Earthtongues (Geoglossaceae s.l.) Home
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Deceptive earthtongue (Geoglossum fallax)
©Per Fadnes
Earthtongues have cylindrical tongue-shaped
fruit bodies 2-10 cm long with a short stem. Most earthtongues are black, but
may also have brown or greenish shades. Some species typically have twisted
or bent fruitbodies. The stem can be squamulose or smooth, and some species
have fruitbodies covered with stiff hairs (setae). Different earthtongues
have different ecological requirements, but mostly they grow in undisturbed
grasslands and meadows. Some may also grow in forests and marshes, but most
of the finds are from natural pastures and meadows. Soil requirements vary,
and some prefer base-rich soil, others grow in more acid environments, and
some grow in wet marshy areas. Earthtongues often occurs late in fall, and when winter comes late, you can find fruitbodies late in December. Many species seem to prefer mild coastal climate. In the 1998 Red List (the Directorate for Nature Management 1999), most of the earthtongues were red-listed, but in the latest issue (2010, 2015, 2021) many species were degraded (Brandrud et al, 2010). This is largely due to the fact that knowledge of occurrence and distribution was limited, which is also reflected in the relatively few data known before 2000 especially in South-Western Norway. The family Geoglossaceae has been the subject of a series of studies throughout the years going back to the 18th century. The introduction of Nannfeldt's monograph from 1942 can illustrate this: "There are hardly any discomycetes that have been the subject of as many monographs as the Geoglossaceae" (Nannfeldt 1942). The family Geoglossaceae belongs to the Ascomycota and contained seven genera (Ohenoja 2000). In this overview only the earthtongues, the genera growing in semi-natural grasslands and meadows, are treated. These genera are Geoglossum s.l., Trichoglossum and Microglossum. The family Geoglossaceae is currently undergoing great changes, demonstrated
by different molecular studies (Hustad et al. 2011 and 2013, Arauzo &
Iglesias, 2014, Fedosova et al. 2018). New genera have been proposed like Glutinoglossum including the former Geoglossum glutinosum, Sabuloglosum including Thuemenidium (Geoglossum) arenarium (Hustad et al. 2013), and Hemileucoglossum to
accommodate the species Geoglossum
littorale and allies (Arauzo & Iglesias 2014). Microglossum, which has earlier been
included in Geoglossaceae, is now excluded, and shown to be very distant
related based on molecular methods (Schoch et al 2009, Sandnes 2006). In 2021 a new species in
the genera Hemileucoglossum (H. pusillum) was described from
Norway (Fadnes et. al 2021). The genera are often possible to distinguish by macroscopically characters, but in order to distinguish the different species one must use microscopy. The spores are characteristic for the different genera. They vary in size and color, from hyaline (uncolored) to brown, and with different number of transverse walls (septa). Normally there are eight spores inside each ascus. Paraphyses are tread-shaped sterile hyphae-structures located between the asci and both shape, color, septa and degree of agglutination of the paraphyses are important characteristics to identify the different species. The keys existing for earthtongues (Læssøe and Elborne 1984, Olsen 1986, Ohenoja 2000) have some deficiencies describing the different species, so it is not always simple to come to the right decision. This also appears in the Norwegian Mushroom Database (NSD 2023), where some finds are marked “conferendum” that means not secure determination. This apply in particular to the genus Geoglossum, which is also the largest genus, and offers the biggest difficulties. Most species in this genus have black fruit bodies, sometimes with brownish shades. Most species have spores between 30-100μm with different numbers of septa. Microscopically characters like shape, color and septa of spores and paraphyses are often crucial characters to determine which species you have found. Particularly the species with squamulose stem offer great challenges, and it is often difficult to determine with species has been found. A new key was described in Svampe in 2022 (Læssøe & Petersen 2022).
The genus Trichoglossum contains three species (known from Norway) that are easy to distinguish from the other genera because the fruit bodies are closely covered with black stiff hairs (setae). These setae can easily be observed in the fields with a good magnifying glass. Microscopically, the species in this genus are also easy to distinguish from each other due to spores with different size and number of septa. In the genus Microglossum we find several species that are relatively easy to determine. The fruit bodies have greenish, brownish and black colors and can largely be determined macroscopically, but for safe determination, microscopy is recommended. Microglossum atropurpureum has previously been placed both the genera Geoglossum and Thuemenidium, and due to its black color, it can be macroscopically taken for a Geoglossum. Microscopically, however, this genus clearly distinguishes from the others because all species have small, hyaline (colorless) spores of size 12-35 μm with no septa. All the earthtongues described on this webpage are found in different municipalities in South-Western Norway, with the exception of Geoglossum arenarium found on Solastrand in Rogaland County. Besides, Geoglossum glabrum and Microglossum viride are earhtongues normally not growing in grassland and meadows. South-Western Norway is, however, an important area for many earthtounges, which can be seen on the distribution maps of the various species. All species in South-Western Norway have been recently discussed in an article in the journal Agarica (Fadnes 2011). Litterature Arauzo, S, Iglesias, P, 2014. La familia
Geoglossaceae en la península Ibérica
y Macronesia. Errotari. 11: 166-259. Direktoratet
for naturforvaltning (DN) 1999. Nasjonal rødliste for truete arter i Norge 1998. DN-rapport 3,1-161. Fadnes,
P, 2011. Jordtunger (Geoglossaceae) i Sunnhordland, Vest Norge -
Fedosova
AG, Popov ES, Lizoň P,Kučera V, 2018. Towards an understanding of the genus Glutinoglossum with
emphasis on the Glutinoglossum glutinosum species complex (Geoglossaceae, Ascomycota).
Persoonia 41: 18-38. Hustad, VP,
Miller AN, Moingeon, JM, Priou, JP, 2011. Inclusion of Nothomitra in Geoglossomycetes. Mycosphere 2(6) :646-654. Hustad, VP, Miller AN,
Dentinger BTM, Cannon, PF, 2013. Generic
circumscriptions in Geoglossomycetes. Persoonia 31: 101-111. Læssøe, T, Elborne SA, 1984. De danske jordtunger. Svampe
9, 9-22.
Læssøe,
T, Petersen JH. 2022. Bestem din jordtunge. Svampe 85. 1-13 Nannfeldt
JA, 1942. The Geoglossaceae of Sweden (with regard to
the surrounding
countries). Arciv Bot. 30 (A) 4, 1-67. Norsk Soppdatabase (NSD).
https://www.nhm2.uio.no/botanisk/nxd/sopp/nsd_b.htm.
Downloaded
May 2023. Ohenoja E, 2000. Geoglossaceae. I Hansen
L, Knudsen H. Nordic Macromycetes,
Vol 1, Ascomycetes. Nordsvamp – Copenhagen, pp.177-183. Olsen S, 1986. Jordtunger
i Norge. Agarica 7 (14), 120-168. Sandnes ACS, 2006. Phylogenetic
relationships among species and genera of Geoglossaceae
(Helotiales) based on ITS and LSU nrDNA sequences. Cand. Scient. Thesis.,
University of Oslo, Dep. of biology. Schoch, CL,Wang, Z, Townsend, JP, Spatafora, JW,
2009. Geoglossomycetes cl. nov., Geoglossales ord. nov. and taxa above class rank in
the Ascomycota
Tree of Life. Persoonia 22: 129-138. |
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