An agaric () is a type of

fungal A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one of the tradit ...

fruiting body The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with

lamellae Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

(gills) on the underside of the pileus. It is a type of mushroom (or toadstool), the diverse group of agarics being lumped together as gilled mushrooms. "Agaric" can also refer more generally to any

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basid ...

species characterized by an agaric-type fruiting body.

Etymology

Originally, agaric meant 'tree-fungus' (after Latin ''agaricum''); however, that changed with the Linnaean interpretation in 1753 when

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

used the generic name ''

Agaricus ''Agaricus'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi containing both edible and poisonous species, with over 400 members worldwide and possibly again as many disputed or newly discovered species. The genus includes the common ("button") mushroom ...

'' for gilled mushrooms.

Taxonomy

Most species of agarics belong to the order

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

in the subphylum Agaricomycotina. The exceptions, where agarics have evolved independently, feature largely in the orders

Russulales The Russulales are an order of the Agaricomycetes, (which include the agaric genera '' Russula'' and ''Lactarius'' and their polyporoid and corticioid relatives). According to the ''Dictionary of the Fungi'' (10th edition, 2008), the order con ...

Boletales The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. ...

Hymenochaetales The Hymenochaetales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order in its current sense is based on molecular research and not on any unifying morphological characteristics. According to one 2008 estimate, the Hymenochaetales con ...

, and several other groups of basidiomycetes. Old systems of classification placed all agarics in the Agaricales and some (mostly older) sources use "agarics" as the colloquial collective noun for the Agaricales. Contemporary sources now tend to use the term euagarics to refer to all agaric members of the Agaricales. "Agaric" is also sometimes used as a common name for members of the genus ''

'', as well as for members of other genera; for example, ''

Amanita muscaria ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Amanita''. It is a large white-lamella (mycology), gilled, white-spotted mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with ...

'' is known by its common name "fly agaric". The genus ''Agaricus'' was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753, and back then it contained all agarics. In the 19th century,

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

split the genus into several smaller genera. More recently, DNA studies revealed that agarics are not necessarily closely related to each other, and that mushroom gills are an example of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

References

{{reflist

External links

"Gilled Mushrooms"
at AmericanMushrooms.com

by Gary Lincoff & Michael Wood, ''MykoWeb.com'' Fungal morphology and anatomy Mushroom types