''Chroogomphus'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

s commonly known as pine-spikes or spike-caps based on their shape and because they are often found growing in association with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees. The genus is distributed throughout the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

including North America and Eurasia.

Taxonomy

These fungi are members of the family

Gomphidiaceae The Gomphidiaceae are a family of mushroom-forming fungi in the order Boletales. Unlike other boletes, all members of Gomphidiaceae (except for ''Gomphogaster'') are agarics, having gills instead of pores. Member genera include '' Chroogomphus'', ...

which are

agaricoid 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), ...

members of the

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. ...

(

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 ...

Suillineae). Related to the genus ''

Gomphidius ''Gomphidius'' is a genus of mushrooms, commonly known as spike-caps, that are members of the Boletales (suborder (biology), suborder Suillineae), or pored fungi. They appear to have gill-like structures which resemble those of Agaricales, agaric ...

'' (in which they were once classified), ''Chroogomphus'' are distinguished from ''Gomphidius'' by their lack of a

partial veil In mycology, a partial veil (also called an inner veil, to differentiate it from the "outer", or universal veil) is a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some Basidiomycota, basidiomycete fungus, fungi, typically agarics. ...

. ''

Chroogomphus rutilus ''Chroogomphus rutilus'', commonly known as the brown slimecap or the copper spike, is a species of fungus in the Gomphidiaceae family. First described scientifically as ''Agaricus rutilus'' by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774, it was transferre ...

'', found in Europe, 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 ...

. Accepted species of ''Chroogomphus'' include:

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(), meaning "skin" or "colour", and () meaning "plug" or "large wedge-shaped nail".

Description

The cap of ''C. rutilus'' is up to in diameter and red-brown in colour. The widely spaced gills are brownish-orange and

decurrent ''Decurrent'' (sometimes decurring) is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward. In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petio ...

with black to brownish-yellow

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s. The stalk is brownish-yellow and tapers toward the base. The flesh is orange to salmon-coloured and turns violet when chewed. '' Chroogomphus ochraceus'' of North America is very similar in

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

and appearance to ''C. rutilus'', and the latter name has often been misapplied to ''C. ochraceus''.Wood M, Stevens F. (2004).''
''Chroogomphus ochraceus''.
MykoWeb. '' Chroogomphus vinicolor'', another North American species, is likewise similar to ''C. rutilus'', although ''C. vinicolor'' tends to be smaller. The cap color is variable in both species, with ''C. vinicolor'' being, as its scientific name suggests, more wine-colored while ''C. rutilus'' is usually more brown. The most distinctive differences between these three species are microscopic.Kuo M. (2005)
''Chroogomphus vinicolor''.
MushroomExpert.com.Kuo M. (2005)

MushroomExpert.com.

Distribution and habitat

The genus is distributed throughout the

including North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia.Aime M, Miller OK. (2005). Proposal to Conserve the Name ''Chroogomphus'' Against ''Brauniellula'' (Gomphidiaceae). Taxon 55(1):227–228.
abstract

Ecology

Members of this genus have been thought to be

ectomycorrhiza An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobio ...

l with various species of pine, but there is now evidence that all members of the Gomphidiaceae are

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 ...

upon other

bolete A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique cap. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surface with pores, instead of the gills typical of mushrooms. A similar pore surface i ...

s. Specifically, ''Chroogomphus'' species are thought to be parasitic on various

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

-associated ''

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 ...

'' species, with this parasitism often being highly species-specific.Agerer R. (1990). Studies on ectomycorrhizae XXIV: Ectomycorrhizae of ''Chroogomphus helveticus'' and ''C. rutilus'' (Gomphidiaceae, Basidiomyetes) and their relationship to those of ''Suillus'' and ''Rhizopogon''. Nova Hedwigia 50:1–63.Olsson PA, et al. (2000). Molecular and anatomical evidence for a three-way association between ''Pinus sylvestris'' and the ectomycorrhizal fungi ''Suillus bovinus'' and ''Gomphidius roseus''. Mycological Research 104:1372–1378.
abstract
In the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

of North America, ''C. tomentosus'' is found with ''

Pseudotsuga menziesii The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native plant, native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Dougl ...

'' (Douglas-fir) and ''

Tsuga heterophylla ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of Tsuga, hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in nort ...

'' (western hemlock). ''C. helveticus'' of Europe is found in conifer forests containing spruce (''

Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' is the sole genus ...

'' ssp.).

Uses

''Chroogomphus rutilus'', ''C. ochraceus'', ''C. oregonensis'', ''C. tomentosus'', and ''C. vinicolor'' are edible and may be interchangeable for culinary purposes. They are not, however, regarded as flavorful and possess neither a distinctive taste nor odor. One food writer states about ''C. rutilus'' and ''C. vinicolor'': While

David Arora David Arora (born October 23, 1952)Barnard J. 1993. "Self-taught mushroom maven travels world for fungi". ''Associated Press'' December 31, 1993. Accessed 2008-01-20, via LexisNexis Academic. is an American mycologist, naturalist, and writer. He ...

states in his book Mushrooms Demystified: ''Chroogomphus rutilus'' has been the subject of investigation as the source of

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

s, as well as other potentially useful secondary compounds.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2575922 Boletales Boletales genera Taxa named by Rolf Singer