Chaetothiersia vernalis B.A. Perry & Pfister
Fungal Diversity 28: 69. 2008.

Common Name: none

• Habitat

  Gregarious to caespitose on decaying coniferous wood and bark and on woody debris in soil; Sierra Nevada mountains, spring.

• Edibility

  Unknown.

• Comments

  From the protologe by Perry & Pfister: "Chaetothiersia vernalis is characterized by the following combination of features: smooth, eguttulate, ellipsoid ascospores, brown, non-rooting, stiff superficial excipular and marginal hairs with obtuse apices; a dense medullary excipulum composed of textura intricata; a very thin ectal excipulum of globose to angular-globose cells; medium to rather large apothecia (relative to other members of Pyronemataceae); and growth on wood and woody debris associated with moisture produced by the Spring snowmelt in the High Sierra Nevada."

Etymology: "Chaeto", Latin for hairy, and "thiersia", in honor of Dr. Harry Thiers.

• References

  Perry, B.A. & Pfister, D.H. (2008). Chaetothiersia vernalis, a new genus and species of Pyronemataceae (Ascomycota, Pezizales) from California. Fungal Diversity 28: 65-72. (PDF)

Other Descriptions and Photos
• Brian Perry: Chaetothiersia vernalis (CP) —photomicrograph of the excipular hairs



(D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)