Vuilleminia comedens

Vuilleminia comedens (Nees) Maire 1902, in Ghobad-Nejhad et al., Taxon, 59, 1519-1534 (2010)

Diagnosis: Vuilleminia comedens lacks cystidia and produces large allantoid spores. Its basidiocarp ruptures the bark characteristically and can cover large areas on the surface of decorticated wood. Vuilleminia alni cannot be distinguished from V. comedens unambiguously in morphology nor in the phylogenetic analyses (Figure 1). As such, the authors consider it to be a synonym of V. comedens. Spores in some collections made on Alnus are more homogenous in shape and size when seen in mass and tend to be guttulate, but these features are less prominent on other hosts. Even on Alnus alone, spore size can vary significantly when several samples are compared (Figure 2B). The spore size in V. comedens is variable and the shape also changes during development. Also, in squash mounts of the hymenium of a single specimen, spores of different sizes and shapes are frequently observed. Variation in spore size and shape occur in V. coryli and V. cystidiata as well and the so called ‘abnormal spores’ mentioned by Kotiranta & Saarenoksa (1993) are indeed immature detached spores.

Hosts and distribution.  On weak and dead attached woodb of different angiosperms in deciduous and mixed vegetations; more abundantly on Quercus, but also on Aesculus, Alnus, Betula, Carpinus, Castanea, Fagus, Fraxinus, Ilex, Populus, Robinia, Ulmus, and Zelkova; less frequently on members of Rosaceae, e.g., Cotoneaster, Prunus, Rosa, and Sorbus. Seen samples are from Europe, Asia, western Canada, and Morocco.

Index Fungorum Number: IF414505