typically adnate to decurrent.

18b. Not with above features- (above: gills and flesh olive-yellow to yellow to orange; cap not viscid; gills not repeatedly forked; growing on or near wood.)

20b. Not as above- (above: cap viscid or slimy when moist and/or gills thick, widely spaced, and clean or waxy-looking.) Clitocybe & Allies, p. 148. 

Key to Clitocybe &Allies

1b. Not as above- (above: odor distinctly licorice- or aniselike.)

3b. Spore print white to yellowish to buff, or tinged lilac or brownish; fruiting body not commonly purple, and if purple then growing on wood.

13b. Not growing in burned areas, or if so, then very differently colored.

14b. Not as above- (above: gills forked repeatedly and usually orange or odor very fragrant (somewhat like root beer.))

15b. Growing on ground.

24b. Not as above- (above: spore print brownish; fruiting body small and white or grayish; cap often somewhat hairy, especially toward margin; not common.)

25b. Stalk thicker or fruiting body differently colored.

27b. Cap white to buff, grayish, olive-gray, olive-brown, greenish, brown, or darker.

34b. Spore print white, or if yellowish to buff, then not as above.

36b. Growing in woods or under trees, or differently colored.

38a. Cap white or whitish.

39b. Not as above- (above: typically growing in large clusters along roads and paths in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains.)

40b. Cap smaller, generally less than 8 cm broad. Clitocybe variabilis & others (see Clitocybe albirhiza, pg. 161.)

Once reading the description of the allies, I can easily infer that the true identity is Clitocybe candicans.

Links:

http://mushroomhobby.com/Gallery/Clitocybe/Clitocybe%20candicans/index.htm

http://www.stridvall.se/fungi/gallery/Clitocybe/AAAA3559

http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Link=T&Rec=177054

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Clitocybe_candicans

http://www.commanster.eu/commanster/Mushrooms/Agaric/AAgaric/Clitocybe.candicans.html

Figure 2. Clitocybe candicans in the wild.

Figure 3. Clitocybe candicans.

Specimen #15: Gilled Mushroom

Figure 1. Clitocybe fragrans from the top.

Name: Clitocybe fragrans

Family:  Tricholomataceae

Collection Date:  September 13, 2011

Habitat: On muddy dirt.

Location: South Chagrin Reservation in Chagrin, Ohio

Description: Cap 1.5-4cm across, flattened convex sometimes slightly depressed, with an inrolled margin becoming somewhat wavy in age; hygrophanous, pale yellowish brown when wet, whitish cream when dry, with a darker center; smooth, finely lined at the margin. Gills adnate to slightly decurrent, close, narrow to moderately broad; whitish buff. Stem 30-60 x 3-6mm, stuffed then hollow, often curved and slightly enlarged toward the base; whitish to pale-buff; silky with fine hairs on stem, felty with a few thin rhizoids at the base. Flesh thin, soft, pliant; whitish to buff. Habitat growing either scattered, in groups, or in clusters under deciduous trees. Found in northeastern and northwestern North America and California. Season July-September.

Rogers (2010, October). The mushrooms: Clitocybe fragrans. Retrieved from http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~5793~gid~.asp

Collector: Cara Tompot 

Key Used: Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Keying Steps:

Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi

Basidiomycetes Pg 52.

Fruiting body with a cap and stalk, or just a cap; spores borne on gills (radiating blades) on underside of cap; spore print obtainable (if spores are being produced) Agarics (Gilled Mushrooms) p. 58.

Key to Agarics:

1b. Spores forcibly discharged, hence a spore print obtainable if spores are being dispersed; gills exposed at maturity; common and widespread.

2a. Spore print white to buff, yellow, yellow-orange, or lilac-tinged.

3b. Neither volva nor warts present (but cap and stalk may have scales or fibrils.)

4b. Not as above- (above: gills typically free and veil present; veil usually forming an annulus (ring) on stalk, or if not then stalk typically scaly or slimy below the veil); veil absent, or if present then gills normally attached to stalk.

