''Cercopemyces'' is a
mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
allied to ''
Ripartitella
''Ripartitella'' is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Rolf Singer in Mycologia vol.39 on page 85 in 1947.
The genus name of ''Ripartitella'' is in honour of Jean Baptiste Marie Joseph Solange Eugène Rip ...
'' and not clearly aligned with well characterized mushroom
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
.
The genus contains three species, one known from western and another, previously known as ''Ripartitella ponderosa'' or ''Cystoderma ponderosa'',
from eastern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, and a third from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
''Ceropemyces'' grow in arid regions and resemble saprophytic ''
Amanita
The genus ''Amanita'' contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded edible species. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities result ...
'' that are sometimes classified as ''
Saproamanita
The genus ''Saproamanita'' contains about 24 species of agarics and is one of six genera in the family Amanitaceae. The others are ''Amanita'' (which now includes the synonym ''Torrendia'', a generic name previously applied to secotioid, sequestr ...
'' and that also grow in arid regions. The
type species
In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen ...
grows near
mountain mahogany.
Etymology
The name ''Ceropemyces'' was derived from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
name for mischievous forest creatures, the
Cercopes
In Greek mythology, the Cercopes ( el, Κέρκωπες, plural of Κέρκωψ, from κέρκος (''n''.) ''kerkos'' "tail") were mischievous forest creatures who lived in Thermopylae or on Euboea but roamed the world and might turn up anywhe ...
, and -' (fungus).
Species
* ''
Cercopemyces crocodilinus''
* ''
Cercopemyces ponderosus''
* ''
Cercopemyces rickenii''
See also
*
List of Agaricales genera
References
Agaricales enigmatic taxa
Agaricales genera
{{Agaricales-stub