Entoloma hochstetteri

Entoloma hochstetteri is a species of mushroom found in New Zealand and India. The small mushroom is a distinctive all-blue colour, while the gills have a slight reddish tint from the spores. The blue coloring of the fruit body is due to three azulene pigments.[1] Whether Entoloma hochstetteri is poisonous or not is unknown.

Entoloma hochstetteri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Basidiomycota
Class:
Agaricomycetes
Subclass:
Hymenomycetes
Order:
Agaricales
Family:
Entolomataceae
Genus:
Entoloma
Species:
E. hochstetteri
Binomial name
Entoloma hochstetteri
(Reich.) Stev.
Entoloma hochstetteri
float
Mycological characteristics
gills on hymenium
cap is convex
hymenium is adnate
stipe is bare
spore print is pink
edibility: unknown

The Māori name for the blue mushroom is werewere-kokako because the colour is similar to the blue wattle of the kōkako bird.[2]

This species was one of six native fungi featured in a set of fungal stamps issued in New Zealand in 2002.[3][4]

Taxonomy
Enteloma hochstetteri is one of the most distinctive mushrooms in the world, is featured on the NZ $50 note and is part of Māori folklore.

The species was first described as Hygrophorus hochstetteri in 1866 by the Austrian mycologist Erwin Reichardt, before being given its current binomial name in 1962 by Greta Stevenson. It is named after the German naturalist Ferdinand von Hochstetter.

Description

Entoloma hochstetteri has a small delicate epigeous (above-ground) fruiting body (basidiocarp) which may be found among moss or leaf litter. The cap may be up to 4 cm (1.4 in) in diameter and conical in shape. The cap color is indigo-blue with a green tint, and is fibrillose. The cap margin is striate and rolled inwards. The gill attachment is adnexed or emarginate, gills are thin and 3–5 mm wide, essentially the same color as the cap, sometimes with a yellow tint. The cylindrical stipe is up to 5 cm (2 in) long by 0.5 cm thick, fibrillose and stuffed. The spore print is reddish-pink. The spores are 9.9–13.2 by 11.8–13.2 μm, tetrahedric in shape, hyaline, smooth and thin-walled. The basidia are 35.2–44.2 by 8.8–13.2 µm, club-shaped, hyaline, and with two or four sterigmata.[5]


Distribution

Entoloma hochstetteri grows in woodlands of western parts of both the North and South Islands of New Zealand,[6] where it is associated with Nothofagus and Podocarpus species. It has also been found in India.[5]

Toxicity

Although many members of the genus Entoloma are poisonous, the toxicity of this species is unknown. It has been investigated to see if its blue colouring might be manufactured as a food dye.[7]

See also

References
  1. Gill M. (2003). "Pigments of fungi (Macromycetes)". Natural Product Reports. 20 (6): 615–39. doi:10.1039/b202267m. PMID 14700203.
  2. "Science:Mushroom might yield major value". Retrieved 21 Dec 2016.
  3. Moss MO, Pegler DN. (2003). Recent stamp issues of fungi from New Zealand. Mycologist 17:176-178.
  4. "WNS: NZ008.02 (Native fungi - Entoloma hochstetteri)". Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  5. Dhancholia S. (1989). "Entoloma hochstetteri (Agaricales) - a new record from India". Current Science 58(3): 146–7.
  6. Hongo T. (1990). "New and Noteworthy agarics from New Zealand". Reports of the Tottori Mycological Institute. 28: 129–34.
  7. Gates, Charlie. "Mushroom might yield major value". Stuff.co.nz. Stuff. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
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