Swamp beacon

Taxobox
color = lightblue
name = Swamp beacon
status =

secure

---

image_width = 200px
image_caption = Mitrula paludosa growing on swamp-leaves in the Middlesex Fells Reservation.
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Ascomycota
classis = Discomycetes
ordo = Helotiales
familia = Geoglossaccae
genus = "Mitrula"
species = "M. paludosa"
binomial = "Mitrula paludosa"
binomial_authority = Fr., 1821

The swamp beacon (US) or bog beacon (UK) is the club-shaped fruiting body of the "Mitrula paludosa" fungus (which was known as "Mitrula phalloides").

Habitat

These mushrooms are found in swamps and bogs across North America in the cooler climates of south-eastern Canada, New England south to the Mason-Dixon Line, and much of the mid-western United States. Also present in the Europe from the British Isles to Eastern Europe.

On the West Coast of the United States, the "Mitrula elegans" looks similar.

Identification

Many related species of "Mitrula" look identical without microscopic study. The cap or club is yellow with a white stalk (possibly with some pink coloration).

External links

* [http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T1012.HTM Images of the bog beacon in the UK]
* [http://www.nifg.org.uk/species/atlas2.htm?item=NBNSYS0000017535 Bog beacon locations in Northern Ireland]
* [http://www.hlasek.com/mitrula_paludosa_6556.html Photographs with many European language translations of the name]