6b. Not as above- (above: gills decurrent and foldlike (at least when young), i.e., gills thick, blunt, shallow, and usually forked or with cross-veins); gills usually platelike or bladelike.

7b. Not as above- (above: gills and/or flesh exuding a latex (milk or juice) when broken; stalk typically more than 3 mm think; spores with amyloid warts or ridges.

8b. Not with above features- (above: fruiting body brittle and rather rigid, the stalk snapping open cleanly like a piece of chalk (i.e., without fibrous context); cap usually plane to depressed at maturity; stalk typically at least 3 mm thick; veil absent; usually but not always terrestrial; cap and stalk tissue typically containing nests of sphaerocysts; spores with amyloid warts of ridges.)

9b. Gills not normally waxy; stalk central to lateral or absent; on ground or wood. Tricholomataceae, p.129. 

Key to Tricholomataceae:

1b. Not growing on other mushrooms, or if so then gills well-developed, thin, close.

2b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body pinkish to salmon, orange, or yellow-orange; cap surface conspicuously reticulate (netted or veined and pitted); cap 2-5 cm broad; stalk central to off-center, tough; spore print pinkish; found on dead eastern hardwoods; infrequent.)

3b. Stalk present, well-developed, more or less central; growing on ground or wood.

6b. Not as above- (above: stalk arising from an underground “tuber;” cap usually scaly, fibrillose, or granulose; not common.)

7b. Veil absent, or if present then cap and stalk not granulose.

8b. Veil absent or rudimentary and evanescent, not forming an annulus.

9b.Not as above- (above: gills and stalk bruising dark gray.)

10a. Stalk fleshy, usually at least 5 mm thick.

11b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body partially or completely purple, violet, or lilac when fresh (at least the gills); odor not radishlike; usually on ground or compost.)

13b. Spore print variously colored (white, buff, pinkish, etc.)

14a. Spore print white, yellowish, or buff.

15b. Not with above features- (above: typically growing in dense clusters in disturbed soil; stalk at least 1 cm thick; caps typically at least 3 cm broad; basidia with siderphilous granules.)

16b. Not with above features- (above: gills pinkish, flesh-colored, cinnamon, or somewhat vinaceous, thickish and fairly well-shaped; cap up to 6 cm broad; stalk rather tough and fibrous, not white; spores spiny.)

17a. Gills typically adnate to decurrent.

18b. Not with above features- (above: gills and flesh olive-yellow to yellow to orange; cap not viscid; gills not repeatedly forked; growing on or near wood.)

20b. Not as above- (above: cap viscid or slimy when moist and/or gills thick, widely spaced, and clean or waxy-looking.) Clitocybe & Allies, p. 148.

 Key to Clitocybe &Allies:

1a. Odor distinctly licorice- or aniselike.

2b. Fruiting body lacking blue or green tints. Clitocybe deceptiva and others, p. 162

Upon reading the allies listed with Clitocybe deceptiva, it is easy to infer that the actual identity of this fungus is Clitocybe fragrans.

Links:

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~5793~gid~.asp

http://healing-mushrooms.net/archives/clitocybe-fragrans.html

http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Link=T&Rec=232936

Figure 2. Side view of Clitocybe fragrans.

Specimen #14: Veiled Mushroom

Figure 1. Cortinarius doung in nature. Note the thick veil connecting the cap and the stipe.

Name: Cortinarius sp.

Family:  Cortinariaceae

Collection Date:  October 4, 2011

Habitat: On a rotten tree stump, clumped with other fungus of the same species.

Location: The West Woods Park in Geauga County.

Description: Cortinarius is the largest genus of mushrooms in the world, containing an astounding number of species (often estimated well over a thousand). Although the mushrooms in Cortinarius are very diverse, it is usually pretty easy to figure out when you are looking at one, once you get the hang of it. First, they have cortinas covering their gills when young (hence the name of the genus)--though the tiny fibers of the cortina are sometimes ephemeral and soon disappear, leaving no trace of themselves. Secondly, the spore print is rusty brown and, as a result of the rusty brown spores, the mature gills of Cortinarius mushrooms are usually also rusty brown. Finally, they are terrestrial and mycorrhizal.

