Bulgaria inquinans

Description

Bulgaria inquinans is a fungus in the family Phacidiaceae. It starts off as black flat-topped discs, the margins brownish, tightly inrolled when young, and gradually becomes more cup-shaped. The texture of the mushroom is similar to leather or elastic, depending on dry weather (elastic-like), or wet weather (leather). Black spores are produced on the upper surfaces and if rubbed they blacken the finger. This distinguishes them from similar mushrooms.

It grows across mainland Europe, the British Isles, and America. The fruiting bodies of Bulgaria inquinans are often found in large groups on downed logs of coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) and tanbark oak (Lithocarpus densiflorus). It is most easily recognized after periods of rain, when the shallow black cups have a glossy sheen, in sharp contrast to the scurfy, brown exterior.

Some sources listed this mushroom as edible. Ultimate Mushroom does not recommend collecting and eating this fungus.

Common names: Black Bulgar, Black Jelly Drops, Zwarte knoopzwam (Netherlands), Schmutzbecherling (German), Klihatka černá (Czech Republic).

Mushroom Identification

1. Fruiting Body

   Cup- or top-shaped at first, becoming flattened or convex; 1-5 cm across; outer surface brown to black, finely to prominently hairy or scaly (often smoother and blacker with age); upper surface black, shiny, and smooth.

2. Flesh

   Rubbery to gelatinous

3. Stem

   Absent or merely a pinched-off extension.

4. Habitat

   Saprobic on decaying oak and tanoak sticks and logs (also sometimes reported on the wood of birches or elms); growing alone, gregariously, or (more commonly) in clusters; late summer and fall (overwinter in warm climates); widely distributed in North America.

5. Microscopic Features

   Spores 9-17 x 6-7 µ; elliptical to somewhat lemon-shaped; smooth. Asci up to about 150 µ long; 8-spored, with the top 4 spores dark brown and uniguttulate in KOH and the bottom 4 spores poorly developed, multiguttulate, and hyaline. Paraphyses filiform.

Look-Alikes

1. Daldinia concentrica

   Found on ash and beech, not on oak.

2. Exidia truncata

   Produces smaller, less fleshy cup-shaped fruits. It has bigger spores.

3. Sarcosoma globosum

   Grows in spring on the ground in old coniferous forests.

4. Neobulgaria pura

   Has similar fruiting bodies, but is never black.

Synonyms and Varieties

• Peziza inquinans Pers., 1794

• Ascobolus inquinans (Pers.) Nees, 1817

• Bulgaria chalybea Berk. ex Cooke & Massee (1891)

• Bulgaria inquinans (Pers.) Fr. (1822) var. inquinans

• Bulgaria inquinans var. chalybea Berk. (1891)

• Bulgaria polymorpha (Oeder) Wettst.

• Bulgaria polymorpha f. minor Naveau (1923)

• Bulgaria polymorpha Oeder ex Wettst. f. polymorpha

• Lichen fungosus With.

• Peziza inquinans Pers. (1794)

• Peziza polymorpha Oeder, 1769

• Peziza polymorpha With. (1809)

• Peziza turbinata Relhan (1785)

• Peziza vesiculosa var. turbinata (Relhan) Pers. (1822)

• Phaeobulgaria inquinans (Pers.) Nannf., 1932

• Phaeobulgaria polymorpha (Oeder) Ferd. & Jørgensen

• Tremella turbinata Huds. (1778)

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: AnemoneProjectors (talk) (on Flickr) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Dr. Hans-Günter Wagner (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Dr. Hans-Günter Wagner (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 5 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)