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Morchella tridentina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Order: Pezizales
Family: Morchellaceae
Genus: Morchella
Species:
M. tridentina
Binomial name
Morchella tridentina
Bres., 1892
Synonyms[1][2][3]
  • M. elatoides Jacquet, 1984 (nomen invalidum)
  • M. elatoides var. elegans Jacquet, 1984 (nomen invalidum)
  • M. frustrata M. Kuo, 2012
  • M. quercus-ilicis Clowez, Ballester & L. Romero, 2012
  • M. conica var. pseudoeximia Clowez, Ballester & L. Romero, 2012

Morchella tridentina is a cosmopolitan species of ascomycete fungus in the family Morchellaceae. Commonly referred to as the mountain blond or western blond morel in North America, it produces conical, grey to buff fruit bodies that are rufescent and grow up to 20 cm (7.9 in) tall and 5 cm (2.0 in) wide. This early-diverging species is distinct within the /Elata clade (black morels) due to its pale colours and has been described by many names in the past, including M. frustrata, M. quercus-ilicis, M. elatoides, M. elatoides var. elegans and M. conica var. pseudoeximia, all of which were shown to be synonyms. A widely distributed relict of the last Ice Age, M. tridentina is so far known from Argentina, Armenia, Chile, Cyprus, France, India, Israel, North America, Spain and Turkey.

Taxonomy[edit]

Morchella tridentina was first described by Giacomo Bresadola in 1892 in a work on fungi found in the region of Trento in Italy.[3][4] The species' epithet derives from the Roman name of Trento,Tridentum, a tribute to the Roman god Neptune.[5]

In 1985, French mycologist Émile Jaquetant described the same species as M. elatoides,[6] a name that was later shown to be an invalidly published synonym of M. tridentina.[1]

In a 2012 publication by Michael Kuo and colleagues,[7] the taxon Morchella frustrata was described as new to science from Placer County, California, to accommodate the phylogenetic lineage defined the year before by DNA sequencing as "Mel-2".[8] The publication resulted from the Morel Data Collection Project,[9] which aimed to clarify aspects of the biology, taxonomy and distribution of North American Morchella, and described 14 new morel species without, however, ruling out existing European names.[2] As a result, in two subsequent international studies, Richard and colleagues (in 2014)[1] and Loizides and colleagues (in 2015)[2] used DNA analysis from both European and North American collections to determine that this species is identical to morels collected in southern Europe, matching the original 1892 description of Morchella tridentina by Bresadola. Two original collections identified as M. tridentina by Bresadola himself kept at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, were also studied and found to match the protologue and typical morphology of this species, although attempts to sequence these collections failed. Morchella frustrata was therefore placed in synonymy with M. tridentina, with the latter name having chronological priority over the former.[1]

Original illustration of Morchella tridentina by Giacomo Bresadola.

Morchella quercus-ilicis, proposed by Clowez in 2012[10] from collections in Huelva, Spain, was also shown by Loizides and colleagues to be a synonym of M. tridentina, as are the varieties Morchella conica var. pseudoeximia, and Morchella elatoides var. elegans.[2]

Common names[edit]

In North America, Morchella tridentina was given the common names "mountain blond morel" and "western blond morel".[11]

Phylogeny and reproductive modes[edit]

The first sequences of Morchella tridentina were published by Taşkın and collaborators in 2010, in a study investigating Morchella diversity in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey. Because many morel lineages could not be ascribed with certainty to available binomials in early phylogenetic studies, this species was provisionally assigned the phylogenetic code "Mel-2".[12] Despite its pale colors, M. tridentina belongs to the /Elata clade (section Distantes) along with other black morels such as M. angusticeps, M. exuberans and M. importuna.[8][7] Together with the North American endemic M. tomentosa, M. tridentina occupies a basal position in the /Elata clade, which means it is adjacent to the root of the phylogenetic tree and therefore diverged earlier than other species in this clade.[13][1][2][14]

