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Chamonixia caespitosa: first record for Britain of a rarely found fungus
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Chamonixia caespitosa : first record for Britain of a rarely found fungus (% '#&)J%"($L he spectacular indigo blue developing on a white bean-shaped ‘truffle’ collection suggested immediately that this was an interesting find. I knew that it was likely to be in the Boletales and thus to belong to one of two genera, Octaviania or Chamonixia. It proved to be the latter as I had suspected and new to Britain. Chamonixia caespitosa Rolland, though rarely found, has been recorded across Europe and appears on many countries’ Red Lists, where its status ranges from critically endangered to vulnerable. Literature suggests it is found in damp old-growth conifer forests: “the majority of the observations have been made in soils with variable moisture content in old-growth coniferous forests, often in north-facing slopes or brook ravines with abundant coarse woody debris.” (Bohlin 2005). Collected and originally described by Rolland in its own new genus in 1899 from an excursion to Chamonix in 1898, it was published in the Bulletin de la Société Mycologique de France. Rolland described France in 1898 as being extraordinarily dry (Rolland. 1899), with a complete lack of mushrooms. The French Mycological Society had even rescheduled their
foray until October, so he decided to go to Chamonix where there were constant wet areas near the glaciers. He describes in this paper his collecting from under spruce with a ground cover of Sphagnum and moss. Soehner (1922), unaware of Rolland’s earlier find, collected Chamonixia caespitosa in Bavaria, naming it Hymenogaster coerulescens. Two years later in 1924 (Soehner, 1924), after reading Rolland’s description, he made the combination Hymenogaster caespitosus (Rolland) Soehner. He thus acknowledged the synonymy but did not change his opinion that this was a species of Hymenogaster. Had molecular analysis been available to Soehner in 1924 he would have had to agree that Rolland’s species was in fact not a Hymenogaster. This is a polyphyletic genus within the Agaricales, whereas Chamonixia is closely related to the bolete genus Leccinellum (Orihara et al. 2012, 2015) within Leccinoideae (Wu et al. 2014) a new subfamily within Boletales. I decided to visit Wales in August 2015, similarly aware that it was likely to be moist, and apart from the glaciers, his wet spruce habitat was similar to where my material was found at Rhyd, at grid ref. SH642423. This forest however
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doi:10.1016/j.fldmyc.2016.04.009
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was not old growth, but a Picea plantation planted in the 1960’s by the Forestry Commission. Indeed this could have been one of the last post-war Welsh conifer plantations, as I understand that in the 1970’s the Forestry Commission began revising their obsession with clothing every available hillside in North Wales with conifers. The plantation appeared on the 1970 Ordnance Survey map of the area but did not register on the 1960 map so the woodland stand was probably a maximum of 55 years old. The plantation was very shaded, with little ground cover, though a small amount of moss covered the needles around tree bases. The collection was growing in a hollow at the base of a living trunk possibly in the space left from rotting wood within feet of a water-filled ditch. My single small fruitbody (Fig. 1), initially pure white with the texture of chamois leather, looked like a rather fat, pure white broad bean, approximately 12 x 6 mm, with a small basal pad. Around the pad (stipe) there appeared to be a furrow (Figs 3 & 4) suggesting a secotioid form. This groove can be seen most clearly in Fig. 4 which is the drier material. This feature was mentioned by Lange and Hawker (1951) “around the stipe the peridium is absent or very little developed making the gleba visible in a meridional furrow”. Almost immediately on handling indigo blue spots began developing on the fibres over the surface. These are caused by the chemical chamonixin isolated from the fungus (Nelsen 2010). These blued areas (hyphae) subsequently browned until eventually, a day or two later, the whole of the peridium had turned grey-green. (Figs 1,2,3 & 4).
