genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
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 ...
in the family
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 ...
(
suborder
Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...
Boletineae
The Boletineae are a suborder of the fungal order Boletales. Families in the Boletineae include the Boletaceae and the Paxillaceae.
Taxa
*Paxillaceae
**'' Alpova''
**'' Austrogaster''
**'' Gyrodon''
**'' Hydnomerulius''
**'' Meiorganum''
**''Me ...
). There are approximately 25 species in the genus.
French mycologist
Frédéric Bataille
Frédéric Bataille (; born 17 July 1850 in Mandeure, Franche-Comté – died 29 April 1946 in Besançon, Franche-Comté) was a French educator, poet and mycologist.
From 1870 to 1884 he was a schoolteacher in the vicinity of Montbéliard, ...
erected the genus in 1908, though it did not gain general acceptance for several decades and was often classified as a section (''Piperati'') of the genus ''
Suillus
''Suillus'' is a genus of basidiomycete fungi in the family Suillaceae and order Boletales. Species in the genus are associated with trees in the pine family (Pinaceae), and are mostly distributed in temperate locations in the Northern Hemisphe ...
'' or related to the genus ''
Pulveroboletus
''Pulveroboletus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution and contains 41 species.
Taxonomy
The genus was first described by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1909. He defined specie ...
''. The type species is ''
Chalciporus piperatus
''Chalciporus piperatus'', commonly known as the peppery bolete, is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. Described by Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard, Pierre Bulliard in 1790 as ''Boletus piperatus'', it is only distantly rela ...
''.
Rolf Singer
Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a German mycologist and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist of gilled mushrooms (agarics).
He wrote the book "The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy (biology), Taxonomy". He fled to various countries d ...
resurrected the genus in 1973, separating the species from the genus ''Suillus'' on the basis of distinct pigments. The name is derived from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''khalkos'' "copper", and translates as "copper pores".
The genus ''Chalciporus'', together with the genus '' Buchwaldoboletus'' form a group of fungi that is an early offshoot in the Boletaceae. Many members of the group appear to be
parasitic
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...
. Wu and Yang proposed that this clade be called the subfamily Chalciporoideae. The genus ''Rubinoboletus'' was merged into this genus based on their morphological similarity, and subsequent genetic analysis—mainly due to ''Rubinoboletus'' (now ''Chalciporus'') ''rubinus'' being nested within ''Chalciporus''.
Members of the genus ''Chalciporus'' have boletoid fruit bodies with pores that are various shades of red to pink, stipes lacking in reticulations, yellow
mycelium
Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...
and smooth oval spores.
Two species, '' C. chontae'' and '' C. radiatus'', have pores that are arranged in furrows that radiate out from the top of the stipe under the cap and resemble gills.
''C. piperatus'' and ''C. piperatoides'' are peppery-tasting, the former is edible while the latter is unknown. '' C. rubinellus'' and '' C. pseudorubinellus'' are milder-tasting and edible.