A 2017 study by Du and colleagues investigated the reproductive modes, mating type and life cycle of fourteen morel species including M. tridentina. The authors reported that all studied morels are heterothallic and their life cycles are predominantly haploid, although sterile haploid fruiting was also observed. Ascospores are mostly haploid, homokaryotic and multinuclear.[15]

Description[edit]

Morphology[edit]

The fruit bodies are often rufescent and 9–20 cm (3.5–7.9 in) high. The conical cap is 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) high and 2.5–4 cm (1.0–1.6 in) wide at the widest point. The cap surface features pits and ridges, which are formed from the intersection of 16–22 primary vertical ridges and few shorter, secondary vertical ridges, with frequent, sunken, horizontal ridges. The cap is attached to the stipe with a distinct sinus about 2–4 mm deep and 2–4 mm wide. The smooth, splitting ridges remain persistently pale throughout the maturity process, easily distinguishing this species from other species in section Distantes, or black morels, which have ridges that typically darken with age. Pits are usually elongated vertically. They are smooth and greyish when young, but later the entire fruit body fades to pale tan to pale ochre-tan. The stipe is 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) high by 1–4 cm (0.4–1.6 in) wide and is more or less equal in width throughout its length or sometimes slightly enlarged at the base. Its white surface is smooth or finely mealy with whitish granules (having hyaline erect "hairs" when viewed under a microscope). The flesh is whitish and measures 1–2 mm thick in the hollow cap and the sterile inner surface of the cap is whitish and pubescent.[7][2]

The spores are smooth or nearly smooth and elliptical.

The ascospores are elliptical and measure 20–26 by 13–18 µm. Spores appear smooth in normal light microscopy, but when viewed under a scanning electron microscope or in the appropriate staining medium, they can be inconspicuously sculpted.[16] The asci (spore-bearing cells) measure 225–330 by 15–25 µm and are cylindrical, eight-spored, and hyaline (translucent) when mounted in dilute (2%) potassium hydroxide (KOH). The paraphyses are cylindrical to capitate or moniliform, measuring 95–250 long by 10–25 µm wide, and are septate. Their tips are rounded to somewhat club-shaped or infrequently somewhat fuse-shaped. The acroparaphyses on the sterile ridges are cylindrical to club-shaped, septate, sometimes with incrustations at the apex, and measure 50–175 by 12.5–20 µm.The hyphoid hairs (terminal elements) of the stipe are abundant and form a regular palisade, measuring 65–100 by 12–15 μm.[7][2][17]

Similar species[edit]

The light colors and pale ridges of M. tridentina make it easily distinguishable from other Distantes species, which have ridges that typically darken at maturity; as Kuo states, "it looks like a black morel with the colors of a yellow morel."[18] However, the vertically arranged pits and ridges, as well as the slight indentation where the cap meets the stem on M. tridentina, more closely resemble the black morels such as M. elata.[7]

Morchella tridentina is similar to Morchella rufobrunnea, another rufescent cosmopolitan species with pale colours, which is nonetheless found in urban and suburban areas. The latter is further distinguished by an adnate cap lacking a sinus and a distinct dark pruinescence on the stem, more pronounced in young fruit bodies.[2]

Due to its light coloration, M. tridentina may also be confused with Morchella americana, a yellow morel in section Morchella with an elongated stature. However, M. americana is not rufescent and has less regularly arranged ridges and pits.

M. snyderi is somewhat similar in appearance to young specimens of M. tridentina, but mature specimens of the former species can be distinguished by the brown to black ridges on the cap, and the ridged and pocketed stipe.[18]

Edibility[edit]

Like all morels, Morchella tridentina is edible and choice. However, morels should not be eaten raw, as they can trigger allergic reactions in susceptible individuals. Their flavor is enhanced after they are fried, stuffed, or dried, and so is their safety for eating.[19][20]

Confusion with toxic species of genus Gyromitra, particularly G. esculenta, is rare but not unheard of.[20]

Habitat and distribution[edit]

Global distribution map of M. tridentina (blackened regions) based on sequenced collections. Insert: Mediterranean collections.

