Boletellus ananas
Encyclopedia
Boletellus ananas, commonly known as the pineapple bolete, is a mushroom
in the Boletaceae
family, and the type species
of the genus Boletellus
. It is distributed in southeastern North America, northeastern South America, Asia, and New Zealand, where it grows scattered or in groups on the ground, often at the base of oak
and pine
trees. The fruit body
is characterized by the reddish-pink (or pinkish-tan to yellowish if an older specimen) scales on the cap that are often found hanging from the edge. The pore surface on the underside of the cap is made of irregular or angular pores up to 2 mm wide that bruise a blue color. It is yellow when young but ages to a deep olive-brown color. Microscopically, B. ananas is distinguished by large spore
s with cross striae on the ridges and spirally encrusted hyphae in the marginal appendiculae and flesh
of the stem. Previously known as Boletus ananas and Boletus coccinea (among other synonyms
), the species was given its current name by William Alphonso Murrill in 1909. Two varieties
of Boletellus ananas have been described. Although the mushroom may be considered edible
, it is not recommended for consumption.
as Boletus ananas in 1848, based on specimens he found near the Santee River
, in South Carolina
. In 1909, William Murrill
described the new genus Boletellus
and made Boletellus ananas the type species
. According to Murrill, the taxon Boletus isabellinus, described by Charles Horton Peck
in 1897 from specimens collected in Ocean Springs, Mississippi
, is a synonym
of B. ananas; Peck described this species from undeveloped specimens. Wally Snell
later doubted Murrill's conclusion in a 1933 publication; he considered the differences in the spore structure too great to consider the species conspecific with B. ananas, although he admitted it was impossible to come to any definitive conclusions until mature fruit bodies and spore print
s were available for study. Rolf Singer
and colleagues (1992) suggested the name Boletellus coccineus for Boletellus ananas. Singer created this name, however, in the mistaken belief that the earliest available name for the taxon was Boletus coccineus, proposed by Elias Magnus Fries
in 1838. However, Fries’s name is an illegitimate later homonym (compare with Boletus coccineus, named by Bulliard
in 1791), and Singer’s combination is actually based on Strobilomyces coccineus, named by Pier Andrea Saccardo
in 1888. The earliest available name for the species is therefore Boletus ananas M.A. Curtis 1848, the basionym
of Boletellus ananas.
Boletellus ananas, as the type species
of the genus Boletellus
, is in section Boletellus that Singer based on the scaly, dry cap with red-pink tones, a marginal veil
that clasps the stem when immature, and longitudinally ridged spores that are greater than 16 μm
long. The genus name Boletellus means "small boletus", while the specific epithet ananas alludes to the name for pineapple, referring to the pineapple-like pattern of scales on the cap surface. The mushroom is commonly
known as the "pineapple bolete".
of B. ananas is 33 – wide and plano-convex (flat on one side and rounded on the other). It is covered with squamules (small scales) that can be either pressed against the cap or curved back on itself. The squamules range in color from reddish-brown to red-tan, to pink to pinkish-gray, and they are more concentrated and more scaly in the center of the cap, extending out of cream to light orange-pink to light pink-red floccose ground. The margin clasps the stem when young; at maturity it separates into triangular veil remnants (appendiculae) that measure 6–12 by 3–10 mm. The color of these appendiculae range from buff-white to faint pink. The flesh
is 2–3 mm thick at the edge of the cap, 7–10 mm over the tubes, and 11–18 mm centrally. It is buff white to light yellow, and quickly turns bluish upon exposure to air. The tubes are 1–5 mm long at the margin, 10–20 mm in the center, and 4–6 mm at the stem. They are broadly and deeply depressed around the stem, of irregular lengths, bright yellow to olive-yellow to mustard-yellow, and also rapidly turn blue upon exposure. The pores are the same color as the tubes, and rapidly turn blue-green with pressure; they are angular, and there are about 0.5–1.5 pores per mm. The stem
is 53 – by 6 – wide, and gradually becomes larger towards the base to 10–19 mm. The top part of the stem is cream to pink, the middle finely longitudinally striate, with the striations darkening with handling, red-lavender to brown-red, lighter with age. Immediately above the basal tomentum the stem surface is cream-colored with few striations. The basal tomentum is made of stiff, coarse white hairs over the lower 6–50 mm. The flesh of the stem is solid (i.e., not hollow) white to buff-tan to light yellow, and turns slightly blue with exposure. The odor is not distinctive (although it has been described as "musty") and the taste is mild.
