Boletinellaceae are a small

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

-forming

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

, primarily characterized by small

pore Pore may refer to: Biology Animal biology and microbiology * Sweat pore, an anatomical structure of the skin of humans (and other mammals) used for secretion of sweat * Hair follicle, an anatomical structure of the skin of humans (and other ...

s on the underside of the

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

rather than

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

. Though in the order

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. ...

, research shows they and

Gyroporaceae The Gyroporaceae are a family of fungi in the order Boletales. The family is monogeneric, containing the single genus ''Gyroporus'', which, according to a 2008 estimate, contains ten widely distributed species, though a more recent study suggest ...

are more closely related to earthballs of

Sclerodermataceae The Sclerodermataceae are a family of fungi in the order Boletales, containing several genera of unusual fungi that little resemble boletes. Taxa, which include species commonly known as the ‘hard-skinned puffballs’, ‘earthballs’, or ' ea ...

than

Boletaceae The Boletaceae are a Family (biology), family of mushroom-forming fungi, primarily characterised by small pores on the spore-bearing hymenium, hymenial surface (at the underside of the mushroom), instead of Lamella (mycology), gills as are found ...

. Genera include ''

Boletinellus ''Boletinellus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Boletinellaceae (suborder (biology), suborder Sclerodermatineae of the Boletales). The genus was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1909. References

Bole ...

'' and ''

Phlebopus ''Phlebopus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Boletinellaceae (suborder (biology), suborder Sclerodermatineae of the Boletales order). The genus has a widespread distribution in subtropical and pantropical regions, and contains 12 species. The ...

'', the latter genus showing some

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

n distribution found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and elsewhere. It contains the gigantic ''

Phlebopus marginatus ''Phlebopus marginatus'', commonly known as the salmon gum mushroom in Western Australia, is a member of the Boletales or pored fungi. An imposing sight in forests of south-eastern and south-western Australia, it is possibly Australia's larges ...

'', the cap of which can reach 1 metre in diameter.

References

Boletales Basidiomycota families {{Boletales-stub