 Description： |
Basidiocarps tremelloid and gyrose (Fig. 1), 0.5-2 cm ø, soft-gelatinous, hollow, white when young, cream to amber and brownish when old, with a dry to very tough and hard horny consistency. Basidia 45-100 × 6-7.5 μm, produced from probasidia (Fig. 14) swollen up to 11 μm ø, with mostly 2 or rarely 3 curved, stout sterigmata, bearing asymmetrically formed basidiospores, sometimes with partly longitudinally-septate apices. Probasidia pyriform (Fig. 13, 14), mostly long stalked, rarely without stalks, frequently producing basidia from apical parts. Basidiospores oval (Fig. 13), 8-12.5 × 6-7 μm [Q* =1.33-1.43], hyaline, smooth. Conidiogenous cells (Fig. 2-5, 14-15), short, 6-9(-11) × 3-4.5 μm [Q=1.67-2.50], producing two terminal cells, mostly forming opposed, beak-like outgrowths simultaneously, then usually extending to globose conidia that fuse to form one-celled, thin-walled, dikaryotic conidia, finally detached. Conidia (Fig. 2, 4, 6, 14-15) broadly ellipsoid to oval, 5-7.5(-9) × 3-4 μm [Q=1.25-2.5(-3.0)], thin-walled, hyaline. Sometimes monokaryotic conidia produced from another site of conidiogenous cells. Basidia produced abundantly on conidiogenous cells, covering the outer and inner surfaces of the basidiocarps. Hyphae thin-walled, hyaline, short, loosely branched, the branches commonly originating from clamps, 2-5 μm ø, frequently swollen close to septa (Fig. 2, 14-15), up to 8-10 μm ø in context and subhymenium. Haustoria short, normally narrow hyphae without branched outgrowths (Fig. 2, 7-8, 13-15), mainly produced from septa or swollen hyphae, clamped. Host cells intermixed with Syzygospora hyphae (Fig. 14), 2-5 μm ø, clamped. Host lacking basidiocarp. |
| Specimens： |
Tascheshan Forest Park, Taiwan, alt. 2000-2300 m, located on the border of Miaoli County and Taichung County, CCJ 1427, on decayed wood. |
| References： |
Chen, CJ et al. 1998; Ginns, J. 1986; Hauerslev, K. 1969; Martin, G.W. 1937; Oberwinkler, F and Lowy, B. 1981; Oberwinkler, F. 1984.
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| Note： |
The three known taxa with zygoconidia are S. alba, C. pallida and Z. gemellipara. However, the auricularioid basidia and twinned zygoconidia of Z. gemellipara are quite different. The basidiocarp of S. alba is sessile, gyrose to subcerebriform, white and gelatinous (Martin, 1937; Oberwinkler and Lowy, 1981; Ginns, 1986). Christiansenia pallida grows mycoparasitically on the resupinate host Phanerochaete sordida (Hauerslev, 1969; Oberwinkler et al., 1984). Morphologically, C. pallida and S. nivalis differ mainly in the very different fruiting body morphology and basidial morphology. Syzygospora nivalis is similar to S. alba in its large basidiocarps, the size of basidia, and in basidiospores and zygoconidia. |
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Phylum：Basidiomycota >> Class： Basidiomycetes >> Order： Tremellales