Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Mycology Volume 2014, Article ID 490847, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/490847 Research Article Some New Records of Stinkhorns (Phallaceae) from Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, India Girish Gogoi and Vipin Parkash Rain Forest Research Institute, AT Road, Sotai, Post Box No. 136, Jorhat, Assam 785001, India Correspondence should be addressed to Girish Gogoi; [email protected] Received 11 October 2013; Revised 28 December 2013; Accepted 3 February 2014; Published 17 March 2014 Academic Editor: Leo Van Griensven Copyright © 2014 G. Gogoi and V. Parkash. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This research paper represents for the first time an updated list of stinkhorn family, Phallaceae, in Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Jorhat, Assam, India. There are seven species of stinkhorns naturally present in the study area. A description of all the species is given along with images of fruiting bodies of the fungi and their microstructures; information on the ecology and general distribution and data on the literature have been documented. The seven species of stinkhorns were found in and around area of the sanctuary which include Phallus indusiatus, Phallus duplicatus, Phallus cinnabarinus, Phallus merulinus, Phallus atrovolvatus, Mutinus bambusinus,andClathrus delicatus. 1. Introduction East India as a part of Indo Burma biodiversity hotspot [9]of the world, few number of wild edible macrofungi have been Fungi are some of the most important organisms in the world, reported by Sarma et al. [10], Tanti et al. [11], Khaund and becauseoftheirvitalroleinecosystemfunctionandinfluence Joshi, [12], Baruah et al. [13],andN.I.SingandS.M.Sing[14]. on humans and human-related activities as discussed by The stinkhorns are easily identified due to their fetid Mueller and Bills [1]. Fungi are not only beautiful but play a smelling,stickysporemasses,orgleba,borneontheend significant role in the daily life of human beings besides their of a stalk called the receptaculum or cap. The characteristic utilization in industry, agriculture, and medicine as discussed fruiting-body structure, a single, unbranched receptaculum by Cowan [2] and Chang and Miles [3]. Moreover, fungi help with an externally attached gleba on the upper part, distin- in bioremediation, in recycling nutrients, and in decompos- guishes the Phallaceae from other families in the Phallales. As ing the dead organic matter in soil and litter, as biofertilizers discussed by Tuno [15],stinkhornsareshort-lived,typically and in many other ways (Gadd [4]). It is necessary to estimate lasting not more than a few days. The spore mass typically the taxonomic diversity for fungi that will enable fungi to smells of carrion or dung and attracts flies and other insects be included in considerations of biodiversity conservation to help disperse the spores. All species under this family and land-use planning and management as discussed by begin their development as oval or round structures known as Mueller and Schmit [5]. The number of fungi recorded in “eggs” (young stage of basidiocarp); however, their developed India exceeds 27,000 species, the largest biotic community structures show drastic variations in pattern and color, as dis- after insects (Sarbhoy et al. [6]). Recent estimates of the global cussed by Mohanan [16].Similarly,thestructureandcolorof species numbers of fungi suggest that the much-used figure glebaalsodifferfromoneanother.Accordingtoanestimate, of 1.5 million is low, and figures up to 5.1 million have been the family comprises 21 genera and 77 species (Kirk et al. [17]). proposed in the last few years (Hawksworth [7]). The litera- ture survey revealed that only a fraction of total fungal wealth 2. Materials and Methods has been subjected to scientific scrutiny till date. The first list onIndianfungiwaspublishedbyButlerandBisbyin1931[8] 2.1. Study Area. Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary andthenlateronrevisedbyVasudevain1960[8]. In North (HGWLS) (Figure 1), more popularly known as Gibbon 2 Journal of Mycology Table 1: Compartment wise distribution of stinkhorns in the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. Number of fruit bodies in each compartment Sl. number Name of Stinkhorn species Total number Count Comp.1 Comp.2 Comp.3 Comp.4 Comp.5 I P. indu si atu s —201010— 403 II P. dupli catu s —9—— 6 152 III P. c innab ar inu s —4 1 —— 5 2 IV P. me r u linu s 32——1 6 3 V P. atrovolvatus —4——— 4 1 VI M. bambusinus 825151215755 VII C. delicatus —2——— 2 1 Totalnumber 11 66 26 22 22 147 Count 2 7 3 3 3 Size of Comp. in km2 2 6.98 5 4 3 20.98 NumbersofTransects 4 14 10 8 6 42 Note. Comp.: compartment; km2: kilometers square. E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E size but also different in vegetation composition, topography, 30 0 30 0 30 0 30 0 30 0 30 0 30 0 30 0 0 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 16 ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ and soil nutrients. The size of compartments is given in 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 ∘ Table 1. Stratified random sampling technique is used to ∘ 26 44 0 26 44 0 N N ∘ collect data from different compartments of the sanctuary. ∘ 26 43 30 26 43 30 N N ∘ A total of 42 transects have been studied in the sanctuary ∘ 26 43 0 26 43 0 N N measuring 50 m × 20 m for each transect and considering ∘ ∘ 26 42 30 26 42 30 N N two transects for 1 km square area. The total number of fruit ∘ ∘ 26 42 0 26 42 0 N N bodies in each compartment as well as in the whole sanctuary ∘ 26∘4130 26 41 30 N N has been extrapolated with the help of data collected from ∘ 26∘410 26 41 0 N N different transects (Table 1). ∘ 26∘4030 26 40 30 N N The sampling and collections of stinkhorns were done ∘ 26∘400 26 40 0 N N from April 2012 to September 2013 as suggested by Largent ∘ 26∘3930 26 39 30 N N [19].Fieldcharacterssuchashabit,habitat,odour,colour, ∘ 26∘390 26 39 0 N N and size of the pileus (cap), veil, stipe, and volva presence, E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 or absence of indusium or veil and so forth were noted from 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 thefreshmaterialandphotographsweretakeninitsnatural 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 habitat. The colour terminology was used for identification N as suggested by Kornerup and Wanscher [20]. The specimens Sanctuary boundary Railway track ∘ Sanctuary compartment Places weredriedinhotairovenat40–50Candstoredinair Sanctuary drainage Road tight plastic containers with some naphthalene balls and Bhogdoi River (km) the samples of the same species were also preserved in 0 0.5 1 2 FAA (formalin acetic acid) for further microscopic studies. The help of authentic internet website also accessed for Figure 1: Map of study site within red boundary line. identification of all the collected species that are cited in the reference. ∘ Wildlife Sanctuary, lies between 26.40–26.45 Nlatitudeand ∘ 2 94.18–94.23 E longitude and it covers an area of 20.98 km . 3. Results and Discussion The sanctuary is situated at 100–130 m asl (meters above sea level) and the average annual rainfall is 249 cm. It is in Seven species of stinkhorns were collected and identified. All the tract of rich loamy alluvial formation in the foothills of thespecieswerefoundtobeanewrecordforthestudyarea, Nagaland having soil pH ranging between 5.2 and 5.5. The as well as North East India, which are described below. forest of the area as per Champion and Seth [18]isAssam Plain Alluvial Semi Evergreen Forest with pockets of Wet 3.1. Phallus indusiatus. Vent. Mem.Inst.Natl.Sci.,Sci.Math.´ Evergreen. The vegetation is typically a tree forest mixed with 1:520 (1798) [21]. bamboos and canes. 2.2. Collection, Preservation, and Examination. Gibbon 3.1.1. Material Examined. India, North East India (New ∘ Wildlife Sanctuary is composed of five compartments record), Assam, Jorhat, HGWLS, 26 41 48.57 Nlatitudeand ∘ (Figure 1) and these compartments are not only different in 94 213 0.53 E longitude, 123 m asl, on soil of bamboo thicket Journal of Mycology 3 (Comp.2–4, Table 1), G. Gogoi, 27.7.2012, Accession number: it differs in size of indusium and cap texture. In P. indu si atu s HGWLS/C4/004. indusium is long and big which reaches the ground and cap is highly pitted but in P. duplicatus and P. atrovolvatus indusium 3.1.2. Habit and Distribution. P. indusiatus is commonly is short and small which covers 2/3 of the stipe from the cap called the bamboo fungus, bamboo pith, long net stinkhorn, and the cap is somewhat smooth. Hence, P. indu si atu s is a new crinoline stinkhorn, or veiled lady stinkhorns. It grows on record for Assam as well as for North East India. dead tree trunk and beneath the soil intermittently with the formation of reproductive structures called “eggs” with a con- 3.2. Phallus duplicatus. Bosc, Magazin der Gesellschaft spicuous rhizomorph at the base existing in the substratum. Naturforschenden Freunde Berlin 5:86, t. 6:7 (1811) [30].