''Cookeina'' is a genus of cup fungi in the family

Sarcoscyphaceae The ''Sarcoscyphaceae'' are a family (biology), family of cup fungus, fungi in the order Pezizales. Members of the Sarcoscyphaceae are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan in distribution, found in both tropical and temperate regions. Genera ...

, members of which may be found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

regions of the world. Species may be found on fallen branches of

angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...

, trunks, and sometimes on fruits.Weinstein RN, Pfister DH, Iturriaga T. (2002). A phylogenetic study of the genus ''Cookeina''. ''

Mycologia ''Mycologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers on all aspects of the fungi, including lichens. It first appeared as a bimonthly journal in January 1909, published by the New York Botanical Garden under the editorship of W ...

'' 94(4): 673–682. The

Temuan The Temuan people ( Temuan: ''Uwang/Eang Temuan'', Malaysian: ''Orang Temuan'') are a Proto-Malay ethnic group indigenous to western parts of Peninsular Malaysia. They can be found in the states of Selangor, Pahang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Ma ...

s of

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

are reported to use certain species from this genus as food, and also as a bait for fishing, where it is rubbed against the hook.

Description

Species in the ''Cookeina'' have a deep, cup-shaped to funnel-shaped fruiting bodies, or

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), 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 ascospores. As ...

. The inner spore-bearing surface of the apothecium, the

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 oth ...

, is brightly colored, yellow to red, although the color will fade upon drying. The outer surface is less brightly colored. The excipulum, the tissue making up the walls of the apothecium, is thin and flexible. When hairs are present on the apothecium, they are fasciculate—made of bundles of cylindrical

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

Microscopic features

The ''Cookeina'' have asci which are constricted abruptly below and form a blunt, rounded base with a slim, tail-like connection. They have asci which mature simultaneously rather than in series. They have

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the f ...

which

anastomose An anastomosis (, : anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal (su ...

and form a three-dimensional network.

Ascospore In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...

s are large (20—40 μm long), ellipsoidal or slightly unequal-sided, and either smooth or ornamented with fine wrinkles. The genus appears to be restricted to wood, commonly to wood in early stages of decay.Denison WC. (1967). Central American Pezizales. 2. Genus ''Cookeina''. ''

'' 59(2): 306–.

Mechanism of spore release

When mature apothecia become filled with water, the asci absorb some of that water and develop a

Turgor pressure Turgor pressure is the force within the cell that pushes the plasma membrane against the cell wall. It is also called ''hydrostatic pressure'', and is defined as the pressure in a fluid measured at a certain point within itself when at equilibri ...

, a hydrostatic pressure within the ascus which put pressure on the tip of the ascus, held in place by the rigid ascus wall. As the water level in the cup reduces due to evaporation, the asci tips dry out, resulting in a negative vapor pressure that ultimately results in the thin tissue at the wall of the apex (the operculum) breaking outward, releasing the spores.

Taxonomy

The genus name of ''Cookeina'' is in honour of

Mordecai Cubitt Cooke Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (12 July 1825, in Horning, Norfolk – 12 November 1914, in Southsea, Hampshire) was an English botanist and mycologist who was, at various points, a London schoolteacher, a Kew mycologist, curator at the India Museum, jour ...

(1825–1914), who was an English botanist and mycologist. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntz in Revis. Gen. Pl. Vol.2 on page 849 in 1891.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analyses of

ribosomal DNA The ribosomal DNA (rDNA) consists of a group of ribosomal RNA encoding genes and related regulatory elements, and is widespread in similar configuration in all domains of life. The ribosomal DNA encodes the non-coding ribosomal RNA, integral struc ...

has helped to clarify the evolutionary and genetic relationships amongst the species in ''Cookeina''. The species ''C. speciosa'', ''C. tricholoma'', and ''C. sinensis'' belong to a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

group, and all are hairy, with stipes, and lack a well-defined layer of slime in the excipulum at maturity. Another monophyletic grouping contains the species ''C. Venezuela'' and ''C. colensoi'', which do have a slime layer on the excipulum, and have either short stipes or not at all (

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

). In this analysis, ''C. indica'' and ''C. insititia'' did not clearly resolve with the other

clades In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

. The presence of some unique physical characteristics in the species ''C. insititia'' has made its taxonomic status uncertain, and a source of some debate in the literature— some authors have supported its segregation into the genus ''Boedijnopeziza'', and others have questioned this interpretation. Based on a study of ultrastructural characteristics using

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

, a possible solution to the taxonomic conundrum was suggested in 2003, to segregate ''C. insititia'' into a subgenus ''Boedijnopeziza'' within the ''Cookeina''.