On cutting, the flesh-coloured chambered interior became visible (Fig. 2) which Rolland in his paper had understandably described as “un Hyménogastré intéressant” because of its identical gleba type. He continues “ses spores elyptiques, colorées et striées dans leur longueur sont celles d’un Gautieria”. Finding striated spores similar to those of Gautieria, I can imagine the excitement he must have felt seeing this unusual combination of features. I too was keen to get home to check it out under the microscope. Chamonixia caespitosa Rolland K(M)200698 Studies were made in water, 10% ammonia, 5% KOH and Melzer’s reagent. The blue-grey colouration of the peridium was visible in the water preparation but disappeared under ammonia and KOH. The alkaline reagents caused certain elements on the peridium to turn yellow. Melzer’s reagent produced a faint patchy amyloid reaction in the hyphae of the peridium after time. Spores were browner in alkaline solution than when in water. Summary microscopic description: Peridium composed of two layers (Figs. 7 & 8), an inner layer of stacked radial cells with slightly inflated end-cells covered by a thin outer layer of either oleiferous or gelatinised hyphae that stain yellow in ammonia (Fig. 8). These may even be the intermingled hyphae that grow out of the stipe and pileus producing a veil that Clémençon (2005) describes as an ‘amphicleistoblema’. In water there appeared to be plaques on the peridial cells which cleared or were invisible in
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the other reagents. Gleba a labyrinth of irregularly shaped chambers containing a hymenium of basidioles with developing four-spored basidia. Spores averaging 18 x 15 µm (inc. perisporium), developing a loose, convoluted perisporium which when mature shrinks and forms ridges along the spore (Figs 5 & 6). More detailed descriptions exist on the internet, in particular Orihara et al. (2015) and Mleczko et al. (2009). There does appear to be some variation in the morphology of collections. The existence or not of a columella seems to be the most variable feature; in my collection a
remnant was seen as a small pad. Other differences that are dependent on the maturity of the basidiocarp include spore colour, affecting the colour of the gleba, and presence or absence of veil. But to date there appears to be just one species in Europe. Acknowledgements My thanks to Alick Henrici for his continued encouragement of my endeavours and judicious scrutiny of content and to Dr Ursula Eberhardt for accessing the 1924 paper by Soehner.
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References
Orihara, T., Ohmae, M., Yamamoto, K. ( 2015). First report of Chamonixia caespitosa (Boletaceae, Boletales) from Japan and its phylogeographic significance. Mycoscience 30: 1–6 (in press). Orihara, T., Smith, M.E., Shimomura, N., Iwase, K. & Maekawa, N. (2012). Diversity and systematics of the sequestrate genus Octaviania in Japan: two new subgenera and eleven new species. Persoonia 28: 85–112. Rolland, L. (1899). Excursion à Chamonix Bull. Soc. Myc. France 15: 73–78. Soehner, E. (1922). Hymenogaster coerulescens (spec. nov.). Z. Pilzkd. 1: 6–8. Soehner, E. (1924). Prodromus der fungi hypogaei Bavariae. Krypt. Forsch. Bayer. Bot. Ges. 6: 390–398. Wu, G., Feng, B., Xu, J., Zhu, X.-T., Li, Y.-C., Zeng, N.-K., Hosen, M.I.& Yang, Z.L. (2014). Molecular phylogenetic analyses redefine seven major clades and reveal 22 new generic clades in the fungal family Boletaceae. Fungal Diversity 69: 93–115.
Bohlin, K. (2005). Åtgärdsprogram för bevarande av blåtryffel (Chamonixia caespitosa). Rapport 5472, May 2005. Naturvårdsverket, Stockholm. Cleménçon, H. (2005). New observations on the basidiome ontogeny of Chamonixia caespitosa (sequestrate Boletaceae). Persoonia 18(4): 499–504. Lange, M. & Hawker, L.E. (1951). Some hypogeal gasteromycetes from Jämtland, Sweden and adjacent districts of Norway. Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 45 (4): 591–596. Mleczko, P., Kozak, M., Lawrynowicz, M. & Gorszczyka, A. (2009). New localities of Chamonixia caespitosa (hypogeous Boletaceae) in Central Europe Acta Mycologica 44 (1): 29–42. Nelsen, S. F. (2010). Bluing Components and Other Pigments of Boletes FUNGI 3(4): 11–14.
