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Cyttaria

Cyttaria
Cyttaria espinosae from Chile growing in a tree trunk
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Leotiomycetes
Order: Cyttariales
Family: Cyttariaceae
Genus: Cyttaria
Berk. (1842)
Type species
Cyttaria darwinii
Berk. (1842)
Species

C. berteroi
C. darwinii
C. espinosae
C. gunnii
C. hariotii
C. nigra
C. johowii
C. septentrionalis
C. exigua
C. Hookeri

Cyttaria sp. - MHNT

Cyttaria (From Greek Kyttaros, meaning "cell of a honeycomb")[1] is a genus of ascomycete fungi. About 10 species belong to Cyttaria, found in South America, Australia and New Zealand, which are obligatory parasites of southern beech trees from the genus Nothofagus.[2][3][4] The "llao llao" fungus Cyttaria hariotii, one of the most common fungi in Andean-Patagonian forests, has been shown to harbor the yeast Saccharomyces eubayanus, which may be source of the lager yeast S. pastorianus cold-tolerance.[5][6]

Description

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Morphology

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Cyttaria was originally described by mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1842.[7] The ascomata of Cyttaria species are porous with an orange color. Each ascomata consists of multiple apothecia immersed in a gelatinous stroma.[8] Asci are 8 spored, inoperculate and amyloid.[8]

Distribution

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Cyttaria is found exclusively on the southern hemisphere, being commonly found in southern Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia. Its distruibution mirrors the one of Nothofagus.[4][9]

Ethnomycology

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Certain species of Cyttaria were traditionally consumed by some indigenous groups in southern Chile and Argentina, and continue to be a part in local cuisine.[4][10]


References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cyttaria.
  1. ^ "Definition of CYTTARIA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  2. ^ Kirk MP, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CAB International. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-85199-826-8.
  3. ^ Moesbach, Ernesto Wilhelm de (1992). Botánica indígena de Chile (in Spanish). Andres Bello. ISBN 978-956-13-0970-8.
  4. ^ a b c Vidal, Viviana Salazar (2020-08-10). "Actualización del conocimiento del género Cyttaria Berk. (Cyttariales, Ascomycota) en Chile". Boletín Micológico (in Spanish). 35 (1). doi:10.22370/bolmicol.2020.35.1.2397. ISSN 0719-3114.
  5. ^ Gamundi IJ, Horak E (1995). Fungi of the Andean-Patagonian Forests. Buenos Aires: Vazquez Mazzini Editores. ISBN 9509906379.
  6. ^ Libkind D, Hittinger CT, Valério E, Gonçalves C, Dover J, Johnston M, Gonçalves P, Sampaio JP (2011). "Microbe domestication and the identification of the wild genetic stock of lager-brewing yeast". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (35): 14539–44. doi:10.1073/pnas.1105430108. PMC 3167505. PMID 21873232.
  7. ^ Berkeley MJ. (1842). "On an edible fungus from Tierra del Fuego, and an allied Chilian species". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 19: 37–43. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1842.tb00073.x.
  8. ^ a b "Onestopshopfungi | Cyttaria". Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  9. ^ Peterson, Kristin R.; Pfister, Donald; Bell, Charles D. (2010). "Cophylogeny and Biogeography of the Fungal Parasite Cyttaria and Its Host Nothofagus, Southern Beech". Mycologia. 102 (6). Mycological Society of America: 1417–1425. doi:10.3852/10-048. ISSN 0027-5514.
  10. ^ "Digueñe - Arca del Gusto". Slow Food Foundation. Retrieved 2026-01-14.


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