Is Agaricostilbum palmicola, an endophytic fungus?
I have two fully grown, yellow-dwarf variety coconut trees,
in my residential compound, which yield quite well round the year. These were planted
in 2003, the seedlings of which I brought from ICAR research station in Old
Goa. Though dwarf variety, the trees have now grown to a height of about 12 M. The
yield has been continuously good and we use the tender-coconuts as a refreshing
soft-drink. When mature, we harvest the
ripened coconuts and use partly in the making of vegetable curries and the rest
as sun-dried copra for oil extraction. We get about 15-20 litres of coconut oil
annually and, from any standard, these are undoubtedly very high-yielding
coconut trees. Thanks to the ICAR station, Old Goa, the source of my coconut
trees! I often take evening strolls in
my terrace and watch these mighty ‘kalpavriksh’... They brighten my mind and
thinking...!
In the yester years, plant- parts of my coconut trees have yielded
several microfungi, an area of my research interest. Recently, I saw some white powdery masses on intact
and dried inflorescences on my coconut tree top. I pulled one of those and
examined under a hand-lens. Interesting enough, the white powdery expansive patches
were microscopic, fruiting bodies of a synnema-like fungus called Agaricostilbum, belonging to
Basidiomycota.
Agaricostilbum
palmicola was described by J. Wright in 1970 (Mycologia 62: 680) and again
in 1981 (Mycologia 73: 880) as a saprobic, synnema-like basidiomycete on fallen
coconut leaves. I have examined the fungus under a light microscope and
presence of clamp connections at the base of the synnema confirms its basidiomycete
affinity. What puzzles presently is its
habitat affinity. Originally described
as a saprobe on fallen coconut spathe, the fungus is now seen on tree top on
intact senescent inflorescence... I am guessing that Agaricostilbum
palmicola is actually an enduring endophyte in coconut trees, world over.....
We need further investigations to prove this...
D. Jayarama Bhat