Species

'' Cookeina colensoi'' (Berk.) Seaver (1913).

Basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

''Peziza colensoi'' Berk (1855).
Apothecia cupulate, subsessile to stipitate, 5–19 mm in diameter when dry, receptacle surface smooth; gelatinous layer present in the inner ectal excipulum, 40–50 μm thick, cells of axes somewhat perpendicular to receptacle surface; asci suboperculate, 330–360 × 12.5–13 μm. Ascospores are subfusoid-ellipsoid, smooth-walled, contain two or three oil droplets, and have dimensions of 27–30 × 10.5–12 μm.Wang Z. (1997). Taxonomy of ''Cookeina'' in China. ''Mycotaxon'' 62: 289–298. Known from the South Pacific and South America, and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

.Douanla-Meli C, Langer E. (2005). Notes on Discomycetes (Helotiales, Pezizales): New species and new records from Cameroon. ''Mycotaxon'' 92: 223–237. Weinstein and Pfister characterize the distribution as sub-tropical, but more prevalent in the southern hemisphere. ''

Cookeina colensoiopsis ''Cookeina'' is a genus of cup fungi in the family Sarcoscyphaceae, members of which may be found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Species may be found on fallen branches of angiosperms, trunks, and sometimes on fruits.Weinstein ...

'' Iturr. & Pfister (2006). ''

Cookeina globosa ''Cookeina'' is a genus of cup fungi in the family Sarcoscyphaceae, members of which may be found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Species may be found on fallen branches of angiosperms, trunks, and sometimes on fruits.Weinstein ...

'' Douanla-Meli (2005). This species is known only from the

Mbalmayo Mbalmayo is a town in Cameroon's Centre Province, Cameroon, Centre Region. The town had 60,091 inhabitants in 2012. It is the capital of the Nyong-et-So'o, Nyong-et-So'o Division It is located at the banks of the Nyong river between Ebolowa and ...

rain forest reserve in southern Cameroon. ''

Cookeina indica ''Cookeina'' is a genus of cup fungi in the family Sarcoscyphaceae, members of which may be found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Species may be found on fallen branches of angiosperms, trunks, and sometimes on fruits.Weinstein ...

'' Pfister & R. Kaushal (1984).
Apothecia deeply discoid, up to 15 mm in diameter, sessile to stipitate, stalks less than 4 mm long; hymenium ochraceous-oray, receptacle concolorous with or lightly darker than the hymenium when dry, surface smooth; ectal excipulum of texture angularis, about 50–70 μm thick, with some hair-like structures made up of several cells; medullary excipulum of textura intricata, about 175 μm thick; asci 320–350 × 5–18 μm; ascospores ellipsoid to subfusoid, 3-guttulate, surface with longitudinal ridges, 27.5–35 × 10–13 μm. '' Cookeina insititia'' (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Kuntze (1891).
Apothecia deeply cupulate, 3–6 mm in diameter when dry; ectal excipulum of texture subglobulosa to textura angularis, with a gelatinous layer about 40–85 μm thick in ectal excipulum; triangular scalelike hairs arising from ectal excipulum forming several rings along apothecial margin, less than 4 mm long; medullary excipulum of textura intricata, 45–100 μm thick; hymenium about 380–430 μm; asci 400–440 × 13–17 μm; ascospores fusoid, smooth, multiguttulate, 45–53.5 × 9–13 μm. Distribution restricted to the western

