Bulgaria inquinans on freshly cut oak, Germany. (Information about this image)
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Fungi
Subregnum: Dikarya
Divisio: Ascomycota
Subdivisio: Pezizomycotina
Classis: Leotiomycetes
Ordo: Phacidiales
Familia: Phacidiaceae
Genus: Bulgaria
Species: Bulgaria inquinans
Name
Bulgaria inquinans (Pers.) Fr.
References
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Bulgaria inquinans. [accessed on 28 June 2020]
Bulgaria inquinans is a fungus in the family Phacidiaceae. It is commonly known by the names poor man's licorice,[1] black bulgar and black jelly drops.[2][3]
It grows on dead trees including oak, hornbeam, and ash, in Europe and North America.
Description
The cap of Bulgaria inquinans is generally between 0.5 and 4 centimetres (1⁄4 and 1+1⁄2 in) wide and 1 cm tall. It has a dark top with a brown outer surface when young, later becoming more cupped with the black top widening over much of the exterior surface.[3][4] The texture of the mushroom is similar to leather or elastic, depending on dry weather (elastic like), or wet weather (leather).[3]
Similar species
Similar species include Ascocoryne sarcoides and Exidia glandulosa.[5] Pseudoplectania species form black cups without a rough brown outer surface.[4] Galiella rufa has a light upper surface and dark outer surface, opposite from young B. inquinans specimens.[4] Exidia glandulosa and Neobulgaria pura are also vaguely similar.[4]
Distribution and habitat
The mushrooms generally grow in medium-sized clusters on the branches and bark of dead trees, generally oak and hornbeam, but also ash trees due to ash dieback disease. It can be commonly found on felled trees stored in timber yards.[citation needed] It grows across mainland Europe and in the British Isles. It also grows in parts of the United States,[3] where it can be found from November to March on the West Coast and from May to October further east.[4]
Uses
Research into the colouring materials found in the fungus by H.Lockett and R.Edwards at Bradford University gave name to three purple pigments as two bulgarhodins and bulgarein.[6]
The species is inedible.[7]
References
Arora, David (1979). Mushrooms demystified: a comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi of the central California coast. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-0-89815-010-0.
Sterry, Paul; Hughes, Barry (2009). D & N Publishing (ed.). Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms & Toadstools. London: HarperCollins. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-00-723224-6.
"Bulgaria inquinans, Black Bulgar fungus". www.first-nature.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-593-31998-7.
Davis, R. Michael; Sommer, Robert; Menge, John A. (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-520-95360-4. OCLC 797915861.
Edwards RL, Lockett HJ. (1976). "Constituents of the Higher Fungi. Part XVI. Bulgarhodin and bulgarein, novel benzofluoranthenequinones from the fungus Bulgaria inquinans". Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 1: 2149–55. doi:10.1039/p19760002149.
Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuides. p. 524. ISBN 978-0-7627-3109-1.
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