Hercules giant club

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hercules giant club
2006-10-13 Clavariadelphus pistillaris crop.jpg

Hercules giant club ( Clavariadelphus pistillaris )

Systematics
Class : Agaricomycetes
Subclass : Phallomycetidae
Order : Pig- eared (Gomphales)
Family : Pig's ear relatives (Gomphaceae)
Genre : Giant clubs ( Clavariadelphus )
Type : Hercules giant club
Scientific name
Clavariadelphus pistillaris
( L. ) Donk

The Hercules giant mace or short Herkuleskeule ( Clavariadelphus pistillaris ) is a species of fungus from the family of pig ear relatives .

features

  • A group of fruiting bodies from the giant Hercules club

  • Two young specimens of the Hercules giant club

  • The giant Hercules club as a stamp motif in Belarus

  • Older specimen brown in color

Macroscopic features

The shape of the fruit bodies resembles a club; young specimens, however, have an almost cylindrical shape that tapers towards the top. The color of the fruit body is initially light yellow, later orange-brown, yellow-brown or ocher. In older mushrooms the tint becomes increasingly reddish to reddish brown; a touch of purple may be present. The color becomes darker towards the base. The surface of the young mushroom is smooth, but later becomes increasingly wrinkled. The mushroom becomes 7–30 cm high and 2–6 cm thick. The flesh is white and firm, but also elastic and tough. It fills the entire fruiting body. Its smell is described as pleasant, but also as insignificant. The taste is usually bitter even in young specimens. With potassium hydroxide , the meat turns saffron yellow . The spores are formed on the surface of the upper part; the lower part is sterile. The white spore powder turns yellow on storage.

Microscopic features

There are two to four spores on the basidia . These are elliptical, smooth, and hyaline ; they measure 10-13 x 5-7 microns.

Species delimitation

The truncated giant club ( C. truncatus ) is similar . It has a flattened shape at the top and a sweetish taste. It also grows in coniferous forests, and its flesh turns red with potassium hydroxide . It can also be confused with the club of the tongue ( C. ligula ), which only occurs in coniferous forests. It is significantly smaller and narrower and tastes mild.

Ecology and phenology

The Hercules giant club is a typical species of the limestone beech forests , especially the hairy barley and orchid beech forests as well as in woodruff and fir beech forests. It is much less common in similar oak-hornbeam , English oak-field elm and noble deciduous mixed forests and there, too, almost exclusively under red beeches. The fungus colonizes clearly alkaline to neutral soils, which are also somewhat acidic on the surface. He prefers moderately nutrient-rich rendzines and brown earth over lime , lime marl , basalt and base-rich silicates .

The fruiting bodies grow individually or in small groups between August and the beginning of November, only occasionally they appear earlier.

distribution

The Hercules giant club is common in Europe and Asia. In Europe it is found submeridional to boreal with a focus on the temperate zone. The area extends from France, the Benelux countries and Great Britain to Scotland in the west to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in the east as well as from Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Romania in the south to Fennos Scandinavia in the north with isolated finds in Lapland .

In Germany, the fungus has been found in all federal states and penetrates as far as Rügen and the northern Alps. However, there are strong differences in the distribution density and significant gaps. Regionally it is more common in southern Germany.

meaning

Because of its often bitter taste, even with young mushrooms, it is not popular as an edible mushroom and is often considered inedible.

Web links

Commons : Hercules giant club ( Clavariadelphus pistillaris )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence