page_title: Xylobolus frustulatus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Xylobolus frustulatus / Description
caption_attribution_description: Xylobolus frustulatus ( Pers) Boidin Location: Strouds Run State Park, Athens, Ohio, USA For more information about this, see the observation page at Mushroom Observer. English&#160;| español&#160;| français&#160;| italiano&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| português&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: Xylobolus frustulatus, commonly known as the ceramic fungus or ceramic parchment, is an inedible species of crust fungus in the Stereaceae family. The fruit body forms small, hard, flat crust-like aggregations that resemble broken pieces of ceramic tile. These pieces are initially whitish before turning yellow-brown to gray-brown in age. The spore-bearing cells cover the upper surfaces of the fruit body. A saprobic species, it grows on well-decayed oak wood in Asia, northern Europe, and North America.
context_section_description: The fruit body, or crust, of Xylobolus frustulatus has a woody texture and is perennial. It is mostly 1–2 mm thick, although it can be considerably thicker. The crust is frustose (cracking into small, angular polygons), and infrequently curled at the edges. The upper surface is zonate (appearing to have multiple zones of color or texture), and more or less smooth. The hymenial surface is smooth to the naked eye, although long soft hairs can be seen when viewed with a microscope. These 'hairs' are protruding acanthocystidia (cystidia bearing a few projections near the tip) and hyphae. Young layers are pale ochraceous, while older ones dull to deep brown. The fungus is inedible, and lacks any distinctive taste or odor.
  The hyphal system is monomitic, meaning that there are only generative hyphae (relatively undifferentiated hyphae that can develop reproductive structures) are present. These vertically arranged, short-celled hyphae form transitions to acanthocystidia, and have a diameter of about 3.5–5 μm. They are sparsely branched, and hyaline (translucent) to yellowish-brown, although those in older layers may be more strongly pigmented. Other hyphae (such as in the trama) are few or absent, although they can be most readily observed in very thin sections. Measuring 3–5 μm wide, they are vertically arranged, thin to moderately thick-walled, and form transitions to pseudocystidia. All of the hyphae of X. frustulatus lack clamp connections.
  Pseudocystidia (sterile structures arising deep in the subhymenium and protruding into the hymenium) are rare. Thin to moderately thick-walled, they rarely project above the basidia and acanthocystidia. The acanthocystidia are numerous, and have dimensions of 25–30 μm long by 4–5 μm wide. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are shaped like long clubs, four-spored, and measure 25–30 by 4–5 μm. They are smooth or have a few basal protuberances (acanthobasidia). The spores are short-ellipsoid in shape, thin-walled or with a slight wall thickening, smooth, typically measuring 4.5–5 by 3–3.2 μm. They have a distinct amyloid reaction.
caption: The woody fruit body is frustose–divided into small, angular polygons.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX100 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2010:10:28 13:55:21", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2042", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9433", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/5", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:10:28 13:55:21", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:10:28 13:55:21", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "37/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "594", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "446", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "594", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "446", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1870", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "43520/3", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2448000/169", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}