''Tulasnella violea'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

fungus A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Cantharellales The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles ( Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi ( Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi ( Aphelariaceae and Clavulinaceae), and cor ...

Basidiocarps 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 ...

(fruit bodies) are typically smooth, ceraceous (waxy), violet-pink or lilaceous to grey, and occur on the underside of fallen branches and logs. It is one of the more conspicuous ''

Tulasnella ''Tulasnella'' is a genus of effused (patch-forming) fungi in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies), when visible, are typically smooth, ceraceous (waxy) to subgelatinous, frequently lilaceous to violet-grey, and formed on the un ...

'' species and appears to be distributed worldwide. Though normally

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

, ''Tulasnella violea'' can form a

mycorrhizal A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plan ...

association with

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

Taxonomy

The species was originally described in 1883 by French mycologist

Lucien Quélet Lucien Quélet in 1869 Lucien Quélet (14 July 1832 – 25 August 1899) was a French naturalist and mycologist. Quélet discovered several species of fungi and was the founder of the Société mycologique de France, a society devoted to myco ...

who emphasized the lilac-pink colour of the fruit bodies and gave

basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are p ...

measurements, but failed to notice the distinctive

basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly- ...

and placed it among the

corticioid fungi The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or pa ...

in the old form genus ''Hypochnus''. The species was transferred to ''

'' by French mycologists

Hubert Bourdot Hubert Bourdot (30 October 1861 – 30 September 1937) was a French Roman Catholic priest and mycologist who was a native of Imphy, a community in the department of Nièvre. From 1898 until his death, Bourdot was a parish priest in Saint-Priest- ...

and

Amédée Galzin Amédée Galzin (1 May 1853, Parrinet, Aveyron – 14 February 1925, Parrinet) was a French veterinarian and mycologist. In 1878 he obtained his degree from the veterinary college in Toulouse. From 1879 to 1905, he served as a military veter ...

in 1909. In his 1933 review of the

Tulasnellaceae The Tulasnellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family comprises mainly effused (patch-forming) fungi formerly referred to the " jelly fungi" or heterobasidiomycetes. Species are wood- or litter-rotting saprotrophs, but ...

American mycologist Donald P. Rogers extended the concept of ''T. violea'', which he considered "highly variable", to include as synonyms a number of previously described species including '' T. eichleriana'' and '' T. thelephorea''. In a 1994 revision of species, British mycologist Peter Roberts rejected Rogers' synonymy, but noted that differences in spore sizes suggested it was "possible that more than one taxon is involved" under the name ''T. violea''.

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioch ...

research, based on

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived ch ...

analysis of

DNA sequences A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases signified by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. By convention, sequences are usu ...

, has confirmed ''T. violea'' represents a species distinct from ''T. eichleriana'', though

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimens have not yet been sequenced. According to a 2016 paper, it remains possible that "more than one taxon is involved" under the name ''T. violea''.

Description

Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are effused, smooth, ceraceous (waxy), violet-pink to grey. Microscopically the

hyphae 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 or ...

are 3.5-5(-7) μm wide, lacking

clamp connections A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of Basidiomycetes fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), recei ...

. The

are mostly clavate, 8-16 x 5-9 μm. The

sterigmata In biology, a sterigma (pl. sterigmata) is a small supporting structure. It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the ti ...

are globose to ellipsoid, becoming clavate, fusiform, or mitriform (

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

-shaped), 4.5-6.5 μm wide, variously extending up to 35 μm long. The majority of basidiospores are globose to broadly ellipsoid, 5.5-9 x 5.5-7.5 μm. The

anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the Biological life cycle, life cycles of fungi in the Phylum, phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a Asc ...

produces monilioid hyphae (chains of swollen hyphal compartments), with compartments up to 8.5 μm diam.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10715900 Cantharellales Fungi of Australia Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Fungi of South America Fungi described in 1883