Gastón Guzmán 1932–2016 #)C&( L
exican mycologist Gastón Guzmán is renowned for his work on Psilocybe but he did much more besides in many other genera and important work with Gordon Wasson and the Mexican curandera (native healer or shaman) María Sabina. He worked with the indigenous peoples of Mexico in their uses of particular fungi, researching their vernacular names and recording this information for future generations. Whilst traveling in Mexico back in 1999 I made contact with Gastón and had the pleasure of spending some time with him in Xalapa, Veracruz. I will always remember a really fun evening with him at his home, sharing a number of Cuba Libres. Interspersed between folk songs, that he obviously loved sharing, he spoke of how he had recorded over a hundred species of fungi just in his small garden area. Back at the Institute de Ecologia in Xalapa, where he was
then based in 1999, he had many unpublished works on various genera lining the shelves of his office. Gastón began his career in mycology almost by chance. In 1955 as a graduate student of Biology at the Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City, he was assigned to catalogue plants, but on noticing that the fungi collection was in great disarray he found himself drawn toward collecting specimens of various fungi from the surrounding areas of Mexico City. This was the beginning of what is now the largest fungal collection in Mexico with over 100,000 specimens. Guzmán also founded the department and fungarium of fungi at the Ecological Institute in Xalapa, where he held an emeritus research chair; that fungarium holds more than 50,000 specimens. In 1957 Gastón was invited by the University of Mexico to assist Rolf Singer in studying the genus Psilocybe in Mexico. Whilst in the area of
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Chamonixia caespitosa : first record for Britain of a rarely found fungus (% '#&)J%"($L he spectacular indigo blue developing on a white bean-shaped ‘truffle’ collection suggested immediately that this was an interesting find. I knew that it was likely to be in the Boletales and thus to belong to one of two genera, Octaviania or Chamonixia. It proved to be the latter as I had suspected and new to Britain. Chamonixia caespitosa Rolland, though rarely found, has been recorded across Europe and appears on many countries’ Red Lists, where its status ranges from critically endangered to vulnerable. Literature suggests it is found in damp old-growth conifer forests: “the majority of the observations have been made in soils with variable moisture content in old-growth coniferous forests, often in north-facing slopes or brook ravines with abundant coarse woody debris.” (Bohlin 2005). Collected and originally described by Rolland in its own new genus in 1899 from an excursion to Chamonix in 1898, it was published in the Bulletin de la Société Mycologique de France. Rolland described France in 1898 as being extraordinarily dry (Rolland. 1899), with a complete lack of mushrooms. The French Mycological Society had even rescheduled their
foray until October, so he decided to go to Chamonix where there were constant wet areas near the glaciers. He describes in this paper his collecting from under spruce with a ground cover of Sphagnum and moss. Soehner (1922), unaware of Rolland’s earlier find, collected Chamonixia caespitosa in Bavaria, naming it Hymenogaster coerulescens. Two years later in 1924 (Soehner, 1924), after reading Rolland’s description, he made the combination Hymenogaster caespitosus (Rolland) Soehner. He thus acknowledged the synonymy but did not change his opinion that this was a species of Hymenogaster. Had molecular analysis been available to Soehner in 1924 he would have had to agree that Rolland’s species was in fact not a Hymenogaster. This is a polyphyletic genus within the Agaricales, whereas Chamonixia is closely related to the bolete genus Leccinellum (Orihara et al. 2012, 2015) within Leccinoideae (Wu et al. 2014) a new subfamily within Boletales. I decided to visit Wales in August 2015, similarly aware that it was likely to be moist, and apart from the glaciers, his wet spruce habitat was similar to where my material was found at Rhyd, at grid ref. SH642423. This forest however
T
' ) )!&) &) '!$ )'$(&)" ''%( )$ $!&)% %R'#)) !%R'#) &) &" )!&) &('' #)" ) ) !%R)" &'#) &)")$!&)!&' !%#'6'# )!%$%( !)) )J%"($
' ) )!' +) + '&'$& )$&() % &$'%#) !%R'#)'#$&# &)" &'# )!%$%( !) ) )J%"($
L=A)M$%()F% )M!&'& )M%$!)7%( !'(&)M)M
