Hyphodontia capitata
(Boidin & Gilles) Hjortst. 1991, Mycotaxon 42: 151.
Synonyms:
- = Pteridomyces capitatus Boidin & Gilles 1986, Bull. Soc. Myc. Fr. 102(3): 303.
- Holotype: La Reunion, Forêt de Bébour, on Cyathea borbonica, leg. J. Boidin, 05.05.1985, LY 11608, Herbarium LY.
Select illustrations:
![[image]](capita1i.gif)
Macromorphology:
Resupinate, odontioid, white, margin thinning out, Aculei up to100µm high and up to 75 µm wide at the base.
Micromorphology:
- Spores:
- 7-10 x 4.5-5.5 µm, elongate ellipsoid to cylindrical, thin-walled, smooth, hyalin, inamyloid, without one droplet (herbarium material). Spores are glued together to spore balls.
- Basidia:
- 10-24 x 3.5-5.5 µm, cylindrical to suburniform with one constriction and a basal clamp each. Basidial repetition occurs very often.
- Sterigmata:
- Four, 3-4 µm long.
- Cystidia:
- Capitate cystidia, basal vetricose, thin-walled, 13-18 x 3-4 µm, capitate enlargement 2-3 µmin diameter. They arise from the hymenium.
- Clamps:
- All primary septa with one clamp each.
- Hyphae:
- Hyphal system monomitic. Hyphae 2-3 µm in diameter, thin-walled. Hyphal context very dense. In the subhymenium many dead hyphae are present which make it difficult to analyze the hyphal context.
- Aculei:
- The aculei are built of parallely arranged hyphae which become sinuous finally. The hyphal ending is capitate in most cases.
Habitate and substrate:
Several vouchers of H. capitata are located in the herbarium LY, thereof two are undoubtly from Pteridophytes: Histiopteris incisa and Cyathea borbonica Boidin & Gilles 1986).
Biogeography:
H. capitata is hitherto only known from La Réunion island.
Remarks:
H. capitata was described by Boidin & Gilles 1986) in the genus Pteridomyces Jül. Species of the genus Pteridomyces have sterile aculei, clavate and stalked basidia andspores which are shorter than 10 µm. Also H. capitata has sterile aculei but it has suburniform basidia and was combined in Hyphodontia by Hjortstam (1991).
H. capitata has two important characters for determination:
- 1. sinuous or snake-likehyphae in the aculei.
- 2. spores which glue together to spore balls.
Spores longer than 7µm
Aculei formed by slightly ventricose and capitate cystidia...H. adhaerispora
Aculei formed by sinuose or snake-like cystidia..............H. capitata
Spores shorter than 7 µm........................................H. candidissima
Herbarium specimens:
La Reunion, Forêt de Bèbour, PK1, on Cyathea borbonica, leg. J. Boidin, 05.05.1985, LY 11608, Herbarium LY.
Go to:
Dr. Ewald Langer - 7. March 1996
ewald.langer@uni-tuebingen.de