Battarrea phalloides

Appearance

Mature specimens of ''Battarrea phalloides'' roughly resemble the typical agaric mushroom stature of stem and cap. However, rather than a cap with gills, this species has a spore sac atop the stem. When young, the fruit body is roughly spherical and completely encased in an outer wall that later splits in a circumscissile fashion , the lower wall forming a volva and the upper part forming scales that cover the inner wall. The upper part rolls upward and backward and eventually falls away in one piece, exposing a spore sac lined with a narrow ring of capillitium and spores. The spores are sticky. As these are carried away by the wind, the drying action of the latter cause the edges of the peridium to shrivel and roll up more, exposing more spores. This is continued until the upper half of the peridium has shriveled and blown away and there remains only a few spores, which may be washed away by rain.

The fruit body develops rapidly; when mature, it is rust-colored, with a hemispherical to somewhat conical "head" 1 to 3 cm in diameter, and with a stalk up to 40 cm long by 0.4 to 1.5 cm thick.

One study reported a specimen found in Mexico with a length of 70 cm . Typically, the spore case is 3 to 5 cm broad by 1 to 3.5 cm tall. The hollow stalk is pale brown to brown, woody, and has a fibrous, scaly, or even woolly surface. The mature gleba, which is eventually exposed when the peridial cap is shed, has a rust-brown color. The cap may persist after the spore mass is dispersed and form a disc-like unit that slides down the stalk like a ring. The fragile sac-shaped volva is up to 15 by 13 cm broad, unattached to the stalk, and formed by two distinct, separated tissue layers. The inner layer resembles the scales of the stem, consisting of hyphae that are 3–18 µm in diameter, closely arranged , septate, sparsely branched, yellowish ochre, with clamps at some septa. The outer layer of fungal tissue is thicker, membranous, sometimes with a corky texture when dry, and dirty white. It consists of pale yellow intertwined hyphae that are difficult to distinguish individually, and without remains of a gelatinous matrix. Fruit bodies may persist for several months after they have dried.

The thick-walled spores are roughly spherical, rusty-brown, finely and densely warted, and have diameters of 5–6.5 µm. Elaters are 50–80 by 4–6 µm, and have ring-like or spiral thickenings. The endoperidium consists of densely interwoven hyphae that are 3–9 µm in diameter and walls less than 1 µm thick; they are septate, branched, pale yellow, with clamp connections.

The gleba is largely made up of two types of threads. The pseudocapillitium has hyphae up to 5 µm diameter, mostly thin walled, smooth, septate, sparsely branched, hyaline to pale yellow, with clamps. The elaters have diameters of 3.5–7 µm and are 32–70 µm long; they are pale yellow, smooth-walled, tapered and cylindrical with spiral thickenings. Glebal elaters are aseptate and not branched.

Naming

The closely related species ''Battarrea diguettii'' is known in the United States from the Mojave desert, and differs from ''B. phalloides'' in that the spore sac emerges by ripping through the top of the exoperidium, rather than by circumscissile rupture. The endoperidium of ''B. diguettii'' is also smaller, and the spores emerge through a number of pores on the upper surface of the spore sac. ''Battarrea stevenii'' can grow taller, up to 70 centimeters . ''Podaxis pistillaris'', commonly known as the "desert shaggy mane", occurs in dry locales similar to ''B. phalloides'', but can be distinguished by its shaggy, elongated cap.

Distribution

''Battarrea phalloides'' may be found growing solitary to scattered on dry, sandy hedgebanks , sometimes growing amongst elm suckers. It is a relatively rare species, but may be locally abundant in some locations. In Mexico, where it is only known from the north and central part of the country, it has been usually collected in arid and semiarid areas, on coastal dunes, found from sea level up to 2,550 m high. The mushroom has been associated with the quick-growing evergreen tree ''Schinus molle'', as well as ''Lycium brevipes'', ''Solanum hindsianum'', ''Salicornia subterminalis'', ''Atriplex linearis'', ''Quercus agrifolia'' and ''Opuntia'' species, in coastal dunes. The largest fruit bodies were found on floodplains with halophilic vegetation. In Belgium, specimens were found on sandy soil under dead elderflower bushes.

In North America, ''Battarrea phalloides'' has been collected from the Yukon Territory, western Canada; the US, where it is confined to the west— Southern California, New Mexico, and Arizona— Mexico, and Hawaii. It has also been reported growing in South America , Africa , Europe , China, and Australia. Due to a decline in sightings, ''B. phalloides'' was granted legal protection in Hungary in 2005, making it a finable offense to pick them. It received similar protected status in the United Kingdom in 1998.

The habitat and range of ''Battarrea stevenii'' include arid regions of the western and southwestern United States, Australia, South Africa, and several European countries, including Russia.

Habitat

''Battarrea phalloides'' may be found growing solitary to scattered on dry, sandy hedgebanks , sometimes growing amongst elm suckers. It is a relatively rare species, but may be locally abundant in some locations. In Mexico, where it is only known from the north and central part of the country, it has been usually collected in arid and semiarid areas, on coastal dunes, found from sea level up to 2,550 m high. The mushroom has been associated with the quick-growing evergreen tree ''Schinus molle'', as well as ''Lycium brevipes'', ''Solanum hindsianum'', ''Salicornia subterminalis'', ''Atriplex linearis'', ''Quercus agrifolia'' and ''Opuntia'' species, in coastal dunes. The largest fruit bodies were found on floodplains with halophilic vegetation. In Belgium, specimens were found on sandy soil under dead elderflower bushes.

In North America, ''Battarrea phalloides'' has been collected from the Yukon Territory, western Canada; the US, where it is confined to the west— Southern California, New Mexico, and Arizona— Mexico, and Hawaii. It has also been reported growing in South America , Africa , Europe , China, and Australia. Due to a decline in sightings, ''B. phalloides'' was granted legal protection in Hungary in 2005, making it a finable offense to pick them. It received similar protected status in the United Kingdom in 1998.

The habitat and range of ''Battarrea stevenii'' include arid regions of the western and southwestern United States, Australia, South Africa, and several European countries, including Russia.