But while the genus may be more or less easy to identify, figuring out what species of Cortinarius you have found may be one of the most difficult challenges in mushroom mycology, compounded by the fact that there are few (if any) comprehensive, current and reliable keys available to the public. In short, identifying a Cortinarius to species is often best described as a Quixotic endeavor--or maybe not; Don Quixote did manage to accomplish a thorough assault on a windmill, which is more "accomplishment" than one often achieves with Cortinarius identification.

 Kuo, M. (2005, January). The genus Cortinarius. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cortinarius.html

Collector: Cara Tompot                       

Key Used: Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Keying Steps:

Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi

Basidiomycetes Pg 52.

Fruiting body with a cap and stalk, or just a cap; spores borne on gills (radiating blades) on underside of cap; spore print obtainable (if spores are being produced) Agarics (Gilled Mushrooms) p. 58.

Key to Agarics:

1b. Spores forcibly discharged, hence a spore print obtainable if spores are being dispersed; gills exposed at maturity; common and widespread.

2b. Spore print some other color (pinkish, salmon, yellow-brown, brown, rusty-orange, rusty-brown, chocolate-brown, purplish, greenish, black, etc.)

10b. Spore print some shade of orange, brown (including cinnamon-brown), green, purple, gray, or black.

16b. Not as above- (above: spore print greenish to grayish-olive.)

19b. Spore print rusty-orange to rusty-brown, cinnamon brown, yellow-brown, dull brown, bright brown, cigar-brown, etc. (but may appear darker in heavy deposits.)

26b. Not as above- (above: growing on other mushrooms.)

27b. Stalk present; on wood or ground.

30b. Not with above features- (above: fruiting body small, fragile, often widening quickly; cap usually oval to conical or bell-shaped, usually growing in grass, dung, or gardens; cap cuticle typically cellular.

31b. Gills occasionally decurrent but usually not; veil present or absent; spore print variously colored (rusty-orange, rusty-brown, dull brown, etc.); very common. Cortinariaceae, p. 396.

Key to Cortinariaceae:

1b. Typically growing on the ground (but occasionally on very rotten wood); gills and/or flesh violet or lilac in some cases.

8b. Not as above- (above: spore print reddish or with a greenish or olive tinge when moist; gills reddish when young; cap powdery and small (up to 5 cm broad)and dull grayish to brownish; not common); very common.

9a. Membranous veil present when young, usually forming a distinct annulus (ring) on stalk.

10a. Stalk thick and fleshy (at least 8 mm thick, usually more) and/or gills purplish when young.

11a. Weil covering gills well into maturity or tending to shred radially rather than break away from the cap; fruiting body tending to develop underground (occasionally surfacing in wet weather.)

No matter how hard I tried I could not properly identify the species of mushroom that I found.

Links:

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/3131357

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cortinarius.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius

http://mushroomhobby.com/Gallery/Cortinarius/index.htm

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/Cortinarius.html

Specimen #13: Gilled Mushroom

Figure 1. Agaricus bisporus.

Name: Agaricus bisporus

Common Name: Common mushroom, button mushroom, table mushroom, white mushroom, Italian mushroom.

Family:  Agaricaceae

Collection Date:  October 31, 2011

Habitat: Solitary, scattered to gregarious near manure piles, in grass or duff under conifers, especially Monterey cypress; fruiting all months of the year when moisture is available except mid-winter.

Location: IGA in Garrettsville, Ohio.

Description: Cap 5-12 broad, convex at first with incurved margin, becoming plane in age; surface dry, with light brown, usually innate scales over a pallid ground color; flesh thick, white, typically bruising pinkish-brown to orange brown but not changing color in KOH; odor and taste mild. Gills free, pinkish-brown, becoming purple-brown, finally blackish-brown. Stipe 2-5 cm tall, 1.5-2.5 cm thick, more or less equal to slightly bulbous at base; white bruising slowly brown, smooth; veil white, cottony-membranous, forming a medial to superior ring.

