Cheilymenia fimicola (De Not. & Bagl.) Dennis
British Ascomycetes: 45. 1981.

Photo: On cow dung (the small brownish cups are Ascobolus)

Common Name: none

Synonym: Cheilymenia coprinaria (Cke.) Boudier (Bull. Soc. Myc. Fr. 1: 105. 1885.)

• Sporocarp

  Apothecia sessile, cylindrical to cushion-shaped, becoming shallowly cupulate to saucer-shaped, 1.0-4.0 (5) mm broad; margin upturned, even to wavy, with pale-tan, bristle-like hairs; hymenium red-orange to yellowish-orange, glabrous, plane to concave; exterior surface lighter than the disc, with scattered, pallid, stiff hairs; context fleshy, thin, orange; odor and taste not investigated.

• Spores

  Spores 16-19 x 10.0-12.5 µm, ellipsoid, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, lacking oil droplets; asci eight-spored, uniseriate, the tips inamyloid; paraphysis slender, slightly clavate.

• Habitat

  Scattered, gregarious, to clustered on dung, primarily cow, but also horse and other herborvores; fruiting year-round when moisture is available; common, but seldom collected.

• Edibility

  Edibility unknown; insignificant.

• Comments

  Like many dung fungi, Cheilymenia fimicola and a close relative, Cheilymenia stercorea, are cosmopolitan species, found wherever cows and horses are pastured. Both are small orange cups with bristle-like marginal hairs, but with subtle differences. In Cheilymenia fimicola the hairs are straight, septate, tapered to a point, and branched only at the base. Cheilymenia stercorea in contrast, has two types of hairs, some straight, tapered, and septate like Cheilymenia fimicola, though usually darker, plus shorter, stellate-branched hairs found mostly at the base of the apothecia. A third Cheilymenia, found occasionally on horse manure, Cheilymenia theleboloides, is pale-yellowish and has inconspicuous, nearly hyaline hairs. Other look-alikes include Coprobia granulata and Scutellinia scutellata. The former produces orange cups on dung, but lacks marginal hairs, and as the species epithet suggests, has a roughened exterior. Scutellinia scutellata is a bright-orange cup with conspicuous marginal hairs, but occurs on rotting wood, not dung.

• References

  Denison, W.C. (1964). The genus Cheilymenia in North America. Mycologia 56: 718-737.
  Doveri, F. (2004). Fungi Fimicoli Italici. Associazione Micologica Bresadola: Trento, Italy. 1104 p.
  Moravec, J. (2005). A World Monograph of the genus Cheilymenia (Discomycetes, Pezizales, Pyronemataceae). IHW-Verlag: Munich. 256 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP) -- with some Ascobolus
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP) -- with some Ascobolus (e.g. top right corner)
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP) -- closeup (through the dissecting microscope) of the "hairs"...the longest hair is less than 1mm long
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP) -- about 4.5 millimeters in diameter
  • Michael Wood: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP) -- microphotograph: one "hair" viewed with the compound microscope -- about 650 µm long
  • North Ireland Fungus Group: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP)
  • BioImages: The Virtual Field-Guide: Cheilymenia fimicola (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 838 (D & P) [as Cheilymenia coprinaria]
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (v. 1): sp. 86 (D, I, & CP)
  • Tylutki (1979): p. 94 (D & P) [as Cheilymenia coprinaria]
  
  

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