Source: Wikipedia
| Phyllotopsis nidulans | |
|---|---|
| |
| Phyllotopsis nidulans | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Phyllotopsidaceae |
| Genus: | Phyllotopsis |
| Species: | P. nidulans
|
| Binomial name | |
| Phyllotopsis nidulans | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Phyllotopsis nidulans | |
|---|---|
 | Gills on hymenium |
 | Cap is convex |
 | Stipe is bare or lacks a stipe |
 | Spore print is pink to pinkish-brown |
 | Ecology is saprotrophic |
 | Edibility is unknown or inedible |
Phyllotopsis nidulans, commonly known as the mock oyster or the orange oyster, is a species of fungus in the family Phyllotopsidaceae.
The fungus fruit body consists of a fan-shaped, light orange fuzzy cap up to 10 cm (4 in) wide that grows singly or in overlapping clusters. On the cap underside are crowded orange gills. Mock oyster mushrooms have an unpleasant odor and are regarded as inedible.
It is widely dispersed in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on decaying wood.
Taxonomy
[edit]The mock oyster was first described scientifically in 1798 by Christian Hendrik Persoon as Agaricus nidulans. The specific epithet nidulans means "partly encased or lying in a cavity".[2] It is commonly known as "nestcap".[3] It is the type species of the genus Phyllotopsis.
Description
[edit]The caps are 2–10 centimetres (3⁄4–4 in) wide. The stems are either very short or nonexistent.[4] The flesh has a thiol-like odor similar to rotten cabbage[2] or rotten eggs.[5]
The spore print is pink to tannish.[6] The smooth, sausage-shaped to cylindrical basidiospores measure 5–7 μm long by 2–3 μm wide. Clamp connections are present in the hyphae.[7]
Chemistry
[edit]The predominant pigments in the fruit bodies include beta-carotene (58%), alpha-carotene (29%), echinenone (8%), and astaxanthin (4%).[8] P. nidulans also produces a unique amino acid, 3-(3-carboxyfuran-4-yl) l-alanine.[9]
Similar species
[edit]Phyllotopsis subnidulans, found in the eastern United States, is similar in appearance. It can be distinguished by a deeper orange color, thinner gills with wider inter-gill spacing, and curved to sausage-shaped spores.[3] Other similar species include Lentinellus ursinusus, Crepidotus mollis, Panus rudis, Panus conchatus, and Pleurotus ostreatus.[4]
Habitat and distribution
[edit]Fruit bodies grow singly or in overlapping clusters on dead wood. Phyllotopsis nidulans is widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its range extends north to Alaska,[5] and includes Costa Rica, where it has been recorded in the Talamanca mountains and on the Poas Volcano.[7] In Asia, it has been recorded in Korea.[10]
Edibility
[edit]Although not known to be poisonous,[5] the disagreeable odor[4] would deter most from eating the mushrooms.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Phyllotopsis nidulans (Pers.) Singer 1936". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
- ^ a b Smith AH; Nancy S. Weber NS. (1980). The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide. University of Michigan Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-472-85610-7.
- ^ a b McKnight KH. (1998). A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-395-91090-0.
- ^ a b c Davis, R. Michael; Sommer, Robert; Menge, John A. (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 192–194. ISBN 978-0-520-95360-4. OCLC 797915861.
- ^ a b c Laursen GA, Seppelt RD (2010). Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams: Fungi, Lichenicolous Fungi, Lichenized Fungi, Slime Molds, Mosses, and Liverworts. University of Alaska Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-60223-109-2.
- ^ Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-593-31998-7.
- ^ a b Halling RE, Mueller GM (2005). Common Mushrooms of the Talamanca Mountains, Costa Rica. New York, New York: New York Botanical Garden Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-89327-460-3.
- ^ Klaui H, Bauernfeind JC (2012). Carotenoids as Colorants and Vitamin A Precursors: Technological and Nutritional Applications. Elsevier. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-323-13977-9.
- ^ Doyle RR, Levenberg B (1974). "l-3-(3-carboxyfuran-4-yl)alanine, a new amino acid from the mushroom Phyllotopsis nidulans" (PDF). Phytochemistry. 13 (12): 2813–2814. doi:10.1016/0031-9422(74)80246-3. hdl:2027.42/22228.
- ^ Jong WJm Young NK, Chang SK, Sang KH (2013). "Distribution of higher fungi in Chungcheong Province, Republic of Korea". Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. 6 (3): 347–359. doi:10.7229/jkn.2013.6.3.347.
- ^ Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-55407-651-2.
- ^ Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuide. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-7627-3109-1.
