Guepinia

Appearance

The fruit bodies of ''Guepinia helvelloides'' grow singly or in small clumps. Although they can appear to be growing in the soil, their mycelium lives in buried wood. They are 4–10 cm tall and 3–17 cm wide, spoon- or tongue-shaped, and twisted like a cornet or horn so that they look like a slender funnel, cut out on one side and often with a wavy margin. The fruit bodies are flexible, 2–3.5 mm thick, and smooth on the outer side which they are usually attenuated on the underside into a cylindrical or depressed stem that is up to 5 cm high and about 1.5 cm thick. The stem is normally covered with a white tomentum at the base. The upper side of the fruit body is usually quite sterile or with a few isolated basidia and is slightly verrucose as a result of the densely crowded protruding ends of the hyphae. The sterile and fertile surfaces of the fruit body are almost the same color, transparent reddish-orange to flesh pink or flesh orange, at other times more purplish-red. The fruit bodies usually develop a slightly brownish tinge when they are old. The underside is usually slightly more vividly colored than the upper side. The flesh is gelatinous, softly so in the upper part of the fruit body and with a more cartilage-like consistency in the stem. It has a nondescript odor, and a watery, insignificant taste.

The hymenium is developed on the under side of the fruit body. The basidia consist of a globular part to which inflated or elongated epibasidia are attached. In ''Guepinia'', the hypobasidia are egg-shaped to ellipsoid, measuring 12–16 by 9–12 μm, and attached to fibril-like epibasidia that are 20–45 by 3–4 μm. The spore deposit is white, while the spores are 9–11 by 5–6 μm, hyaline , cylindrical to elongated ellipsoid in shape, and have a large oil drop.

Naming

''Guepinia helvelloides'' has a rather unique appearance, and is not likely to be mistaken for other fungi. However, the red chanterelle species ''Cantharellus cinnabarinus'' is superficially similar; unlike ''G. helvelloides'', however, it does not have a rubbery and gelatinous texture, and its undersurface is wrinkled, not smooth.

Distribution

''Guepinia helvelloides'' is saprobic, deriving nutrients by breaking down organic matter. The fruit bodies of ''G. helveloides'' typically grow solitarily or in small tufts on soil, usually in association with buried rotting wood. Although the fruit bodies sometimes appear in the spring, they are more commonly found in the summer and autumn months. In North America, it is associated with coniferous forests. It is also found throughout temperate North America, from Canada to Mexico. Europe, Iran, and Turkey. It is also known from Brazil and Puerto Rico. The fungus has also been collected from the Qinling region of China.

Habitat

''Guepinia helvelloides'' is saprobic, deriving nutrients by breaking down organic matter. The fruit bodies of ''G. helveloides'' typically grow solitarily or in small tufts on soil, usually in association with buried rotting wood. Although the fruit bodies sometimes appear in the spring, they are more commonly found in the summer and autumn months. In North America, it is associated with coniferous forests. It is also found throughout temperate North America, from Canada to Mexico. Europe, Iran, and Turkey. It is also known from Brazil and Puerto Rico. The fungus has also been collected from the Qinling region of China.