Xylaria longipes, common name known as dead moll's fingers, is a species of fungus in the family Xylariaceae.
Taxonomy
Xylaria longipes was first described by the German
botany and
mycology Theodor Rudolph Joseph Nitschke in the first volume of his
Pyrenomycetes Germanici, published in 1867. He gave it the name by which it is currently known.
is from the
Latin xulon, meaning "wood", and
aria, meaning "pertaining to", while
longipes is from
longus, meaning "long", and
pes, meaning "foot". The specific name is in reference to the long stem, which is one of the distinguishing features in contrast to
Xylaria polymorpha (dead man's fingers).
In 1958, the English mycologist and
plant pathology R. W. G. Dennis coined the binomial
Xylosphaera longipes, resurrecting the Belgian botanist and politician Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier's 1822 genus
Xylosphaera.
However, the mycological databases
MycoBank and
Index Fungorum reject Dennis's name, preferring Nitscke's.
The variety Xylaria longipes var. tropica was described from Mexico in 1989 by Felipe San Martín González and Jack D. Rogers;
Description
The species has a roughly club-shaped
ascocarp measuring from in height, and reaching a thickness of up to . The top is rounded, while the stem can be fairly long (though is sometimes almost entirely lacking). The colour of the body's surface varies with age; younger specimens fairly gray or fairly brown, but they darken with age, becoming black. As the fruit body ages, the surface cracks and develops scales.
differs from the similar
Xylaria polymorpha (dead man's fingers) by being somewhat more slender,
by having a more distinct stalk,
and by its smaller
ascospores. While
X. longipes has spores measuring 12 to 16 by 5 to 7
micrometres (μm), the spores of
X. polymorpha measure 20 to 32 by 5 to 9 μm.
The spindle-shaped spores of
X. longipes have a smooth surface but for
.
Distribution and habitat
This fungus is known from Europe,
Asia,
and North America.
It is a saprotroph, growing directly from dead wood from
hardwoods,
including both fallen branches and stumps.
It causes soft rot in its host.
In Europe, it favours the wood of sycamores,
while collections in North America have favoured the wood of
and
.
The species can grow singly or in groups,
and is more likely to grow singly than
X. polymorpha.
Uses
Xylaria longipes is inedible,
but a 2008 study concluded that the species could improve wood for the purposes of making
violins.
A number of chemicals have been derived from the fungus, including the
antifungal xylaramide, the
antioxidant tyrosol,
[ ] and a derivative of the antifungal compound
sordarin, a chemical first isolated from
Sordaria araneosa.
[ ]
