Mycena Chlorophos - Tumblr Posts
Planned posts
Hiyaa, I'm planning on researching a few species of fungi and posting about them. However, I don't know when I'll be able to post, I do know what I'll post about though.
I will post about:
Small staghorn - Calocera cornea
Pixie's parasols - Mycena interrupta
Mycena subcyanocephala
Mycena chlorophos
I can also post about other fungi, just send in a request. I cannot promise, however that I'll be able to post quickly, but I will post about it.
The post about the small staghorn is almost finished actually, it's just that I'm really busy, so I'll probably post it Thursday or Friday.
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If you wanna get tagged in mycology posts, just leave a comment:)
Night light mushroom - Mycena chlorophos
This post will discuss Mycena chlorophos, a bioluminescent fungus found in subtropical Asia.
Fruitbody
M. chlorophos' cap is initially convex before flattening out and often does not exceed 30 mm in diameter. The cap has radial grooves extending to nearly the center (around where the stem connects to the cap) and its margin has small rounded teeth. It has a pale brownish gray colour that fades with growth and it is thinly coated by a somewhat sticky substance. ¹
The gill attachment is free, or adnexed to a slight collar encircling the stem. Initially white then grayish in color, they are somewhat crowded, with 17–32 full-length gills and 1 to 3 tiers of lamellulae*. The gills are 0.3–1 mm wide with micaceous edges.¹
The whiteish stem is 6–30 mm long and 0.3–1 mm thick. The stipe is hollow, translucent and tomentulose (seemingy covered with hair). The base of the stem is disc-shaped or somewhat bulbous, measuring 1–2.5 mm wide. ¹
Bioluminescence (macroscopic and microscopic)
The distribution of luminescence in M. chlorophos is not homogenous. The light intensity in the cap and gills is greater than in the stipe. ² Wether the mycelium is biolumiscent, is not certain from my research. While text source 1 says that the mycelium has little to no luminescence, text source 4 claims that the mycelium is bioluminescent. So it might be bioluminescent, but it might also not be.
On microscopic scale, the luminescence processes are localized to the membrane of the hymenium and basidia cells of the gill. Some parts of the luminescence system are also known to be on the surface of the cell membrane. ²
Spores and microscopic features
The spores are white, smooth, roughly elliptical, and are 7–8.5 by 5–6 μm. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are 17–23 by 7.5–10 μm, and four-spored with sterigmata around 3 μm long. The paraphyses are 5–8 μm wide, shorter than the basidia, more abundant and form a somewhat gelatinous layer.
The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the cap edge) are 60 by 7–21 μm, hyaline, conical or ventricose. The tips of the cheilocystidia are drawn out to a point, or have a short appendage measuring 15 by 2–3 μm, which is sometimes branched, and is thin or slightly thick-walled. There are no pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gills). Pileocystidia (cystidia on the surface of the cap) are club-shaped, measuring 25–60 by 13–25 μm. They are somewhat thick-walled, and spiny on the exposed surface with short outgrowths extending up to 3 μm long. The pileocystidia are joined together and form a continuous layer over the young cap, but break up as the cap expands. The caulocystidia (cystidia on the stem) are conical or lance-shaped, hyaline, and smooth, with walls that are thin or slightly thickened. They measure up to 300 by 10–25 μm, but are shorter in the upper regions of the stem.¹
M. chlorophos are dikaryotic and have clamp connections present throughout the hyphae.²
A, (left) in light; (right) fruiting body in the dark; inset shows top view of the pileus. B, basidia. C, spores. D, caulocystidia. E, cheilocystidia. F, surface view of pileipellis terminal cells embedded in gelatinous matrix of the pileus. ³
Scale bars represent 20 μm, except in (A), where it represents 1 cm. ³
Ecology and distribution
The fungus is found in subtropical Asia, including India, Japan, Taiwan, Polynesia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, in Australia, and Brazil.¹
Fruitbodies can be found growing in groups in forests on fallen woody debris such as dead twigs, branches, and logs. In other words it is a saprobic mushroom. The fungus requires a proper range of humidity to form mushrooms.¹ Under extremely moist conditions fruitbodies will become deformed and under extremely dry conditions the mushroom caps become warped and broken.²
The optimum temperature for the growth of mycelia is 27 °C, while the optimum for the growth of primordia is 21 °C. These temperatures are consistent with the subtropical climate in which it is typically found. Peak luminescence occurs at 27 °C, and about 25–39 hours after the primordia begin to form, when the cap has fully expanded. At 21 °C, luminescence persists for about 3 days, and becomes undetectable to the naked eyes about 72 hours after primordium initiation . ¹
The most probable reason the fungus glows has to do with spore dispersal. The luminescent properties of the fungus attracts many insects that while eating from the mushroom also help spreading the spores.⁴
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Images:
Text references:
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Notes
The term marked*:
Lamellulae - shorter gills that do not extend fully from the cap margin to the stem.
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