An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight

ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or ...

s. Ascocarps are most commonly bowl-shaped (apothecia) but may take on a spherical or flask-like form that has a pore opening to release spores (perithecia) or no opening (cleistothecia).

Classification

The ascocarp is classified according to its placement (in ways not fundamental to the basic

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

). It is called ''epigeous'' if it grows above ground, as with the morels, while underground ascocarps, such as

truffles A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Pe ...

, are termed ''hypogeous''. The structure enclosing the hymenium is divided into the types described below (apothecium, cleistothecium, etc.) and this character ''is'' important for the taxonomic classification of the fungus. Apothecia can be relatively large and fleshy, whereas the others are microscopic—about the size of flecks of ground pepper.

Apothecium

An apothecium (plural: apothecia) is a wide, open, saucer-shaped or cup-shaped fruit body. It is sessile and fleshy. The structure of the apothecium chiefly consists of three parts: '' hymenium'' (upper concave surface), ''hypothecium'', and ''excipulum'' (the "foot"). The asci are present in the hymenium layer. The asci are freely exposed at maturity. An example are the members of ''Dictyomycetes''. Here the fertile layer is free, so that many spores can be dispersed simultaneously. The morel, ''Morchella'', an edible ascocarp, not a mushroom, favored by gourmets, is a mass of apothecia fused together in a single large structure or cap. The genera '' Helvella'' and ''

Gyromitra ''Gyromitra'' () is a genus of about 18 species of ascomycete fungi. They are a false morel - a frequently toxic mushroom that can be mistaken for edible mushrooms of the genus ''Morchella'' (morels). Taxonomy The name ''Gyromitra'' comes from ...

'' are similar.

Cleistothecium

A cleistothecium (plural: cleistothecia) is a globose, completely closed fruit body with no special opening to the outside. The ascomatal wall is called ''peridium'' and typically consists of densely interwoven hyphae or ''pseudoparenchyma'' cells. It may be covered with hyphal outgrowth called ''appendages''. The asci are globose, deliquescent, and scattered throughout the interior cavity i.e. as in ''Eurotium'' or arising in tufts from the basal region of ascocarps as in ''Erysiphe''. In this case the ascocarp is round with the hymenium enclosed, so the spores do not automatically get released, and fungi with cleistothecia have had to develop new strategies to disseminate their spores. The truffles, for instance, have solved this problem by attracting animals such as boar, wild boars, which break open the tasty ascocarps and spread the spores over a wide area. Cleistothecia are found mostly in fungi that have little room available for their ascocarps, for instance those that live under tree bark, or underground like truffles.

Gymnothecium

Similar to a cleistothecium, a gymnothecium is a completely enclosed structure containing globose or pear-shaped, deliquescent asci. However, unlike the cleistothecium, the peridial wall of a gymnothecium consists of a loosely woven "tuft" of hyphae, often ornamented with elaborate coils or spines. Examples are the ''Gymnoascus'', ''Talaromyces'' and the dermatophyte ''Arthroderma''.

Perithecium

Perithecia are flask shaped structures opening by a pore or ''ostiole'' (short papilla opening by a circular pore) through which the ascospores escape. The ''ostiolar canal'' may be lined by hair-like structures called ''periphyses''. The unitunicate asci are usually cylindrical in shape, borne on a stipe (stalk), released from a pore, developed from the inner wall of the perithecium and arise from a basal plectenchyma-centrum. Examples are members of Sphaeriales and Hypocreales. Perithecia are also found in ''Xylaria'' (Dead Man's Fingers, Candle Snuff), ''Nectria'', ''Claviceps'' and ''Neurospora''. Sometimes the perithecia are "free" (individually visible from the outside), but in many species they are embedded in a dense sterile tissue of haploid cells called a ''stroma'' (plural: stromata).See page 30 and glossary of

Pseudothecium

This is similar to a perithecium, but the asci are not regularly organised into a hymenium and they are Ascus#Classification, bitunicate, having a double wall that expands when it takes up water and shoots the enclosed spores out suddenly to disperse them. Example species are Apple scab (''Venturia inaequalis'') and the horse chestnut disease ''Guignardia aesculi''.

References

{{Fungus Mycology Fungal morphology and anatomy de:Schlauchpilze#Das Ascokarp