Agaricus bisporus is well known to mycophagists as the common "button mushroom" of commerce. In the San Francisco Bay Area both wild forms and escapees from mushroom farms occur. Interestingly, both types look similar and cannot be distinguished without biochemical analysis. Agaricus bisporus, though not as distinctive as other Agaricus species, can be recognized by the following combination of characters: relatively short stature, cap with pale brown appressed scales, flesh which bruises slowly orange-brown to reddish- brown, but does not stain yellow in KOH, a well-developed ring, smooth stipe, and a preference for fruiting with Monterey cypress. Agaricus californicus and A. xanthodermus also occur under Monterey Cypress but the latter bruises bright yellow on the cap margin and stipe base, while the former, though similar in stature, has a distinctive double-lipped ring (best seen in fresh, young material), and stains yellow in KOH.Agaricus bisporus is sometimes also confused with A. campestris, the Meadow Mushroom, but the latter grows in grass, usually away from trees, lacks the brown cap scales of A. bisporus, has an evanescent ring, and a tapered stipe base.

Kerrigan, Richard W. (1986). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 6. Agaricaceae. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 62 p. Retrieved from http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Agaricus_bisporus.html .

Collector: Cara Tompot                       

Figure 2. Agaricus bisporus sliced.

Key Used: Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Keying Steps:

Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi

Basidiomycetes Pg 52.

Fruiting body with a cap and stalk, or just a cap; spores borne on gills (radiating blades) on underside of cap; spore print obtainable (if spores are being produced) Agarics (Gilled Mushrooms) p. 58.

Key to Agarics:

1b. Spores forcibly discharged, hence a spore print obtainable if spores are being dispersed; gills exposed at maturity; common and widespread.

2b. Spore print some other color (pinkish, salmon, yellow-brown, brown, rusty-orange, rusty-brown, chocolate-brown, purplish, greenish, black, etc.)

10b. Spore print some shade of orange, brown (including cinnamon-brown), green, purple, gray, or black.

16b. Not as above- (above: spore print greenish to grayish-olive.)

19a. Spore print purple-brown to purple-gray, purple-black, smoky-gray, black, chocolate-brown, or deep brown.

20b. Gills free to adnexed, adnate, or occasionally decurrent.

21b. Not as above- (above: gills and/or cap auto-digesting at maturity; spore print black.)

22a. Veil present, usually forming an annulus on stalk; gills free or nearly free at maturity. Whitish to pinkish when young but becoming chocolate brown or darker in age; cap not deeply striate; spore print chocolate-brown. Agaricaceae p. 310.

Key to Agaricaceae:
1b. Odor not phenolic; base of stalk not typically staining yellow ( but may stain orange or yellow-orange), or if staining yellow then odor sweet.

7b. Not as above- (above: some part of fruiting body (especially cap surface) staining yellow when bruised and/or the flesh smelling sweet when crushed (like almond extract or anise); cap surface typically yellowing in KOH.)

25a. Flesh normally staining red to orange or vinaceous when cut or rubbed repeatedly.

26b. Not as above- (above: flesh in base of stalk staining orange to yellow-orange when cut; flesh elsewhere reddening at least somewhat; cap with broad, flattened, chocolate-brown scales, often depressed centrally at maturity; growing in woods, very rare.)

27b. Not as above- (above: unbroken veil soon brown to grayish-brown, purple-brown, or chocolate-brown to nearly black.

30b. Veil forming a skirtlike to intermediate annulus.

31a. Growing on compost or manured soil. Agaricus bisporus, p.319

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus_bisporus
http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Agaricus_bisporus.html
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/apr2001.html

Figure 3. Agaricus bisporus is used in many common foods such as Cream of Mushroom soup.

Figure 4. Pizza mushrooms are another example of the many uses of Agaricus bisporus.

