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[ Basidiomycota > Boletales > Sclerodermataceae > Scleroderma . . . ] Scleroderma michiganense by Michael Kuo, 17 June 2025 The defining features of this eastern, hardwood-associated Scleroderma species include its thick rind, the smooth to finely scaly surface which bruises slightly reddish and turns red with KOH, and microscopic features: large, reticulate spores, and clamp connections in the hyphae of the rind. Scleroderma hypogaeum is very similar, but is associated with conifers in western North America. I have often wondered what mushrooms like Scleroderma michiganense accomplish with such wildly spiny spores. Does the ornamentation affect how the spores are carried in wind currents? I am picturing a laboratory room filled with round, smooth, helium-filled balloons, with a fan placed on one wall—and another room filled with funky, multi-fingered balloons. Will the Scleroderma-spore-like balloons cluster together when the fans are turned on, getting their spines enmeshed with those of other balloons? And what would be the selective advantage for clustering or not clustering? Yes, those were three mental minutes I will never get back. Some people day-dream of normal things; others play with mushrooms too much. Scleroderma hypogaeum michiganense is a synonym. Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks and possibly other hardwoods; usually found in dry, sandy soil; growing gregariously or scattered; originally described from Michigan (Guzmán 1967); widely distributed in North America east of the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to the Gulf Coast, but most often reported from the upper Midwest; summer and fall. The illustrated and described collections are from Michigan and Wisconsin. Fruiting Body: 3–10 cm across; 3–5 cm high; round or cushion-shaped; surface whitish to yellowish or golden brown, bald, or becoming finely areolate-scaly with tiny, grayish, flat and irregular scales; bruising slightly yellowish, then reddish when fresh; rind 1–2 mm thick, white, when fresh turning yellowish, then reddish when sliced; spore mass fleshy and white at first, becoming black and powdery; with a short, pinched and poorly defined pseudostem; with white rhizomorphs attached to the base. Odor: Not distinctive. Chemical Reactions: KOH on surface red, then slowly brown. Microscopic Features: Spores 12–20 x 10–15 µm excluding ornamentation; globose, subglobose, or broadly ellipsoid; ornamented with narrow spines 1–3 µm long, and wide ridges forming a reticulum; yellow-brown in KOH. Clamp connections present in peridial hyphae. REFERENCES: (G. Guzmán, 1967) G. Guzmán, 1970. (Guzmán, 1970; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; States, 1990; Sims, Watling & Jeffries, 1995; Guzmán et al, 2013.) Herb. Kuo 09210402, 09281901. This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms. |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2025, June). Scleroderma michiganense. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: /scleroderma_michiganense.html |