Image of Humaria hemisphaerica (F. H. Wigg.) Fuckel 1870

Description:

Slo.: polobla kosmatinka - syn.: Peziza hemisphaerica F.H.Wigg. - Habitat: locally north oriented mountain slope, mixed wood, locally Picea abies dominant, calcareous ground, among needles and leaf litter, ground without greenery; full shade, humid place; partly protected from direct rain by tree canopies; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 6-8 deg C, elevation 800 m (2.625 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. - Substratum: forest soil under Picea abies canopies. - Comments: Habitat and habitus of these cup fungi fit very well to Humaria hemisphaerica. Also spore shape, surface and gutules do so. The species is a common one. At least in my literature I can't find an acceptable alternative determination. However, spore and asci dimensions do not correspond to data from literature. I don't know whether the differences observed are acceptable (data from literature have quite large scatter too) or this find represents another, probably rarer and seldom described species. - Growing in a few groups of more than 30 fruit bodies in an area of about 2 x 2 m; apparently associated whit Lycoperdon perlatum. Some cups seemed as attached to this fungus (see Fig.3) and I didn't find a single cup more than a quarter of meter away of more than ten fruitbodies of Lycoperdon. Pilei diameter 8 - 22 mm, like translucent, pearly inside; taste and smell indistinctive; SP too faint to allow color determination. - Spores warty with two large gutules each. Spore dimensions: 25.4 [27.1 ; 27.8] 29.6 x 13.8 [14.5 ; 14.8] 15.5 , Q = 1.7 [1.8 ; 1.9] 2; N = 37 ; C = 95%, Me = 27.5 x 14.7 ; Qe = 1.9. Asci dimensions: 205.4 [231.4 ; 244.8] 270.8 x 13 [15.4 ; 16.6] 19 , Q = 12.9 [14.5 ; 15.4] 17; N = 24; C = 95%, Me = 238.1 x 16 ; Qe = 14.9. Hairs septated. Dimensions: 339 [505 ; 621] 787 x 13 [15.2 ; 16.8] 19 , Q = 20.1 [31.6 ; 39.6] 51.1; N = 15; C = 95%, Me = 563.5 x 16 ; Qe = 35.6. Olympus CH20, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil (spores), NEA 40x/0.65, magnification 400x (asci details), NEA 10x/0.25, magnification 100x (asci, paraphyses) and Bausch & Lomb 4x/0.10, magnification 40x (hairs), in water. AmScope MA500 digital camera. - Herbarium: Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vena pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJF - Ref.: (1) R. Phillips, Mushrooms, Macmillan (2006), p 365. (2) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.1. Verlag Mykologia (1984), p 90. (3) M. Bon, Parey's Buch der Pilze, Kosmos (2005), p 330. (4) S. Buczacki, Collins Fungi Guide, Collins (2012), p 609. (5) D. Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley (1986), p 839. (6) R.M. Daehncke, 1200 Pilze in Farbfotos, AT Verlag (2009), p 1133.