Figure 5. Agaricus bisporus in Wild Mushroom soup.

Specimen #12: Jelly Fungus

Figure 1. Exidia saccharina before collection.

Name: Exidia saccharina

Family:  Exidiaceae

Collection Date:  September 13, 2011

Habitat: On a dry, thin tree branch.

Location: South Chagrin Reservation in Chagrin Falls, Ohio  

Description: Fresh fungus is shaped like gelatinous, elastic wrinkled blobs on wood. Color can range from brown to orange-brown, when old it can form a brownish crust. It can be over 20cm across. Often found on conifer twigs. Most commonly found in Europe and America. Not edible.

Collector: Cara Tompot                       

Key Used: Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Keying Steps:

Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi

Basidiomycetes Pg 52.

Fruiting body variously shaped (with or without cap), but always gelatinous or very rubbery; usually growing on wood. Jelly fungi p 669.

Key to Tremellales and Allies:

1b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body brightly colored (yellow, orange, pink, red, or greenish) when fresh, but sometimes losing its color in rainy weather or old age); fruiting body white, grayish, black, reddish-purple, brown, yellow-brown, etc.

9b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body translucent to whitish, grayish, or brownish, with a cap (and usually a stalk), the underside of the cap lined with tiny spines or “teeth.”); underside of the cap lacking minute spines or “teeth.”

10b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body tough, erect, and usually branched (coral-like), white or pallid; found mainly on ground under hardwoods in eastern North America.); usually found on wood or plants.

12b. Not as above- (above: Fruiting body black (or nearly  black) when fresh)(but fruiting body may be dark brown and /or may blacken as it dries out.)

13a. Frequently roughened spore-bearing surface and sausage shaped spores. Exidia sp p. 673.

**That key failed to go any further in the classification of my fungus, so I looked online for a key specifically of Exidia.

Next Key Used:  Roberts, P. (2009). British Fungi Keys. British Mycological Society. Retrieved from <http://www.fieldmycology.net/FRDBI/..%5Cgbchklst%5Ckey.asp?KeyID=9 >.

Key to Exidia - a key from Peter Roberts:

1b. Fruiting body distinctly colored, orange, brown or black.

3b. Fruiting body orange to brown; hymenium smooth.

5a. Fruiting body brown, irregularly lobed. Saccharina.

Links:

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~12105~gid~~source~gallerydefault.asp

http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Link=T&Rec=178936

Figure 2. Exidia saccharina after freezing and thawing.

Figure 3. Note the jelly aspect of the Exidia saccharina.

Specimen #11: Yeast

Figure 1.  Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is commonly known as Baker's yeast or Brewer's yeast.

Name: Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Common Name:  Baker’s Yeast/ Brewer’s Yeast

Family:  Saccharomycetaceae

Collection Date: October 14, 2011

Habitat: Saccharomyces when translated means “sugar fungus”. That is what this yeast uses for food. They are found in the wild growing on the skins of grapes and other fruits.

Location: Grayhouse in Westlake, Ohio

Figure 2. Diagram of Kingdom Fungi

Means for Classification: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is in the fungi kingdom. The reasons for this classification are because it has a cell wall made of chitin, it has no peptidoglycan in its cell walls, and its lipids are ester linked. It also uses DNA template for protein synthesis and it has larger ribosomes. It is then considered a yeast because it is a unicellular organism so it cannot form a fruiting body; like other fungi.

Volk, T., & Galbraith, A. (2002, December 01). Tom volk's fungus of the month for december 2002. Retrieved from http;//tomvolkfungi.net/

Adaptations: Saccharomyces cerevisiae has adapted in several important ways. One is the fact that they are able break down their food through both aerobic respiration and anaerobic fermentation. They can survive in an oxygen deficient environment for a period. Another adaptation they have is their ability to have both sexual and asexual reproduction. Very few other Ascomycota can do both processes. And very few organisms can do all four of these processes. This allows this species to live in many different environments (Madigan & Martinko, 2006, p. 457).

