Hyphodontia sambuci

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Hyphodontia sambuci, the elder whitewash, is a basidiomycete fungal pathogen on deadwood, especially elder.[1]

Hyphodontia sambuci
Elder whitewash on elder (Sambucus nigra) in North Ayrshire, Scotland
Scientific classification
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H. sambuci
Binomial name
Hyphodontia sambuci
(Fr.) J. Erikss., (1958)
Synonyms

Hyphoderma sambuci (Pers.) Julich. Lyomyces sambuci

It is resupinate, forming a very thin structure which is white, pruinose (flour-like dusting) or chalky in appearance. It is inedible.[1] It also grows on dead but still hanging branches of Fraxinus, Berberis, Nothofagus, Ulmus, Populus, Hedera, Ribes, Symphoricarpos and rarely on conifers such as Cryptomeria.[2]

Ecology

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As stated, H. sambuci occurs in North Europe mostly on Sambucus nigra, but there is a much bigger spectrum of substrates in warmer regions in southern areas. The variability of micromorphology increases in the tropics, but the macromorphological characteristics however always stay the same: the basidiocarp with chalky white color and often growing as aerophyte on dead branches of trees and bushes, that are still attached to the tree. H. sambuci consists of a complex of species. Similar species with capitate cystidia; thin-walled hyphae and exactly the same chalky white fruit body are H. griselinae and H. fimbriata. They can be differentiated by their spores and morphology of their basidiocarp.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Phillips, Roger (2006), Mushrooms. Pub. McMilan, ISBN 0-330-44237-6. P. 322.
  2. ^ a b The Whitewash Elder.
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