s are olivaceous-brown in medium to heavy deposit
. They are inamyloid
, almond-shaped, contain one or more oil droplets, and measure 17.5–22.2 by 6.4-8 µm
. The spore wall is 0.5–1 µm thick, with 12–14 longitudinal ridges. These ridges are less than 1 µm tall, occasionally bifurcating, converging at poles, with minute cross-striae. Although these cross-striae are visible when observed with light microscopy, they are not evident when viewed with scanning electron microscopy. The hilar appendage (the region of a spore which attaches to the basidium
via the sterigma
) is 0.3–1 µm long. The basidia are four-spored, club-shaped, and have numerous refractive
globules; they measure 39–57 by 11–15 µm. The pleurocystidia (cystidia on the face of a gill) are 42–47 by 8-12 µm, swollen and beaked, slightly capitate. They are abundant, arising from the subhymenium, projecting 19.3–29.6 µm above the hymenial palisade, thin-walled, hyaline
, and devoid of refractive contents. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the edge of a gill) are 19–42 by 5–11 µm, swollen, cylindrical to narrowly cub-shaped, thin-walled, and infrequent. The flesh of the hymenium
is boletoid and strongly divergent (composed of different tissue layers). The mediostratum (middle tissue layer) is 24.7–45.7 µm wide, and made of many parallel, slightly interwoven hypha
e. The lateral stratum hyphae are 4.4–8.4 µm wide, hyaline, gelatinized in a dilute solution of potassium hydroxide
(KOH), and regularly septate
. The cap cuticle
is a densely interwoven trichodermial palisade (an erect, roughly parallel chains of closely packed cells) of cylindrical elements with inflated terminal cells. The terminal cells are 23.5–51.9 by 9.4–16.8 µm, inamyloid, cylindrical to club-shaped, interwoven, and concentrated on the squamules. The marginal appendiculae are composed of wefts of interwoven inflated hyphae, some with faint golden spirally arranged encrusting pigment
s that are evident when mounted in water, KOH, and Melzer's reagent
. The flesh of the cap is composed of highly interwoven hyphae measuring 7.4–11.1 µm wide that are hyaline in water, gelatinized and hyaline in KOH, and regularly septate
. The stipitipellis (stem cuticle) is a trichodermial palisade of cylindrical elements with inflated terminal cells. The terminal cells project 30.4–63 µm, and they are cylindrical to club-shaped, occasionally with an abrupt tapering point. The flesh of the stem is made of densely interwoven hyphae that are 4.9–7.2 µm wide, with spirally arranged, faint golden encrusting pigments that can be seen in KOH, Melzer's reagent, and water. Clamp connection
s are absent in this species.
s list it as "inedible" or "not recommended".
is roughly similar in appearance because of its rough scaly cap and lacerated margin, but may be distinguished from B. ananas by smooth stem without a ring, different spores, and flesh that is less tough. The Australian species Boletellus ananiceps has spores with narrow longitudinal ribs that do not have cross-striae. B. dissiliens
has colors that are not as red as B. ananas, and pores that can become reddish in maturity. Further, the cap flesh of B. dissiliens turns blue upon exposure to air.
, the mushroom typically fruits singly or in pairs within 1 – above ground level on the trunks of the tropical tree Dicymbe corymbosa (subfamily Caesalpinioideae
), associated with ectomycorrhizas within humic accumulations. It is rarely found fruiting on the ground on heavily decayed, root-penetrated wood. Rolf Singer
suggested that the fungus was not mycorrhiza
l, noting that as well as occurring under or on the bases of both pine
and oak
s, it occurred in scanty humus and debris accumulated on rock walls. Singer concluded that the species prefers to grow on hard surfaces. Harry D. Thiers
, in his study of the bolete flora of Texas
, wrote that B. ananas was a rare species that often fruited abundantly following an extended period of rain and high humidity.
