Stephanospora caroticolor

Photo: Gilbert Bovay

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Description

General: Tuberous orange-yellow fruit body developing under the soil surface (hypogeous) and when mature migrating upward until the tops are visible; on soil in mixed woods associated with moist loamy, chalky soil.
Dimensions: 4-5cm dia.
Fruit Body: Pallid to rich orange-yellow, tuberous, rounded or oval and irregularly tuberculate, dull, finely floccose or velutinous; flesh: orange-yellow to brick red, marbled whitish, with small irregular winding chambers, base without mycelial strands; fleshy, brittle.
Spores: Yellowish, ellipsoidal, or sub-spherical, strongly spiny, with collar-shaped base, 8-14 x 7-8 µm. Basidia clavate, 1-4 spored; cystidia absent.
Odour: Strongly fruity.
Taste: Not Distinctive.
Chemical Tests: None.
Occurrence: Late Summer to Autumn.

 

Qualifying criterion: 4.7: very rare species with restricted UK range
Justification: declined by over 50% pre- and post-1960
Threats: air pollution, ground compaction, trackside maintenance, eutrophication, felling of host trees, overgrwoth
Action Required: Survey and monitoring; protection against habitat loss and degradation; ecological assessment.

 

Statistics:

UK (excluding NI & CI) fungus records

Total records: 62

Earliest recording: 1842
Latest recording: 2006
Vice Counties and (frequency): 6(32); 7((1); 9(4); 10(1); 11(3); 12(2); 14(2); 17(1); 23(1); 34(2); 40(5); 57(1); 62(4); 77(1); 110(1)
Pre-1960: 19 records
NBN Gateway grid map Post-1960: 43 records
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