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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
‘Morels’.
Anamorphic forms occurring (these hyphomycetaceous).
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing asci and ascospores; persistent; erect-elongate, unbranched (to 12 cm or more high); substantially capitate (the cap often with honey-comb like pits); usually stipitate; medium sized to very large; with caps 2–10 cm across; 4–24 cm high; with pale stipes and darker caps of various shades of brown; apothecial; producing asci and spores on an exposed hymenium; ascus-bearing hymenial layer usually everted (the hymenium often lobed or corrugated, usually darker than the stalk); stromata present. The asci cylindrical; asci operculate; without obvious apical thickening; thin walled. The walls of the asci not staining blue with iodine. The ascospores ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline; simple; multinucleate; appendaged (with a minutely guttate appendage at the apex); without a mucilaginous sheath.
The hyphae without clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, double layered, with both layers electron dense.
Ecology. Saprophytic (in soil and on leaf mould). The fruit-bodies borne on the ground. Found in grassy places, in heathland, in coniferous woodland, in broad-leaved woodland, in mixed woodland, and in places modified by human activities.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. 23 species in Britain; Disciotis, Mitrophora, Morchella, Verpa.
World representation. 38 species; genera 3. Widespread, especially temperate.
Classification. Ascomycota; Ascomycetes; Pezizomycetidae; Pezizales.
Comments. The Morchella species edible. ‘Operculate Discomycetes’, with well developed interascal tissue.
Illustrations. • Morchella esculenta, M. vulgaris, Mitrophora semilibera, Verpa conica (LH). MORCHELLACEAE. 2, Morchella esculenta; 3 and 4, Morchella vulgaris; 5, Mitrophora semilibera; 6, Verpa conica. HELVELLACEAE. 1, Helvella crispa. Sunesen & Dahlstrøm, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Morchella esculenta and Verpa digitaliformis (Berkeley). MORCHELLACEAE. 5, Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. (Morel); 6, Verpa digitaliformis Pers. NIDULARIACEAE. 1, Cyathus olla (Batsch) Pers. GEASTRACEAE. 2, Sphaerobolus stellatus Tode. ANAMORPHIC FUNGUS. 3, Anthina flammea Fr. HELVELLACEAE. 4, Helvella crispa (Scop.) Fr. (False Morel). CUDONIACEAE. 7, Spathularia flavida Pers. From Berkeley (1860). • Disciotis venosa (Berkeley). MORCHELLACEAE. 6. Disciotis venosa var. reticulata (Grev.) Boud. LEOTIACEAE. 1, Leotia lubrica (Scop.) Pers. GEOGLOSSACEAE. 2, Trichoglossum hirsutum var. hirsutum (Pers.) Boud. PEZIZACEAE. 4, Peziza badia Pers.; 5, Peziza micropus Pers. BULGARIACEAE. 7, Bulgaria inquinans (Pers.) Fr. HELOTIALES incertis sedis. 3, Microglossum olivaceum (Pers.) Gillet.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2008 onwards. The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