Some varieties of B. ananas from southeastern North America, Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama, Nicaragua, and Guyana have been noted to fruit on tree trunks, although terrestrial fruiting has been reported in Malaysia and Central America. Due to the typically elevated fruiting habit and occurrence on dead wood, the ectomycorrhizal status of B. ananas has been debated; in the protolog Murrill noted "it always occurs either as a wound parasite on pine trunks or about the base of living pine trees." All collections have been made in association with ectotrophic host trees including Pinus and Quercus species in southeastern North America and Central America, Quercus humboldtii in Colombia, various Fagaceae
and Dipterocarpaceae
species in Malaysia, and Leptospermum
and Pinus species in New Zealand. In Guyana, the humic deposits on Dicymbe trunks bearing B. ananas are consistently permeated with abundant ectomycorrhizas. The fungus was reported as forming mycorrhizal associations with eucalypts in Australia, based on fruit body association with trees.
Its North American distribution encompasses a range extending north from North Carolina
to Florida
, west to Texas
and south to Mexico
, and Central America. In 2008, it was reported for the first time from Africa, in the Upper Potaro
and Upper Ireng River
Basins in Guyana
. It has also been collected from New Zealand, Asia (including China, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan), and possibly Australia.
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
in the Boletaceae
Boletaceae
Boletaceae are a family of mushrooms, primarily characterized by developing their spores in small pores on the underside of the mushroom, instead of gills, as are found in agarics. Nearly as widely distributed as agarics, they include the Cep or King Bolete , much sought after by mushroom hunters...
family, and the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of the genus Boletellus
Boletellus
Boletellus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in subtropical regions, and contains about 50 species. The genus was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1909...
. It is distributed in southeastern North America, northeastern South America, Asia, and New Zealand, where it grows scattered or in groups on the ground, often at the base of oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees. The fruit body
Basidiocarp
In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome or basidioma , is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures...
is characterized by the reddish-pink (or pinkish-tan to yellowish if an older specimen) scales on the cap that are often found hanging from the edge. The pore surface on the underside of the cap is made of irregular or angular pores up to 2 mm wide that bruise a blue color. It is yellow when young but ages to a deep olive-brown color. Microscopically, B. ananas is distinguished by large spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s with cross striae on the ridges and spirally encrusted hyphae in the marginal appendiculae and flesh
Trama (mycology)
In mycology trama is a term for the inner, fleshy portion of a mushroom's basidiocarp, or fruit body. It is distinct from the outer layer of tissue, known as the pileipellis or cuticle, and from the spore-bearing tissue layer known as the hymenium....
of the stem. Previously known as Boletus ananas and Boletus coccinea (among other synonyms
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
), the species was given its current name by William Alphonso Murrill in 1909. Two varieties
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
of Boletellus ananas have been described. Although the mushroom may be considered edible
Edible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
, it is not recommended for consumption.
Taxonomy
The species was first named by Moses Ashley CurtisMoses Ashley Curtis
Moses Ashley Curtis was a noted American botanist.Curtis was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and educated at Williams College in Massachusetts. After graduating, he became a tutor for the children of former Governor Edward Bishop Dudley in Wilmington, North Carolina, returning to Massachusetts...
as Boletus ananas in 1848, based on specimens he found near the Santee River
Santee River
The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage and navigation for the central coastal plain of South Carolina, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean approximately from its farthest headwater on the Catawba River...
, in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. In 1909, William Murrill
William Murrill
William Alphonso Murrill was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae.- Education :...
described the new genus Boletellus
Boletellus
Boletellus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in subtropical regions, and contains about 50 species. The genus was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1909...
and made Boletellus ananas the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
. According to Murrill, the taxon Boletus isabellinus, described by Charles Horton Peck
Charles Horton Peck
Charles Horton Peck, born March 30, 1833 in Sand Lake, New York, died 1917 in Albany, New York, was an American mycologist of the 19th and early 20th centuries...
in 1897 from specimens collected in Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States, about east of Biloxi. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,225 at the 2000 census...
, is a synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
of B. ananas; Peck described this species from undeveloped specimens. Wally Snell
Wally Snell
Walter Henry "Doc" Snell was a pinch-hitter/catcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the season. Following this brief baseball career he became a successful mycologist who worked primarily at Brown University for the next 60 years.-Baseball career:Snell...
later doubted Murrill's conclusion in a 1933 publication; he considered the differences in the spore structure too great to consider the species conspecific with B. ananas, although he admitted it was impossible to come to any definitive conclusions until mature fruit bodies and spore print
Spore print
thumb|300px|right|Making a spore print of the mushroom Volvariella volvacea shown in composite: mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print...
s were available for study. Rolf Singer
Rolf Singer
Rolf Singer was a German-born mycologist and one of the most important taxonomists of gilled mushrooms in the 20th century....
