''Sarcoleotia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of fungi in the earth tongue family

Geoglossaceae Geoglossaceae is a family (biology), family of fungi in the order Geoglossales, class (biology), class Geoglossomycetes. These fungi are broadly known as earth tongues. The ascocarps of most species in the family Geoglossaceae are terrestrial an ...

. There is no known common name.

History

The genus was first described by Japanese mycologists Seiya Ito and

Sanshi Imai was a Japanese mycologist of Hokkaido Imperial University. Eponymous taxa *'' Clitocybe imaiana'' *''Imaia ''Imaia'' is a fungal genus in the family Morchellaceae found in Japan and in the Appalachian Mountains of the US. Taxonomy A monoty ...

in 1934, who separated ''Sarcoleotia'' from ''

Leotia ''Leotia'' is a genus of cup fungi of the division Ascomycota. ''Leotia'' species are globally distributed, and are believed to be ectomycorrhizal. They are commonly known as ''jelly babies'' because of the gelatinous texture of their fruiting b ...

'' Pers. based on the fleshy, non-gelatinous

ascocarps 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. Ascoc ...

and subcylindrical ascospores. ''Sarcoleotia nigra'' was described as the type species in the same publication from collections made in Hokkaido, Japan. Maas Geesteranus created ''S. platypus'' by transferring ''Helvella platypus'' DC. into the genus. Korf transferred ''Mitrula globosa'' to the genus in 1971, creating ''S. globosa''.

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is some ...

transferred ''Coryne turficola'' to the genus in 1971. Lastly, Rahm reported "Sarcoleotia clandestina" from Switzerland in 1975, but this name is regarded as ''

nomen nudum In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...

'' as no valid description of the species exists. Some debate exists over the accepted number of species in ''Sarcoleotia''. Maas Geesteranus considered ''S. nigra'' a later synonym of ''S. platypus''. Korf transferred ''S. turficola'' to the genus ''

Ascocoryne ''Ascocoryne'' is a genus of fungi in the family Gelatinodiscaceae. It was circumscribed in 1967 by James Walton Groves and Doreen Wilson to accommodate the sexual morph and to reserve '' Coryne'' for the asexual morph. Today, only one name is ...

'' based on gelatinous tissue in the ascocarp. Schumacher and Silvertsen recognized only a single species, ''S. globosa''.Schumacher T, Silvertsen S. 1987. ''Sarcoleotia globosa'' (Sommerf.:Fr.) Korf, taxonomy ecology and distribution. In: Larsen GA, Ammirati JF, Redhead SA (eds.), Arctic and Alpine Mycology 2. Plenum Press, New York and London Recent molecular evidence indicates that the genus is most closely associated with Geoglossaceae.

Habitat and distribution

''Sarcoleotia globosa'' is reported by Schumacher and Silvertsen as having a "more or less transcontinental northern circumpolar boreo-oroarctic and arctic distribution", citing records from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, and Canada. ''S. globosa'' has also been reported from Denmark.Hansen L, Knudsen H. 2000. Nordic Macromycetes Vol. 1: Ascomycetes. Nordsvamp, Copenhagen. ''S. globosa'' is also reported cool

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

zones ranging from the Pacific Northwestern United States (Washington and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

) and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. ''S. nigra'' was described from Japan and has been reported from Argentina ''S. globosa'' has been reported from both

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

areas and rich soil types in Europe, and acidic-nutrient poor soils in North America. ''S. globosa'' has been recorded mostly from disturbed areas and primary or secondary successional habitats, almost always fruiting in areas colonized by

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

s. ''S. globosa'' is also reported from burned sites.

Conservation

The conservation of ''Sarcoleotia'' has not formally been assessed on a global scale, though given its widespread distribution and ability to survive in varied habitats, it is probably of low concern.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10661795 Geoglossaceae Ascomycota genera Taxa described in 1934