doi:10.1016/j.fldmyc.2016.04.009
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' ) I ) E ''%( ) ('%() $%) $$'#) A) !%( ) $&( M%&)" &)(& )!&)$(#&)"(%R# )!%$%)) J%"($
was not old growth, but a Picea plantation planted in the 1960’s by the Forestry Commission. Indeed this could have been one of the last post-war Welsh conifer plantations, as I understand that in the 1970’s the Forestry Commission began revising their obsession with clothing every available hillside in North Wales with conifers. The plantation appeared on the 1970 Ordnance Survey map of the area but did not register on the 1960 map so the woodland stand was probably a maximum of 55 years old. The plantation was very shaded, with little ground cover, though a small amount of moss covered the needles around tree bases. The collection was growing in a hollow at the base of a living trunk possibly in the space left from rotting wood within feet of a water-filled ditch. My single small fruitbody (Fig. 1), initially pure white with the texture of chamois leather, looked like a rather fat, pure white broad bean, approximately 12 x 6 mm, with a small basal pad. Around the pad (stipe) there appeared to be a furrow (Figs 3 & 4) suggesting a secotioid form. This groove can be seen most clearly in Fig. 4 which is the drier material. This feature was mentioned by Lange and Hawker (1951) “around the stipe the peridium is absent or very little developed making the gleba visible in a meridional furrow”. Almost immediately on handling indigo blue spots began developing on the fibres over the surface. These are caused by the chemical chamonixin isolated from the fungus (Nelsen 2010). These blued areas (hyphae) subsequently browned until eventually, a day or two later, the whole of the peridium had turned grey-green. (Figs 1,2,3 & 4).
On cutting, the flesh-coloured chambered interior became visible (Fig. 2) which Rolland in his paper had understandably described as “un Hyménogastré intéressant” because of its identical gleba type. He continues “ses spores elyptiques, colorées et striées dans leur longueur sont celles d’un Gautieria”. Finding striated spores similar to those of Gautieria, I can imagine the excitement he must have felt seeing this unusual combination of features. I too was keen to get home to check it out under the microscope. Chamonixia caespitosa Rolland K(M)200698 Studies were made in water, 10% ammonia, 5% KOH and Melzer’s reagent. The blue-grey colouration of the peridium was visible in the water preparation but disappeared under ammonia and KOH. The alkaline reagents caused certain elements on the peridium to turn yellow. Melzer’s reagent produced a faint patchy amyloid reaction in the hyphae of the peridium after time. Spores were browner in alkaline solution than when in water. Summary microscopic description: Peridium composed of two layers (Figs. 7 & 8), an inner layer of stacked radial cells with slightly inflated end-cells covered by a thin outer layer of either oleiferous or gelatinised hyphae that stain yellow in ammonia (Fig. 8). These may even be the intermingled hyphae that grow out of the stipe and pileus producing a veil that Clémençon (2005) describes as an ‘amphicleistoblema’. In water there appeared to be plaques on the peridial cells which cleared or were invisible in
3-
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' ) = ) &('') !%R'#) (' ) & ) %&(&) ") # $'#$&) & %R) &' ) '#) K*) CJ ) !%$%( !) )J%"($
the other reagents. Gleba a labyrinth of irregularly shaped chambers containing a hymenium of basidioles with developing four-spored basidia. Spores averaging 18 x 15 µm (inc. perisporium), developing a loose, convoluted perisporium which when mature shrinks and forms ridges along the spore (Figs 5 & 6). More detailed descriptions exist on the internet, in particular Orihara et al. (2015) and Mleczko et al. (2009). There does appear to be some variation in the morphology of collections. The existence or not of a columella seems to be the most variable feature; in my collection a
remnant was seen as a small pad. Other differences that are dependent on the maturity of the basidiocarp include spore colour, affecting the colour of the gleba, and presence or absence of veil. But to date there appears to be just one species in Europe. Acknowledgements My thanks to Alick Henrici for his continued encouragement of my endeavours and judicious scrutiny of content and to Dr Ursula Eberhardt for accessing the 1924 paper by Soehner.
