Dacryopinax spathularia
Dacryopinax spathularia is a species of fungus in the family Dacrymycetaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are gelatinous, frequently spathulate (spoon-shaped), and grow on wood, mainly in the tropics and subtropics. The fungus is edible and is commercially cultivated for use as an additive in the food industry. Taxonomy The species was first described as Merulius spathularius by German-American mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz based on a collection from North Carolina in the United States. It was moved to the newly created genus Dacryopinax by American mycologist G.W. Martin in 1948 in recognition of its fruit bodies' frequently spathulate shape. Microscopically, however, the species is not typical of the genus and this has been confirmed by recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences. Dacryopinax spathularia is not closely related to the type species (Dacryopinax elegans) and belongs elsewhere. It has been placed in a widely defined Dacrymyces, but this latter genus still awaits a comprehensive revision. Description The fruit bodies of Dacryopinax spathularia are gregarious, often clustered, and have a distinct stipe (stem) and fertile head that is flattened and fan-like (spathulate) or less commonly palmate. They are tough-gelatinous to cartilaginous and yellow to orange, usually tall and between