Pacific Basin The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. '' Cookeina sinensis'' Z. Wang (1997).
Apothecia solitary, cupulate, stipitate, up to 25 mmm high and 50 mm in diameter when dry, hymenium ochraceous-orange to raw sienna, receptacle cinnamon-buff when dry; conspicuously hairy; hairs fasciculate, arising from medullary excipulum, stiff, bristle-like, up to 6–7 mm long; ectal excipulum of textura angularis, about 50 μm thick, cells thick-walled, hyaline, 7–13 × 15–25 μm; medullary excipulum of textura intricata, 230–300 μm thick; asci suboperculate, 8-spored, long cylindrical, narrow-hyphoid at base, thick-walled, J-Melzer's reagent, 280–290 × 16–7 μm; ascospores smooth-walled, subfusoid to lemon-shaped, biguttulate with droplets up to 9 μm in diameter, 25–28 × 12–12.5 μm; paraphyses moniliform, anastomosing and septate. '' Cookeina speciosa'' (Fr.) Dennis (1994).Dennis RWG. (1994). Plumier Discomycetes. ''Mycotaxon'' 51: 237–239.
Apothecia funnel-shaped, stipitate, rarely sessile, margin covered with fine, inconspicuous hairs; hairs fasciculate, less than 3 mm long; asci 300–400 × 17–20 μm; ascospores ellipsoid, biguttulate, surface with fine longitudinal ridges, 25–29 × 13–15 μm.
This species has more pronounced variations in color, and is thought to represent a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. '' Cookeina sulcipes'' (Berk.) Kuntze (1891).
Cookeina sulcipes-Mosses

Basionym ''Peziza sulcipes'' Berk. (1842).
Apothecia are goblet- to funnel-shaped, grow solitary to clustered on wood at altitudes less than , and have dimensions of in diameter by tall. The stipe is slender, 3–4 mm thick, and long. The hymenium surface is pink to buff in color, while the outer surface is less brightly colored. Ascospores have a cylindrical or ellipsoid shape, containing two large oil drops, covered with fine longitudinal wrinkles, and have dimensions of 25–33 × 14–18 μm. This species is distributed through the lowlands of Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and Asia. '' Cookeina tricholoma'' (Mont.) Kuntze (1891).
Synonyms include ''Peziza tricholoma'' Mont., (1834), ''Pilocratera tricholoma'' (Mont.) Henn., and ''Trichoscypha tricholoma'' (Mont.) Cooke, (1889). Cookeina_tricholoma_Ecuador

Apothecia are goblet to funnel-shaped with an inrolled margin, in diameter, with slender stipes that are tall, The apothecia are conspicuously hairy; hairs stiff, bristle-like, fasciculate, and usually 2–3 mm long. Its asci are 280–350 × 13–18 μm. The ascospores pointed-ellipsoid, surface with fine, longitudinal ridges, biguttulate, 25–35 × 11–13.5 μm. The typical habitat is on wood like twigs and rotten tree limbs, at low altitudes (usually below 1000 m), in the tropics. The distribution of this species includes the lowlands of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. '' Cookeina venezuelae'' (Berk. & Curt in Cooke) Le Gal (1953).Le Gal M. (1953). Les Discomycètes de Madagascar. Prodrome à Flore Mycologique de Madagascar et Dépendanes, Vol. 4. pp. 1–165.
Basionym ''Peziza venezuela''.
Apothecia do not have stipes, are pink to light orange in color, bowl-shaped, smooth, and typically 8–15 mm in diameter × 5–10 mm deep. Ascospores are ellipsoid, pale yellow, contain two large oil drops, have wrinkles and ribs on the surface, and dimensions of 33–36 × 11–13 μm. They grow solitary to clustered on wood, at elevations of in the tropics. The distribution of this less common species is limited to Central America, northern South America, and the Caribbean.

Similar genera

Three other tropical genera of the family

, ''

Phillipsia ''Phillipsia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Sarcoscyphaceae. There are about 17 species in the genus, which collectively have a widespread distribution in subtropical and tropical areas. The genus was circumscribed by Miles Joseph Berkeley ...

'', ''

Sarcoscypha ''Sarcoscypha'' is a genus of ascomycete fungus and a type genus of the family Sarcoscyphaceae. Species of ''Sarcoscypha'' are present in Europe, North America and tropical Asia. They are characterised by a cup-shaped apothecium which is often b ...

'', and '' Geodina'', have brightly colored apothecia which might be confused with those of ''Cookeina''. Although these genera may be distinguished microscopically because they all have asci which mature seriatim rather than simultaneously and paraphyses which do not anastomose to form a reticulum, distinguishing on the basis of macroscopic characters is less reliable. Species of ''Phyllipsia'' have apothecia that are saucer-shaped to discoid, thick-fleshed, and usually sessile. In ''Sarcoscypha'' the apothecia vary from saucer-shaped to cup-shaped and are usually stipitate. In ''Geodina'' the apothecia are cup-shaped, stipitate, and occur on soil. Another similar genus, '' Scutellinia'', has eyelash-like hairs around the margin of a red or orange apothecia, but lacks a stipe.

References

External links

Photos of various species

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5167043 Sarcoscyphaceae Pezizales genera