and colleagues (1992) suggested the name Boletellus coccineus for Boletellus ananas. Singer created this name, however, in the mistaken belief that the earliest available name for the taxon was Boletus coccineus, proposed by Elias Magnus Fries
Elias Magnus Fries
-External links:*, Authors of fungal names, Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming.*...
in 1838. However, Fries’s name is an illegitimate later homonym (compare with Boletus coccineus, named by Bulliard
Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard
Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard was a French physician and botanist....
in 1791), and Singer’s combination is actually based on Strobilomyces coccineus, named by Pier Andrea Saccardo
Pier Andrea Saccardo
Pier Andrea Saccardo was an Italian botanist and mycologist.- Life :...
in 1888. The earliest available name for the species is therefore Boletus ananas M.A. Curtis 1848, the basionym
Basionym
Basionym is a term used in botany, regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...
of Boletellus ananas.
Boletellus ananas, as the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of the genus Boletellus
Boletellus
Boletellus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in subtropical regions, and contains about 50 species. The genus was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1909...
, is in section Boletellus that Singer based on the scaly, dry cap with red-pink tones, a marginal veil
Partial veil
thumb|150px|right|Developmental stages of [[Agaricus campestris]] showing the role and evolution of a partial veilPartial veil is a mycological term used to describe a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some basidiomycete fungi, typically agarics...
that clasps the stem when immature, and longitudinally ridged spores that are greater than 16 μm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
long. The genus name Boletellus means "small boletus", while the specific epithet ananas alludes to the name for pineapple, referring to the pineapple-like pattern of scales on the cap surface. The mushroom is commonly
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
known as the "pineapple bolete".
Description
The capPileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
of B. ananas is 33 – wide and plano-convex (flat on one side and rounded on the other). It is covered with squamules (small scales) that can be either pressed against the cap or curved back on itself. The squamules range in color from reddish-brown to red-tan, to pink to pinkish-gray, and they are more concentrated and more scaly in the center of the cap, extending out of cream to light orange-pink to light pink-red floccose ground. The margin clasps the stem when young; at maturity it separates into triangular veil remnants (appendiculae) that measure 6–12 by 3–10 mm. The color of these appendiculae range from buff-white to faint pink. The flesh
Trama (mycology)
In mycology trama is a term for the inner, fleshy portion of a mushroom's basidiocarp, or fruit body. It is distinct from the outer layer of tissue, known as the pileipellis or cuticle, and from the spore-bearing tissue layer known as the hymenium....
is 2–3 mm thick at the edge of the cap, 7–10 mm over the tubes, and 11–18 mm centrally. It is buff white to light yellow, and quickly turns bluish upon exposure to air. The tubes are 1–5 mm long at the margin, 10–20 mm in the center, and 4–6 mm at the stem. They are broadly and deeply depressed around the stem, of irregular lengths, bright yellow to olive-yellow to mustard-yellow, and also rapidly turn blue upon exposure. The pores are the same color as the tubes, and rapidly turn blue-green with pressure; they are angular, and there are about 0.5–1.5 pores per mm. The stem
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
is 53 – by 6 – wide, and gradually becomes larger towards the base to 10–19 mm. The top part of the stem is cream to pink, the middle finely longitudinally striate, with the striations darkening with handling, red-lavender to brown-red, lighter with age. Immediately above the basal tomentum the stem surface is cream-colored with few striations. The basal tomentum is made of stiff, coarse white hairs over the lower 6–50 mm. The flesh of the stem is solid (i.e., not hollow) white to buff-tan to light yellow, and turns slightly blue with exposure. The odor is not distinctive (although it has been described as "musty") and the taste is mild.
Microscopic characteristics
The sporeSpore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s are olivaceous-brown in medium to heavy deposit
Spore print
thumb|300px|right|Making a spore print of the mushroom Volvariella volvacea shown in composite: mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print...
. They are inamyloid
Amyloid (mycology)
In mycology the term amyloid refers to a crude chemical test using iodine in either Melzer's reagent or Lugol's solution, to produce a black to blue-black positive reaction. It is called amyloid because starch gives a similar reaction, and that reaction for starch is also called an amyloid reaction...
