Geopyxis carbonaria

Geopyxis carbonaria

Libor Hejl

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We have recently found the colour anomaly of Geopyxis carbonaria when visiting the burnt. The locality was full of typically coloured fruitbodies of Geopyxis carbonaria, but there appreared also untypically conspicious orange ones. These orange fungi often formed groups of  more than 50 fruitbodies. 

This locality was hit by the fire in August 2015. About 10 ha of forest was burned down. It was the conifer forest with mix of Picea and Pinus trees. There were also some Betula trees.

Geopyxis carbonaria was abundant at the locality during late winter and the beginning of spring. The fungi covered almost 60% of the burnt and the typically coloured ones represented about 99% in comparison to 1% of the untypical ones. However, the difference of colour was so conspicious that I have decided to take a look at it microscopically.

Microscopy of the typical G.carbonaria: spores hyaline, smooth, oval to slightly fusiform, 14-16×8-8,5 μm. Paraphyses cylindrical, apically slightly enlarged, the upper part contains an orange-brown granular pigment.

Microscopy of the untypical G.carbonaria: spores mostly not observed, frb. sterile usully. If some spores were observed then most of them was not fully developed. Paraphyses were much more numerous in comparison to the typical G.carbonaria. The granular content was not of  a different coloured, however it was obviously more numerous. 

I suppose that the different orange colour is caused by the granular pigment that is more crowded due to the fact that less colourless ascus are present. In theory, we could call this anomaly to be a form of G.carbonaria. Also, there was described Geopyxis rehmii Turnau 1984, I do not consider G.rehmi to be a valid species though.