Trichoglossum hirsutum (Persoon: Fries) Boudier
Hist. Class. Discom. d'Europe: 86. 1907.

Common Name: Black Earth Tongue

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body clavate, 1.5 -7.0 cm tall, the fertile "head" oblong to spade-shaped, flattened, often grooved, 0.5-1.5 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, black, velvety from projecting hairs or spines; stipe round, 1-2.5 mm thick, equal, black, conspicuously pubescent.

• Spores

  Spores 90-130 x 4-5 µm, filiform, tapering at each end, typically 16 septate, brown, asci 8-spored.

• Habitat

  Solitary, scattered to grouped in moss, rotting wood or leaf litter; fruiting from late winter to early spring.

• Edibility

  Unknown.

• Comments

  Trichoglossum hirsutum is one of several black earth tongues that occur locally. All require a microscope for positive identification. Velvety hairs on both the stipe and fertile "head" are the primary distinguishing feature of Trichoglossum species. This character separates the genus from Geoglossum, whose species have a relatively smooth surface, but are otherwise similar in appearance.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Trichoglossum hirsutum (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Trichoglossum hirsutum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Trichoglossum hirsutum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Trichoglossum hirsutum (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Trichoglossum hirsutum (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 867 (D), p. 868 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 214 (D & CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 1): sp. 131 (D, I, & CP)
  • Dennis: p. 85 (D)
  • Jordan: p. 59 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 357 (D), plate 682 (CP)

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