, almond-shaped, contain one or more oil droplets, and measure 17.5–22.2 by 6.4-8 µm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
. The spore wall is 0.5–1 µm thick, with 12–14 longitudinal ridges. These ridges are less than 1 µm tall, occasionally bifurcating, converging at poles, with minute cross-striae. Although these cross-striae are visible when observed with light microscopy, they are not evident when viewed with scanning electron microscopy. The hilar appendage (the region of a spore which attaches to the basidium
Basidium
thumb|right|500px|Schematic showing a basidiomycete mushroom, gill structure, and spore-bearing basidia on the gill margins.A basidium is a microscopic, spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main...
via the sterigma
Sterigma
thumb|right|The sterigmata is the slender extension that connects the spore to the basidia .A sterigma is an extension of the basidium consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection with a spore at the tip...
) is 0.3–1 µm long. The basidia are four-spored, club-shaped, and have numerous refractive
Refraction
Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to a change in its speed. It is essentially a surface phenomenon . The phenomenon is mainly in governance to the law of conservation of energy. The proper explanation would be that due to change of medium, the phase velocity of the wave is changed...
globules; they measure 39–57 by 11–15 µm. The pleurocystidia (cystidia on the face of a gill) are 42–47 by 8-12 µm, swollen and beaked, slightly capitate. They are abundant, arising from the subhymenium, projecting 19.3–29.6 µm above the hymenial palisade, thin-walled, hyaline
Hyaline
The term hyaline denotes a substance with a glass-like appearance.-Histopathology:In histopathological medical usage, a hyaline substance appears glassy and pink after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin — usually it is an acellular, proteinaceous material...
, and devoid of refractive contents. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the edge of a gill) are 19–42 by 5–11 µm, swollen, cylindrical to narrowly cub-shaped, thin-walled, and infrequent. The flesh of the hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
is boletoid and strongly divergent (composed of different tissue layers). The mediostratum (middle tissue layer) is 24.7–45.7 µm wide, and made of many parallel, slightly interwoven hypha
Hypha
A hypha is a long, branching filamentous structure of a fungus, and also of unrelated Actinobacteria. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium; yeasts are unicellular fungi that do not grow as hyphae.-Structure:A hypha consists of one or...
e. The lateral stratum hyphae are 4.4–8.4 µm wide, hyaline, gelatinized in a dilute solution of potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, commonly called caustic potash.Along with sodium hydroxide , this colorless solid is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications. Most applications exploit its reactivity toward acids and its corrosive...
(KOH), and regularly septate
Septum
In anatomy, a septum is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones.-In human anatomy:...
. The cap cuticle
Pileipellis
thumb|300px||right|The cuticle of some mushrooms, such as [[Russula mustelina]] shown here, can be peeled from the cap, and may be useful as an identification feature....
is a densely interwoven trichodermial palisade (an erect, roughly parallel chains of closely packed cells) of cylindrical elements with inflated terminal cells. The terminal cells are 23.5–51.9 by 9.4–16.8 µm, inamyloid, cylindrical to club-shaped, interwoven, and concentrated on the squamules. The marginal appendiculae are composed of wefts of interwoven inflated hyphae, some with faint golden spirally arranged encrusting pigment
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
s that are evident when mounted in water, KOH, and Melzer's reagent
Melzer's Reagent
Melzer's reagent is a chemical reagent used by mycologists to assist with the identification of fungi.-Composition:...
. The flesh of the cap is composed of highly interwoven hyphae measuring 7.4–11.1 µm wide that are hyaline in water, gelatinized and hyaline in KOH, and regularly septate
Septum
In anatomy, a septum is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones.-In human anatomy:...
. The stipitipellis (stem cuticle) is a trichodermial palisade of cylindrical elements with inflated terminal cells. The terminal cells project 30.4–63 µm, and they are cylindrical to club-shaped, occasionally with an abrupt tapering point. The flesh of the stem is made of densely interwoven hyphae that are 4.9–7.2 µm wide, with spirally arranged, faint golden encrusting pigments that can be seen in KOH, Melzer's reagent, and water. Clamp connection
Clamp connection
A clamp connection is a structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is created to ensure each septum, or segment of hypha separated by crossed walls, receives a set of differing nuclei, which are obtained through mating of hyphae of differing sexual types...
s are absent in this species.
Varieties
The typical variety of Boletellus ananas has consistently larger fruit bodies than B. ananas var. minor Singer from Brazil and Nicaragua, and lacks the thick-walled cheilocystidia of B. ananas var. crassotunicatus Singer from Nicaragua and Panama.Edibility
Although the mushroom is used as a food in Mexico, field guideField guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife or other objects of natural occurrence . It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects...
s list it as "inedible" or "not recommended".
