Ontogeny of Gelatinous Fungi

Gelatinous ectal or medullary tissues are prominent in the discomycetes in the Ombrophiloideae (Helotiaceae). This subfamily was erected to include those inoperculate fungi with conspicuous gelatinous tissues, but the genera included in the Ombrophiloideae vary greatly (Nannfeldt, 1932; Korf, 1958). Similar gelatinous tissues occur in the Leotioideae (Helotiales), Urnula and Sarcosma (Pezizales), and in the jelly fungi (Tremellales). Although ontogenetic studies have been made of members of the Ombrophiloideae and Leotioideae (Biffin, 1901; Dittrich, 1902; Brown, 1910; Duff, 1920, 1922; Corner, 1930; Howarth and Chippindale, 1931), little attention was paid to the gelatinous tissues. The purpose of this study was to follow the ontogeny of the gel tissues (Moore, 1965a), and to follow the ontogeny of the gel tissue concurrently with the development of the fruitbody in representatives of the Ombrophiloideae, the Leotioideae, the Geoglossaceae, and the Tremellaceae. Terminology applying to apothecial morphology is used in the sense of Korf (1958), while that of gel tissue types is given elsewhere (Moore, 1965a).