Morchella tridentina has a widespread but disjunct distribution. So far, its presence has been molecularly verified in Argentina,[21] Armenia,[22] Chile,[17] Cyprus,[2] France,[1] India,[23] Israel,[22] North America,[8] Spain[1] and Turkey.[12] Kuo suggests that it might be also widely distributed in western North America, but so far it has only been confirmed to be present in Oregon and California.[18]

It is usually found in mountainous forests and Mediterranean shrubland, growing solitary, scattered, or in small groups in the spring. Its exact trophic mode is not yet known with certainty, but it is suspected to be facultatively biotrophic and may form endosymbiotic associations with a wide array of trees and shrubs.[24][25] Tree species associated with the fungus in North America include pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), oaks (Quercus spp.), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), and white fir (Abies concolor).[7] In Europe it is often found with holm oak (Quercus ilex), strawberry trees (Arbutus andrachne), olive trees (Olea europaea), Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo), Silver fir (Abies alba), Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia), and Scot's pine (P. sylvestris).[2][24]

Although it was initially hypothesised that collections of M. tridentina from Turkey might have been antrhopogenically introduced from the Pacific Northwest of North America,[26] numerous collections reported since from remote and undisturbed areas in the Mediterranean and the Alps (including Bresadola's original collection from Trentino), suggest a long-time and well-established presence of this species in Europe.[2][27] According to a 2021 study by Loizides and colleagues revising the evolutionary history of Morchella, this species is more likely to be a climatic relict, whose once wider distribution probably became fragmented during the Quaternary glaciations.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Richard, Franck; Bellanger, Jean-Michel; Clowez, Philippe; Courtecuisse, Regis; Hansen, Karen; O'Donnell, Kerry; Sauve, Mathieu; Urban, Alexander; Moreau, Pierre-Arthur (30 December 2014). "True morels (Morchella, Pezizales) of Europe and North America: evolutionary relationships inferred from multilocus data and a unified taxonomy". Mycologia. 107 (2): 359–382. doi:10.3852/14-166. PMID 25550303. 14-166. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Loizides M, Alvarado P, Clowez P, Moreau P-A, de la Osa LR, Palazon A (2015). "Morchella tridentina, M. rufobrunnea, and M. kakiicolor: a study of three poorly known Mediterranean morels, with nomenclatural updates in section Distantes". Mycological Progress. 14 (3): 13. Bibcode:2015MycPr..14...13L. doi:10.1007/s11557-015-1030-6. S2CID 16132175. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  3. ^ a b "the Morchella tridentina page". Species Fungorum. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  4. ^ Bresadola, G.; Quélet, L. (1882). Fungi Tridentini novi vel nondum delineati, descripti et iconibus illustrati (in Latin). Vol. 2. Trento: Monauni. p. 65. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  5. ^ "Tridentum. The underground town". Cultura Trentino. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
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  7. ^ a b c d e f Kuo M, Dewsbury DR, O'Donnell K, Carter MC, Rehner SA, Moore JD, Moncalvo JM, Canfield SA, Stephenson SL, Methven AS, Volk TJ (2012). "Taxonomic revision of true morels (Morchella) in Canada and the United States". Mycologia. 104 (5): 1159–77. doi:10.3852/11-375. PMID 22495449. S2CID 45219627. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  8. ^ a b c O'Donnell K, Rooney AP, Mills GL, Kuo M, Weber NS, Rehner SA (2011). "Phylogeny and historical biogeography of true morels (Morchella) reveals an early Cretaceous origin and high continental endemism and provincialism in the Holarctic". Fungal Genetics and Biology. 48 (3): 252–65. doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2010.09.006. PMID 20888422. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