3,
P% )Q)ON
References
Orihara, T., Ohmae, M., Yamamoto, K. ( 2015). First report of Chamonixia caespitosa (Boletaceae, Boletales) from Japan and its phylogeographic significance. Mycoscience 30: 1–6 (in press). Orihara, T., Smith, M.E., Shimomura, N., Iwase, K. & Maekawa, N. (2012). Diversity and systematics of the sequestrate genus Octaviania in Japan: two new subgenera and eleven new species. Persoonia 28: 85–112. Rolland, L. (1899). Excursion à Chamonix Bull. Soc. Myc. France 15: 73–78. Soehner, E. (1922). Hymenogaster coerulescens (spec. nov.). Z. Pilzkd. 1: 6–8. Soehner, E. (1924). Prodromus der fungi hypogaei Bavariae. Krypt. Forsch. Bayer. Bot. Ges. 6: 390–398. Wu, G., Feng, B., Xu, J., Zhu, X.-T., Li, Y.-C., Zeng, N.-K., Hosen, M.I.& Yang, Z.L. (2014). Molecular phylogenetic analyses redefine seven major clades and reveal 22 new generic clades in the fungal family Boletaceae. Fungal Diversity 69: 93–115.
Bohlin, K. (2005). Åtgärdsprogram för bevarande av blåtryffel (Chamonixia caespitosa). Rapport 5472, May 2005. Naturvårdsverket, Stockholm. Cleménçon, H. (2005). New observations on the basidiome ontogeny of Chamonixia caespitosa (sequestrate Boletaceae). Persoonia 18(4): 499–504. Lange, M. & Hawker, L.E. (1951). Some hypogeal gasteromycetes from Jämtland, Sweden and adjacent districts of Norway. Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 45 (4): 591–596. Mleczko, P., Kozak, M., Lawrynowicz, M. & Gorszczyka, A. (2009). New localities of Chamonixia caespitosa (hypogeous Boletaceae) in Central Europe Acta Mycologica 44 (1): 29–42. Nelsen, S. F. (2010). Bluing Components and Other Pigments of Boletes FUNGI 3(4): 11–14.
Gastón Guzmán 1932–2016 #)C&( L
exican mycologist Gastón Guzmán is renowned for his work on Psilocybe but he did much more besides in many other genera and important work with Gordon Wasson and the Mexican curandera (native healer or shaman) María Sabina. He worked with the indigenous peoples of Mexico in their uses of particular fungi, researching their vernacular names and recording this information for future generations. Whilst traveling in Mexico back in 1999 I made contact with Gastón and had the pleasure of spending some time with him in Xalapa, Veracruz. I will always remember a really fun evening with him at his home, sharing a number of Cuba Libres. Interspersed between folk songs, that he obviously loved sharing, he spoke of how he had recorded over a hundred species of fungi just in his small garden area. Back at the Institute de Ecologia in Xalapa, where he was
then based in 1999, he had many unpublished works on various genera lining the shelves of his office. Gastón began his career in mycology almost by chance. In 1955 as a graduate student of Biology at the Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City, he was assigned to catalogue plants, but on noticing that the fungi collection was in great disarray he found himself drawn toward collecting specimens of various fungi from the surrounding areas of Mexico City. This was the beginning of what is now the largest fungal collection in Mexico with over 100,000 specimens. Guzmán also founded the department and fungarium of fungi at the Ecological Institute in Xalapa, where he held an emeritus research chair; that fungarium holds more than 50,000 specimens. In 1957 Gastón was invited by the University of Mexico to assist Rolf Singer in studying the genus Psilocybe in Mexico. Whilst in the area of
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