''Lichenomphalia'' is both a

basidiolichen Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the Division (taxonomy), division Basidiomycota within the subkingdom Dikarya of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Fungus, Fungi. They form a diverse yet much smaller group of lichens than the far more commo ...

and an

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungal fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. It is a type of mushroom (or toadstool) ...

genus. Most of the species have inconspicuous lichenized

thalli Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

that consist of scattered, small, loose, nearly microscopic green balls or foliose small flakes containing single-celled

green alga The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ( ...

e in the genus ''

Coccomyxa ''Coccomyxa'' is a genus of green algae in the family Coccomyxaceae. This genus is defined by their small, elliptical to spherical shape, and the presence of a simple parietal chloroplast. These features, along with their occurrence in various l ...

'', all interconnected by a loose network of

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

e. The agaric fruit bodies themselves are nonlichenized and resemble other types of

omphalinoid ''Omphalina'' is a genus of small agarics with white, nonamyloid, basidiospores and decurrent gills. Typically the cap has a deep central depression giving the umbrella-like to funnel-shaped cap the appearance of a belly button, or a belly with a ...

mushrooms. These agarics lack

clamp connection A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of basidiomycete fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), rece ...

s and do not form hymenial

cystidia A cystidium (: cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that are o ...

. The

basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromos ...

s are

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

, smooth, thin-walled, and

nonamyloid In mycology a tissue or feature is said to be amyloid if it has a positive amyloid reaction when subjected to a crude chemical test using iodine as an ingredient of either Melzer's reagent or Lugol's solution, producing a blue to blue-black staini ...

. Most of the species were originally classified in the genera ''

Omphalina ''Omphalina'' is a genus of small agarics with white, nonamyloid, basidiospores and decurrent lamella (mycology), gills. Typically the pileus (mycology), cap has a deep central depression giving the umbrella-like to funnel-shaped cap the appearanc ...

'' or ''

Gerronema ''Gerronema'' is a genus of over 50 fungi species that form agaric fruit bodies. They are of small to medium size, with a centrally depressed cap. They are similar to '' Omphalina'' species. A wood-decay fungus, ''Gerronema'' has a primarily tro ...

''. Historically the species were classified with those other genera in the family, the

Tricholomataceae The Tricholomataceae are a large family of fungi within the order Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. t ...

together with the nonlichenized species. ''Lichenomphalia'' species can be grouped into brightly colored taxa, with vivid yellow and orange colors, versus the grey brown group, depending upon the microscopic pigmentation deposits.

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

research comparing

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

s now place ''Lichenomphalia'' close to the redefined genus ''

Arrhenia ''Arrhenia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hygrophoraceae. ''Arrhenia'' also includes species formerly placed in the genera ''Leptoglossum'' and ''Phaeotellus'' and the lectotype species itself has an unusual growth form that would not normal ...

'', which together with several other genera not traditionally considered to be related, fall within the newly redefined

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the order (biology), order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (th ...

Etymology

''Lichenomphalia'' is derived from the word

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

combined with the old, shorter, generic name '' Omphalia'' from whence the more familiar, longer, diminutive generic name ''

'' was derived. Basically it means the lichen omphalias.

Thallus names and nomenclature

Long before the connection was made between the nonlichenized agaric fruitbodies and the lichenized thalli, botanists and lichenologists named the asexual lichen thalli of ''Lichenomphalia'' species several times in a number of genera.

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 described the lichen thallus of ''L. umbellifera'' as an '

alga Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular microalgae, suc ...

' named ''Byssus botryoides'' while simultaneously including the fruitbodies of ''L. umbellifera'' within his concept of ''Agaricus umbelliferus'', the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

for the name ''L. umbellifera''. ''Byssus botryoides'' is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the now officially rejected generic names ''Phytoconis'' and ''Botrydina''. Acharius in 1810 described the thalli of ''L. hudsoniana'' as a lichen, ''Endocarpon viride'', which is the type of another officially rejected name, ''Coriscium''. The names 'Botrydina' and 'Coriscium' are often used to describe the thalli of different ''Lichenomphalia'' even though they are rejected names listed in the

International Code of Botanical Nomenclature The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

(Appendix V). Prior to officially rejecting these names, the names ''Botrydina'' and ''Phytoconis'' were both applied to describe ''Lichenomphalia'' species. Hence literature on these lichenized agarics appears under a myriad of names, such as ''Omphalina'', ''Gerronema'', ''Phytoconis'', ''Botrydina'' and ''Coriscium''.