Madigan, M. T., & Martinko, J. M. (2006). Biology of microorganisms. (11 ed., Vol. 1, p. 457). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Nutrition: Saccharomyces cerevisiae gets its energy from glucose.

Life Cycle: Saccharomyces cerevisiae has both asexual and sexual reproduction.

In asexual reproduction the haploid of the yeast under goes mitosis and forms more haploid yeasts. There is an a and ά strain of these haploids. Then these haploid yeasts, one from each strain, can fuse together and become on cell. Then the nuclei of both cell fuses together and this cell is now the zygote. These diploid cells can go through mitosis, which they call budding, and four more zygotes or they can undergo meiosis and from an ascus which will split into four ascospores. These haploids can then undergo germination and become haploid yeast again (Madigan & Martinko, 2006, p. 457).

Madigan, M. T., & Martinko, J. M. (2006). Biology of microorganisms. (11 ed., Vol. 1, p. 457). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Figure 3. Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Note the budding in the yeast which is an example of asexual reproduction.

Importance: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most important fungi in the history of the world. This yeast is responsible for the production of ethanol in alcoholic drinks and is the reasons your mother’s bread dough rises in the pan. That is where the names brewer’s and baker’s yeast come from. The process in which it produces ethanol is one way this yeast converts glucose into energy. There are two ways Saccharomyces cerevisiae breaks down glucose. One way is through aerobic respiration. This process requires the presence of oxygen. When oxygen is not present the yeast will then go through anaerobic fermentation. The net result of this is two ATP, and it also produces two by products; carbon dioxide and ethanol. So if this yeast is allowed to grow in a container lacking oxygen it will produce ethanol (alcohol). Humans have been isolating this process since the beginning of history. The yeast helps in the rising of bread with its other by-product carbon dioxide.  The gas that is produce inside the dough causes it to rise and expand. Both of these processes use the haploid of this yeast for this process. In industry they isolate one strain, either a or ά, of the haploid to keep them from undergoing mating (Madigan & Martinko, 2006, p. 457). In the baker’s yeast, they have a strain were the production of carbon dioxide is more prevalent then ethanol and vice versa for brewing (Volk & Galbraith, 2002).  

Madigan, M. T., & Martinko, J. M. (2006). Biology of microorganisms. (11 ed., Vol. 1, p. 457). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Volk, T., & Galbraith, A. (2002, December 01). Tom volk's fungus of the month for december 2002. Retrieved from http;//tomvolkfungi.net/

Figure 4. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is commonly used in the brewing of beer, thus the common name, Brewer's yeast.

Figure 5. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used in the baking of many types of bread, thus the name Baker's yeast. 

Specimen #10: Cup Fungus

Figure 1. Scutellinia scutellata. Notice the dark hairs around the fertile surface that look like eyelashes.

Name: Scutellinia scutellata

Common Name:  Eyelash Pixie Cup Fungi

Family:  Pyronemataceae

Collection Date:  September 13, 2011

Habitat: On a wet, rotten log that was clearly decaying.

Location: South Chagrin Reservation in Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Description: Cup shaped to broadly cup shaped, minute to 1.5 cm across; fertile surface ("top" or "inner" surface) scarlet red to bright orange, smooth; sterile surface ("under" or "outer" surface) brownish or pale orangish, covered with tiny dark hairs; the margin with longer, eyelash-like, dark hairs; without a stem; flesh thin and insubstantial (Kuo, 2009).

Saprobic on wet, rotted wood, or on damp soil nearby; growing gregariously or in clusters; spring through fall; widely distributed in North America. (Kuo, 2009).

Kuo, M. (2009, April). The eyelash cup: Scutellinia scutellata. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/scutellinia_scutellata.html

Collector: Cara Tompot

Key Used: Arora, D. (1979). Mushrooms Demystified. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Keying Steps:

Key to the Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi

Ascomycetes p.55.

