iNat's First Observation of a Microglossum clavatum earth tongue fungus! - Observation of the Week, 2/3/20

Our Observation of the Week is the first Microglossum clavatum posted to iNaturalist! Seen in Italy by @salvatore_bacciu_paola_mereu!

“We fell in love with Geoglossaceae [earth tongue fungi] last year and we investigated many species that were very little known in Sardinia,” says Salvatore Bacciu, one half of @salvatore_bacciu_paola_mereu, whose main passion is macrofungi. The couple live on the island, “in a beautiful highland in the middle of the Mediterranean basin where nature is still very raw and beautiful,” as he describes it. “We are a couple in love with nature who fight to preserve as much as we can.”

The gorgeous Microglossum clavatum fungus you see photographed above is one of several new species in that genus described in 2017. Not only did Savaltore and Paola find the fungus, they sent samples of it to their mycologist friend Matteo Carbone, who verified their ID with some DNA testing. The genus Microglossum is actually *not* listed under Geoglossaceae on iNaturalist (although they are morphologically similar), but in the family Leotiaceae. Like other members of its family, this fungus is saprotrophic, and is usually found in soil, duff, and moss. 

“When the result came back we were very excited and wanted to share it with the world through this very useful app,” Salvatore (with Paola, above) tells me. “iNaturalist is without a doubt a brilliant tool to share the knowledge of the natural world. Since we started using it, we make the most of it having the opinion of very skilled scientists and amateurs like us.”

- by Tony Iwane. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and flow.

- Interested in mushrooming and adding your fungus observations to iNat? Check out our Introduction to Mushrooming video for some pointers!

Publicado el 04 de febrero de 2020 a las 03:42 AM por tiwane