Mushroom Trivia
Trivia
HomeTop Ten
Top Ten

secotioid

Terms discussed: sequestrate




Image of Hydnangium carneum from Jean Louis Émile Boudier (1904 - 1909) Icones mycologicae ou iconographie des champignons de France, principalement Discomycètes
Hydnangium carneum
A fruiting body is called secotioid when its structure is that of a "normal" mushroom that just never opened (and, often, never totally breaks out of the ground). Both boletes and gilled mushrooms have secotioid forms. A secotioid fruiting body usually looks like a lumpy mass on the outside, and if you cross-section it, you will see a convoluted mass of gills or tubes, and perhaps a stem. Most secotioid fungi occur in desert environments, so this growth habit is thought to be an adaptation that protects the developing spores from the dry climate.

Back to top

All secotioid fungi used to be placed in one order, the Hymenogastrales; but phylogenetically, they should all really go with the non-secotioid forms that they resemble.

Back to top

In a move fairly typical of mycology, Dr. Jim Trappe has coined the term sequestrate to mean exactly the same thing as secotioid.

 

 


Glossary
Glossary
Mushrooms
Mushrooms
HomeMycoPeople
People
Newsletter
Newsletter
Events
Events