Resupinatus applicatus

What You Should Know

Resupinatus applicatus is a species of fungus in the Tricholomataceae family. It is known for its small size, inverted fan-shaped cap, chocolate to black color, tomentose base, radiating blades, tiny pseudostalk, gelatinous flesh, white to rounded smooth fragments, and growth on wood and hardwood bark, particularly on the reverse side. When young, it is completely resupinate but as the cap develops, a tiny stem forms and the cap detaches from the substrate, revealing a whitish tomentum near the point of attachment. This tomentum expands, turns gray, and then blackens when mature. It is not edible.

This saprobic fungus is commonly found in North America, Europe, and Australia, growing on decaying wood. To locate it, search for the small sessile agaric by turning over damp deciduous branches. It can also be found on standing stems or hanging branches, where the fruiting bodies may grow laterally.

Originally described as Agaricus applicatus by August Batsch in 1786, it was later transferred to Resupinatus by Samuel Gray in 1821.

Other names: Smoked Oysterling, Black Jelly Oyster, German (Borstiger Gallertblättling, Flaumiger Liliputseitling, Flaumiger Zwergseitling), Netherlands (Kaal dwergoortje), Sweden (Strimmussling).

Resupinatus applicatus Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   0.08-0.47 inches (0.2-1.2 cm) in diameter, convex-spread, flat-spread, round, oval, kidney-shaped, or shell-shaped, often asymmetrical, sessile or with a short stem, growing sideways or on top at the base. The cap surface is initially woolly-fibrous or flaky, later becoming bare, wrinkled, or scarred, varying in color from pale ocher to grayish, dark gray, brownish-gray, or black with age, lightening to whitish when dried.

2. Gills

   The gills are thin, with intermediate ridges, starting as pale ocher, grayish, dark gray, or brown-gray, darkening with age to black.

3. Stem

   Missing or very short, eccentric.

4. Flesh

   The flesh is thin, gelatinous, gummy.

5. Spores

   3.5-6.5 μm, almost round, colorless.

6. Spore Print

   White.

7. Habitat

   The fungus is saprobic, and grows from August to October's end, in deciduous forests, on dead fallen branches and trunks of deciduous trees, especially on the lower part, often in large clusters.

Resupinatus applicatus Look-Alikes

1. Resupinatus trichotis

   Similar in appearance, young specimens can be difficult to determine with certainty. As it matures, a dark felt forms internally near the point of attachment.

2. Resupinatus kavinii

   Has a small, grayish-felt caps.

3. Resupinatus striatulus

   Much smaller with a smooth to powdery cap, ranging from white and tomentose to fringed at the point of attachment. Grows on peeled hardwood and coniferous wood.

Resupinatus applicatus Synonyms

• Agaricus applicatus Batsch (1786), Elenchus fungorum, continuatio prima, p. 171, tab. 24, fig. 125

• Acanthocystis applicatus (Batsch) Kühner (1926), Le Botaniste, 17(1-4), p. 1116

• Agaricus epixylon Bulliard (1792), Herbier de la France, 12, tab. 581, fig. 2

• Agaricus epixylon subsp.* coccodesPersoon (1828), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 3, p. 17, tab. 25, fig. 3-a ('cocoodes')

• Agaricus epixylon var. ß pezizoides Persoon (1828), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 3, p. 16

• Agaricus kerneri Wettstein (1887), Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche klasse, Abt. 1, 94, p. 68

• Agaricus lenticula Kalchbrenner (1880), Grevillea, 8(48), p. 151, tab. 142, fig. 3

• Agaricus merulinus Persoon (1828), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 3, p. 17

• Agaricus pezizoides Nees & T. Nees (1818), Nova acta physico-medica Academiae Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolinae naturae curiosorum, 9, p. 249, tab. 6, fig. 18

• Agaricus ponticola Lasch (1828), Linnaea, Ein journal für die botanik, 3, p. 418

• Agaricus striatulus var. ßß hirsutulusAlbertini & Schweinitz (1805), Conspectus fungorum in Lusatiae superioris, p. 232

• Calathinus applicatus (Batsch) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 47

• Calathinus applicatus var. pezizoides (Persoon) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 47

• Campanella merulina (Persoon) Singer (1961), Persoonia, 2(1), p. 33

• Cantharellus congregatus Montagne (1842), Annales des sciences naturelles, botanique, série 2, 18, p. 21

• Crepidotus pezizoides (Persoon) P. Kummer (1871), Der fürher in die pilzkunde, p. 74

• Dendrosarcus kerneri (Wettstein) Kuntze (1898), Revisio generum plantarum, 3, p. 464

• Dendrosarcus lenticula (Kalchbrenner) Kuntze (1898), Revisio generum plantarum, 3, p. 464

• Dendrosarcus membranaceus (Scopoli) Kuntze (1898), Revisio generum plantarum, 3, p. 463

• Derminus pezizoides (Persoon) Hennings (1898), in Engler & Prantl, Die natürlichen pflanzenfamilien, 1(1**), p. 240

• Geopetalum striatulum var. applicatum (Batsch) Kühner & Romagn., 1954

• Hohenbuehelia applicata (Batsch) Zerova & Peresipkin (1979), Viznachnik Ukraini, 5, Basidiomycetes, p. 115

• Laschia congregata (Montagne) Patouillard (1900), Essai taxonomique sur les familles et les genres des Hyménomycètes, p. 129

• Merulius epixylon (Bulliard) Roussel (1806), Flore du Calvados et des terreins adjacens, Edn 2, p. 69

• Phyllotus applicatus (Batsch) P. Karsten (1879), Bidrag till kännedom af Finlands natur och folk, 32, p. 94

• Pleurotus applicatus (Batsch) P. Kummer (1871), Der fürher in die pilzkunde, p. 105

• Pleurotus kerneri (Wettstein) Saccardo (1891), Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque cognitorum, 9, p. 49

• Pleurotus lenticula (Kalchbrenner) Saccardo (1887), Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque cognitorum, 5, p. 380

• Pleurotus reniformis ss. Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 149

• Scytinotopsis applicatus (Batsch) Singer (1936), Annales mycologici, edii in notitiam scientiae mycologicae universalis, 34(4-5), p. 333

• Urospora applicata (Batsch) Singer (1936), Beihefte zum botanischen centralblatt, zweite abteilung, 56(1-2), p. 145

Sources:

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