|
|
Ileodictyon gracile group (Ileodictyon gracile/cibarium) Berk. London J. Bot. 4: 69 (1845) |
 Image © Clive Shirley Reproduced by permission Common Name: Lattice Fungus, Basket Fungus, Cage Fungus |
The Lattice Fungus forms an unusual structure, with arms joined in a three dimensional lattice, resembling a soccer ball with the panels punched out. Spores form a green, slimy mass on the inside of the arms. The Lattice Fungus is initially tightly packed into an egg-like structure; and the lattice can rapidly burst out from the egg. |
There are two species of Cage Fungus in Australia - Ileodictyon gracile (arms smooth, expanded at joints), and I. cibarium (arms creased). For Fungimap, records of both species are combined. See how to tell the two species apart below.
A lattice-shaped receptacle, initially within an egg.
Subglobose to ovoid, smooth, whitish, with white mycelial strands extending into substrate. In the juvenile stage the receptacle is tightly packed within the egg in a jelly-like layer.
Emerges from the egg (sometimes explosively) to form a hollow, spherical, lattice-like network, with 10-30 meshes. Arms white or cream. The receptacle eventually becomes free, and then has no obvious top or bottom, and can roll free along the ground.
Foetid, like sour milk or Camembert cheese.
Forming an olive brown, slimy mass on the inside of the arms of the cage.
On the ground, or amongst mulch or wood chips. Common in gardens, and on the edge of tracks, also in native forest.
Structure: the receptacle of Ileodictyon is similar in structure to the 'buckyball' - a molecule which forms a polyhedral hollow cage of carbon atoms (called buckminsterfullerene. Buckyballs were named because of their resemblance to geodesic domes designed by architect Buckminster Fuller (see Gooday & Zerning, 1997). Toxicity: unknown. The epithet 'cibarium' (which would suggest edibility) was bestowed by the French mycologist Tulasne in the apparently mistaken impression that Maori people ate the unexpanded fruit bodies. Synonyms: also placed in the genus Clathrus (as Clathrus cibarius and Clathrus gracilis)
Bougher, N.L. & Syme, K. (1998) Fungi of southern Australia. University of Western Australia Press. Cunningham, G.H. (1944), Gasteromycetes of Australia and New Zealand, Published by the author: Dunedin. Dring, D.M. (1980), Contributions towards a rational arrangement of the Clathraceae, Kew Bulletin 35: 1-96. Fuhrer, B. (1993) A field companion to Australian fungi. The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. Gooday, G.W. & Zerning, J. (1997), Ileodictyon cibarium: the basket fungus as a buckyball, Mycologist 11: 184-186. Shepherd, C.J. & Totterdell, C.J. (1988) Mushrooms and toadstools of Australia. Inkata Press. Young, A.M. (1994), Common Australian Fungi, 2nd revised edn. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney.
The two Australian species, Ileodictyon gracile and Ileodictyon cibarium, are distinguished as follows:
| Ileodictyon gracile | Ileodictyon cibarium | |
| Egg diam. | up to 40 mm | up to 70 mm |
| Receptacle diam. | 40-200 mm | 80-150(-250) mm |
| Arm thickness | up to 5 mm | up to 10 mm |
| Arm X section | hollow (1-2 chambers) | hollow (1-3 chambers) |
| Arm walls in X section | relatively thick | relatively thin |
| Arms folded in egg | sinuously folded | in a concertina-like fashion |
| Arms when expanded | quite smooth and often flattened and ribbon-like, typically distinctly broader where they intersect | usually retaining a creased appearance, not broader at intersections |
Last modified on 28 May 2001
Maintained by Mike McBain
Copyright © 2000 Fungimap