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  11. ^ Pilz D, McLain R, Alexander S, Villarreal-Ruiz L, Berch S, Wurtz TL, Parks CG, McFarlane E, Baker B, Molina R, Smith JE (March 2007). Ecology and management of morels harvested from the forests of western North America. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-710. Portland, Oregon: U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. Archived from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  12. ^ a b Hatıra Taşkın; Saadet Büyükalacaa; Hasan Hüseyin Doğanb; Stephen A. Rehnerc; Kerry O'Donnell (Aug 2010). "A multigene molecular phylogenetic assessment of true morels (Morchella) in Turkey". Fungal Genetics and Biology. 47 (8): 672–682. doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2010.05.004. PMID 20580850.
  13. ^ Du XH, Zhao Q, O'Donnell K, Rooney AP, Yang ZL (2012). "Multigene molecular phylogenetics reveals true morels (Morchella) are especially species-rich in China". Fungal Genetics and Biology. 49 (6): 455–469. doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2012.03.006. PMID 22503770.
  14. ^ Du XH, Wu DM, He GQ, Wei W, Xu N, Li TL (2019). "Six new species and two new records of Morchella in China using phylogenetic and morphological analyses". Mycologia. 112 (2): 857–870. doi:10.1080/00275514.2019.1640012. PMID 31414967. S2CID 199663119.
  15. ^ Du XH, Zhao Q, Xia EH, Gio LZ, Richard F, Yang ZL (2017). "Mixed-reproductive strategies, competitive mating-type distribution and life cycle of fourteen black morel species". Scientific Reports. 7 (1493): 1–11. Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.1493D. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01682-8. PMC 5431422. PMID 28473711.
  16. ^ Clowez P, Moreau PA (2018). "Les spores de morilles en microscopie optique". Documents Mycologiques (in French). 37: 23–38.
  17. ^ a b Machuca A, Gerding M, Chávez D, Palfner G, Oyarzúa P, Guillén Y, Córdova C (2021). "Two new species of Morchella from Nothofagus forests in Northwestern Patagonia (Chile)". Mycological Progress. 20 (6): 781–795. Bibcode:2021MycPr..20..781M. doi:10.1007/s11557-021-01703-x. S2CID 236394657.
  18. ^ a b c Kuo M. (November 2012). "Morchella frustrata". MushroomExpert.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-03. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  19. ^ Kuo M. (2005). Morels. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-472-03036-1.
  20. ^ a b Viess (May 2015). "California Morels: A Delicious Enigma!". Bay Area Mycological Society. Archived from the original on 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
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  22. ^ a b Barseghyan GS, Kosakyan A, Isikhuemhen OS, Didukh M, Wasser SP (10 January 2012). "Phylogenetic analysis within genera Morchella (Ascomycota, Pezizales) and Macrolepiota (Basidiomycota, Agaricales) inferred from nrDNA ITS and EF-1α sequences". In Misra JK, Tewari JP, Desmukh SK (eds.). Systematics and Evolution of Fungi. Progress in Mycological Research. Vol. 2. Boca Raton, Florida: Science Publishers. pp. 159–205. ISBN 978-1-57808-723-5.
  23. ^ Kanwal HK, Acharya K, Ramesh G, Reddy MS (2010). "Molecular characterization of Morchella species from the Western Himalayan region of India". Current Microbiology. 62 (4): 1245–1252. doi:10.1007/s00284-010-9849-1. PMID 21188589. S2CID 1394087.
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  27. ^ Loizides, Michael; Bellanger, Jean-Michel; Clowez, Philippe; Richard, Franck; Moreau, Pierre-Arthur (2016). "Combined phylogenetic and morphological studies of true morels (Pezizales, Ascomycota) in Cyprus reveal significant diversity, including Morchella arbutiphila and M. disparilis spp. nov". Mycological Progress. 15 (4): 39. Bibcode:2016MycPr..15...39L. doi:10.1007/s11557-016-1180-1. S2CID 15163613.

External links[edit]

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