Cheilymenia stercorea
Description
Cheilymenia stercorea is a species of apothecial fungus belonging to the family Pyronemataceae.
This is a common appearance throughout the year as orange-red discs up to 3 mm in diameter, clustered on dung, usually from cows. The spores are elliptical and measure 14–18 by 8–10 μm, while the asci are 175–220 by 9–12 μm. It is found in Europe and North America.
Mushroom Identification
Ecology
Saprobic on the dung of domestic animals (primarily horses and cows) and occasionally reported on the dung of wild animals; growing alone or gregariously; spring through fall, or in winter in warmer climates; widely distributed in North America.
Fruiting Body
Cup-shaped; .5-4 mm across; upper surface reddish-orange, fading to yellowish; undersurface similarly colored or paler, with bristle-like hairs ranging from brownish to yellowish; flesh thin and insubstantial.
Microscopic Features
Spores 14-18 x 8-10 µ elliptical; smooth; without oil droplets. Asci 175-220 x 9-12 µ. Marginal hairs unbranched; lower hairs stellately branched. Cells of undersurface arranged in rows.
Similar Species
Scutellinia crucipila is very similar, also with stellate hairs; it grows on damp bare soil and sometimes on soil in mossy or grassy habitats.
Several other ascomycetous disc fungi also colonize animal dung. Few can be identified from macroscopic features alone, and so microscopic examination of asci, spores, and other cell structures is usually necessary.
History
Described as Peziza stercorea by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1790, this species was transferred top the genus Cheilymenia in 1907 by French mycologist Jean Louis Emile Boudier (1828 - 1920).
Synonyms of Cheilymenia stercorea include Lachnea stercorea (Pers.) Cooke, Peziza scutellata Batsch, Peziza stercorea Pers., Humaria stercorea (Pers.) Fuckel, Lasiobolus stercoreus (Pers.) P. Karst., and Scutellinia stercorea (Pers.) Kuntze.
The specific epithet stercorea means 'of dung', which is where these little ascomycete disc fungi are invariably found.
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: bkaounas (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Photo 2 - Author: mar_asci (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Photo 3 - Author: sitkaconnor (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Photo 4 - Author: ikhom (CC BY-NC 4.0)
