Hydnellum-peckii_spore_1M

Description :

Hydnellum peckii Bank.Devil's Tooth, DE: Scharfer KorkstachelingSlo.: Peckova jeevkaDat.: Oct. 9 .2013Lat.: 46.39976 Long.: 13.70130Code: Bot_759/2013_DSC8511Picture file names: from Hydnellum-peckii_raw_1 to Hydnellum-peckii_raw_5.Habitat: mixed wood, Picea abies and Fagus sylvatica dominant trees; almost flat terrain at the bottom of an Alpine valley; calcareous ground, in shade; partly protected from direct rain by tree canopies; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 5-7 deg C, elevation 980 m (3.200 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.Substratum: forest soil.Place: Zadnja Trenta valley, left bank of (dry) Soa river bed, south of the last pastures, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC Comments: I am always impressed by these drops which are exuded by some mushrooms. They do this when they are in an intensive growing phase and need a lot of minerals. Hence there remains much of superfluous water which is secreted in the form of drops. Some drops are crystal clear, some golden yellow or milky and some are bright red like with Hydnellum peckii and very similar Hydnellum ferrugineum. Pilei of Hydnellum species are of very irregular and variable form and color. Therefore determination is frequently a problem. Yet, Hydnellum peckii has a very sharp, burning, long lasting taste, which cannot be overlooked, just on the contrary, one will remember it forever.Hydnellum peckii is not a common find in Slovenia. In the Netherlands it was considered extinct already in 1950; in former East Germany territory it was considered extinct in 1970, in today's Germany it is in sharp decline and highly endangered. In Slovenia it is not protected (yet?).Fungi were growing solitary and scattered; four pilei were present on an area of about 4-5 m2, the largest seemed to be actually a cluster of several fused pilei since it had three, more or less separate stalks; pilei dimensions up to 11 x 5.5 cm; taste sharply burning; SP abundant, beige-ocher with pink tint, oac846.Spores coarsely warty and of irregular shape. Dimensions: 4,9 [5,5 ; 5,7] 6,2 x 3,8 [4,2 ; 4,4] 4,9 microns; Q = 1,1 [1,3] 1,5; N = 30; C = 95%; Me = 5,6 x 4,3 microns; Qe = 1,3. Olympus CH20, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil; in water. AmScope MA500 digital camera.Herbarium: Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vena pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJFRef.:(1) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.2. Verlag Mykologia (1986), (2) G.J. Krieglsteiner (Hrsg.), Die Grosspilze Baden-Wrttembergs, Band 1., Ulmer (2000), p 378.(3) R. Phillips, Mushrooms, Macmillan (2006), p 324. (4) S. Buczacki, Collins Fungi Guide, Collins (2012), p 474.(5) R.M. Daehncke, 1200 Pilze in Farbfotos, AT Verlag (2009), p 1044.