Bisporella Citrina
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EmailBisporella citrina, otherwise known as “yellow fairy cups” is a saprobic species, part of the Ascomycota.
- Kingdom: Fungi
- Phylum: Ascomycota
- Class: Leotiomycetes
- Order: Helotiales
- Family: Helotiaceae
- Genus: Bisporella
- Species: citrina
Description: Bisporella citrina, otherwise known as “yellow fairy cups” is a saprobic species, part of the Ascomycota. It usually grows on wet decaying conifer logs, in large clusters, and has characteristic yellow to orange apothecia. The fruiting body (apothecia) is very small only about 3 mm in diameter, and often smaller, and bright yellow. They do have a small stalk or stem which is barely visible without magnification. Ascospores are 9-15 μm long and 3-5 μm wide and have two small oil droplets (Kuo, 2008).
This species was first described as Peziza citrina, by Batsch in 1789. After being renamed a number of times, it was formally classified as Bisporella citrina in 1974, by Korf and Carpenter.
Ecology and human relavence: This species is saprobic and is generally regarded as inedible, but I doubt it would be worth collecting enough to cook since it is so small.
References:
- Kuo, M. (2008, October). Bisporella citrina. MushroomExpert.Com.
- Korf, R.P. and Carpenter, S.E. 1974. Bisporella, a generic name for Helotium citrinum and its allies, and the generic names Calycella and Calycina. Mycotaxon. 1(1):51-62