Photobionts

Species in ''Lichenomphalia'' form

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

relationships with

green algae The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...

of the genus ''

''. Studies have shown that at least five ''Lichenomphalia'' species (''L. grisella'', ''L. hudsoniana'', ''L. luteovitellina'', ''L. velutina'', and ''L. umbellifera'') share a single phylogenetic species, ''

Coccomyxa subellipsoidea ''Coccomyxa'' is a genus of green algae in the family Coccomyxaceae. This genus is defined by their small, elliptical to spherical shape, and the presence of a simple parietal chloroplast. These features, along with their occurrence in various l ...

'', as their photobiont. Research on ''L. meridionalis'' has demonstrated that it can associate with two different strains of ''C. subellipsoidea'', with their distribution varying according to altitude – one strain predominating at lower elevations and another at higher elevations. Some ''Lichenomphalia'' specimens, particularly ''L. meridionalis'' collected at lower elevations, can also contain

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...

alongside their primary green algal partner, suggesting the potential for a three-way symbiotic relationship in certain environmental conditions.

Species

Species Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (Binomial nomenclature, scientific names) in the fungus Kingdom (biology), kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partn ...

accepts 15 species of ''Lichenomphalia''. *'' Lichenomphalia alpina'' *'' Lichenomphalia altoandina'' – Chile *''

Lichenomphalia aurantiaca ''Lichenomphalia aurantiaca'' is a species of agaricoid (mushroom-like) basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It is found in Colombia. This unusual lichen produces both a minute granular thallus scattered over soil and tiny bright orange m ...

'' – Colombia *''

Lichenomphalia chromacea ''Lichenomphalia chromacea'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It is found in southern Australia. The yellow-orange fruiting bodies of the species are mushroom-like, with a cap width of typically less than . The thallus ...

'' – Australia *'' Lichenomphalia cinereispinula'' – Europe *''

Lichenomphalia hudsoniana ''Lichenomphalia hudsoniana'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It is widely distributed in alpine and arctic regions of the world, where it grows on moist soil amongst moss. Taxonomy The species was first formally desc ...

'' – widespread in Northern Hemisphere *'' Lichenomphalia lobata'' – Colombia; Ecuador; Venezuela *''

Lichenomphalia luteovitellina ''Lichenomphalia'' is both a basidiolichen and an agaric genus. Most of the species have inconspicuous lichenized thalli that consist of scattered, small, loose, nearly microscopic green balls or foliose small flakes containing single-celled gree ...

'' *'' Lichenomphalia meridionalis'' *'' Lichenomphalia oreades'' *''

Lichenomphalia pararustica ''Lichenomphalia'' is both a basidiolichen and an agaric genus. Most of the species have inconspicuous lichenized thalli that consist of scattered, small, loose, nearly microscopic green balls or foliose small flakes containing single-celled gree ...

'' *''

Lichenomphalia tasmanica ''Lichenomphalia tasmanica'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It is found in Tasmania, Australia. It has a bright scaley thallus that grows like a green crust on rich soil between rocks. Occasionally. the lichen produ ...

'' –

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia *''

Lichenomphalia umbellifera ''Lichenomphalia umbellifera'', also known as the lichen agaric or the green-pea mushroom lichen, is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It forms a symbiotic relationship with unicellular algae in the genus ''Coccomyxa.'' Ta ...

'' – widespread in Northern Hemisphere *'' Lichenomphalia velutina'' – China; Europe; Greenland; North America; *'' Lichenomphalia wallacei''

References

External links