Similar species
Strobilomyces strobilaceusStrobilomyces strobilaceus
Strobilomyces strobilaceus, also called Strobilomyces floccopus and commonly known as Old Man of the Woods, is a species of fungus in the Boletaceae family. It is native to Europe and North America...
is roughly similar in appearance because of its rough scaly cap and lacerated margin, but may be distinguished from B. ananas by smooth stem without a ring, different spores, and flesh that is less tough. The Australian species Boletellus ananiceps has spores with narrow longitudinal ribs that do not have cross-striae. B. dissiliens
Boletellus dissiliens
Boletellus dissiliens is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. Found in Singapore, it was originally described as Boletus dissiliens by E.J.H. Corner in 1972, and transferred to Boletellus in 1981....
has colors that are not as red as B. ananas, and pores that can become reddish in maturity. Further, the cap flesh of B. dissiliens turns blue upon exposure to air.
Ecology, habitat and distribution
The fruit bodies of B. ananas typically grow scattered or in groups under oak and pine trees, often on their bases. In GuyanaGuyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, the mushroom typically fruits singly or in pairs within 1 – above ground level on the trunks of the tropical tree Dicymbe corymbosa (subfamily Caesalpinioideae
Caesalpinioideae
Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name Caesalpinia....
), associated with ectomycorrhizas within humic accumulations. It is rarely found fruiting on the ground on heavily decayed, root-penetrated wood. Rolf Singer
Rolf Singer
Rolf Singer was a German-born mycologist and one of the most important taxonomists of gilled mushrooms in the 20th century....
suggested that the fungus was not mycorrhiza
Mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant....
l, noting that as well as occurring under or on the bases of both pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s, it occurred in scanty humus and debris accumulated on rock walls. Singer concluded that the species prefers to grow on hard surfaces. Harry D. Thiers
Harry D. Thiers
Harry Delbert Thiers, born January 22, 1919 in Fort McKavett, Texas, died August 8, 2000 in Ohio, was an American mycologist who studied and named a great many fungi of native to North America, particularly California. Thiers taught mycology at San Francisco State University for many years, and a...
, in his study of the bolete flora of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, wrote that B. ananas was a rare species that often fruited abundantly following an extended period of rain and high humidity.
Some varieties of B. ananas from southeastern North America, Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama, Nicaragua, and Guyana have been noted to fruit on tree trunks, although terrestrial fruiting has been reported in Malaysia and Central America. Due to the typically elevated fruiting habit and occurrence on dead wood, the ectomycorrhizal status of B. ananas has been debated; in the protolog Murrill noted "it always occurs either as a wound parasite on pine trunks or about the base of living pine trees." All collections have been made in association with ectotrophic host trees including Pinus and Quercus species in southeastern North America and Central America, Quercus humboldtii in Colombia, various Fagaceae
Fagaceae
The family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts. Fagaceous leaves are often...
and Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...
species in Malaysia, and Leptospermum
Leptospermum
Leptospermum is a genus of about 80-86 species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. Most species are endemic to Australia, with the greatest diversity in the south of the continent; but one species extends to New Zealand, another to Malaysia, and L. recurvum is endemic to Malaysia.They...
and Pinus species in New Zealand. In Guyana, the humic deposits on Dicymbe trunks bearing B. ananas are consistently permeated with abundant ectomycorrhizas. The fungus was reported as forming mycorrhizal associations with eucalypts in Australia, based on fruit body association with trees.
Its North American distribution encompasses a range extending north from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, west to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and south to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and Central America. In 2008, it was reported for the first time from Africa, in the Upper Potaro
Potaro River
The Potaro River is a river in Guyana in northern South America.The source of the Potaro River is in the Mount Ayanganna area of the Pakaraima Mountains in the North Rupununi Savannahs...
and Upper Ireng River
Ireng River
The Ireng River forms part of Guyana's western border with Brazil. It flows through the valleys of the Pakaraima Mountains for most of its length. It is the only major river in Guyana which flows from North to South. It is one of the northernmost tributaries of the Amazon river system.It is...
Basins in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
. It has also been collected from New Zealand, Asia (including China, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan), and possibly Australia.
External links
- Mushroom Observer Images