Fruiting body disc-shaped (flat) to cup-shaped, caselike, or earlike (with or without a stalk) or fruiting body with a stalk and clearly differentiated cap; cap when present cup-shaped to saddle-shaped, irregularly lobed, brainlike, thimble-like, or pitted. Morels, Elfin Saddles, and Cup Fungi, p. 783.

Key to Ascomycetes:

1b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body more or less round (spherical) to oval or knobby (potato-like), growing underground or inside very rotten wood); growing on wood or on ground, on insects, other mushrooms, plants, etc.

2a. Growing on wood (but wood sometimes buried).

3b. Fruiting body cuplike or variously shaped; texture is very different (fragile, fleshy, rubbery, gelatinous, etc.); asci typically borne in a palisade (hymenium), not in perithecia. Discomycetes, p. 783.

Key to Discomycetes:

1b. Fruiting body occasionally buried but usually above ground at maturity or on wood, moss, etc.; spore-bearing surface exposed (external) at maturity.

2a. Fruiting body cup- to ear-shaped, spoon-shaped, disclike (flat), cushion-like, top-shaped, or sometimes contorted; stalk absent or present only as a narrowed base )but fruiting body sometimes growing erect like a rabbit’s ear); asci operculate (i.e., with “lid” at tip.) Pezizales, p.783. 

Key to the Pezizales:

1b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body an irregularly cabbage-like, contorted, brainlike, or pitted mass of tissue, with or without a stalk; flesh not gelatinous.)

3a. Fruiting body cup-shaped (concave) to disclike (flat), cushion-shaped, or sometimes top-shaped or splitting rays; stalk present or absent; flesh gelatinous, fragile, or tough.

4a. Stalk absent, or if present then often (but not always!) short or merely a narrowed, downward extension of the cup; stalk when present usually lacking distinct ribs; fruiting body fleshy, fragile, rubbery, or gelatinous, sometime brightly colored, large to minute; tips of asci amyloid or not amyloid. Pezizaceae and Allies, p. 817. 

Key to Pezizaceae and Allies:

1b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body merely the bowl-or cup-shaped remains of a puffball, usually with traces of spore powder inside (or if not, then usually very dry and light as a straw.)

2b. Not with above features, but may have some of them- (above: fruiting body beginning as a hollow underground ball, then splitting at the top into several starlike rays; fertile (inner) surface sometimes grayish or whitish but more often pinkish or purplish or lilac; exterior without brown hairs.)

3b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body an erect hollow club or closed urn that splits lengthwise from the top to form several rays; found on or near dead hardwoods.)

4b. Fruiting body cuplike, earlike, disclike, etc. (but sometimes contorted, especially if growing in clusters.)

6b. Fruiting bodies sometimes slit down one side but not consistently so, and not usually growing erect; sometimes growing on dung.

7a. Fertile (upper or inner) surface of fruiting body brightly colored (red, orange, yellow, blue, or green but not violet.) Aleuria and Allies, p. 833. 

Key to Aleuria and Allies:

1b. Not as above- (above: growing on dung or manure.)

3a. Exterior (underside) of cup or disc clothed with brown to black hairs; margin often fringed with dark hairs also.

4b. Not as above- (above: most or all of fruiting body immersed in the ground with only the top (mouth) showing, making it look like a hole in the ground.)

5a. Fertile (upper or inner) surface yellow, orange, or red.

6b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body small or minute, growing on burnt soil or charred wood); growing in soul, humus, or on wood  but not usually in burned areas.

7b. Not as above- (above: fruiting body tough or corky and thick-fleshed; fertile surface orange to red or sometimes yellowish; exterior dark brown to black; found in eastern North America.

8b. Underside of fruiting body with fairly obvious hairs which fringe the margin like eyelashes; fertile surface bright red to orange-red or orange. Scutellinia scutellata, p. 839.

Links:

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/scutellinia_scutellata.html

http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Scutellinia_scutellata.html

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6773.asp

http://www.grzyby.pl/gatunki/Scutellinia_scutellata.htm

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/apr99.html



Figure 2. Close up of fertile surface of Scutellinia scutellata.