First Record of Chorioactis geaster from Oklahoma

Abstract

Chorioactis geaster (Peck) Kupfer, the devil’s cigar fungus, is reported from Oklahoma for the first time. A collection was made in Choctaw County in southeast Oklahoma in January 2017. Chorioactis geaster is a fleshy fungus that belongs to the Ascomycota and is an example of what are commonly referred to as cup fungi. The young ascomata are closed, swollen-elongate, brown and finely hairy. During expansion, the ascomata split into 3–6 rays that are reminiscent of earth star fungi. The hymenophore color is pale yellow to tan. The ascospores are large, measuring 60–70 x 12–13 μm, and are curved-fusoid in shape. All previous records from the United States have been reported from Texas, and the fungus is also known from Japan. The holotype was collected in Austin, Texas in 1891 and described by Charles H. Peck in the genus Urnula.