Hypomyces cervinigenus

Appearance

Sporocarp

Fruiting body a soft, tomentose to finely pubescent mold, white, becoming pinkish to cream-buff, powdery in age, parasitizing stipe and cap tissue of the host; odor and taste not investigated.
Spores

Perithecia and ascospores rare, not seen; according to Rogerson and Simms, ascospores (15)18-22 (26) X 2-4 (5) µm, smooth, subfusiform, at maturity, typically one-septate, the ends pointed, not apiculate.

Asexual spores of two types: 1) aleuriospores: globose, spiny, thick-walled, 13.5-17.5 µm broad (including ornamentation), joined to a secondary, thin-walled, more or less hemispheric cell; 2) conidia: cylindrical-ellipsoid, 14.0-25.5 x 4.0-5.0 µm, thin-walled, smooth, contents granular, or with one to several oil droplets, some centrally septate; aleuriospores pinkish-buff in deposit.

Naming

Anamorph: Mycogone cervina Ditmar

Distribution

Western Canada (British Columbia), Northwestern U.S.A. (Washington); Northern Europe (Norway), Middle Europe (Germany, the Netherlands), East Europe (Estonia); Kazakhstan. Anamorph common, teleomorph rare.

Behavior

Parasitic on Helvella species, especially Helvella lacunosa; fruiting from mid to late winter.