The Clavariaceae are a

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 ...

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 order

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

. Originally the family contained most of the

clavarioid fungi The clavarioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having erect, simple or branched basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the ground, on decaying vegetation, or on dead wood. They are colloquially called club fungi a ...

(club and coral fungi), but in its current sense is more restricted, albeit with a greater diversity of

basidiocarp In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do no ...

(fruit body) forms. Basidiocarps are variously clavarioid or

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), ...

(mushroom-shaped), less commonly

corticioid The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or pa ...

(effused, crust-like) or hydnoid (with pendant spines).

Taxonomy

History

Clavariaceae was originally

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

(as "Clavariae") by French botanist and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

François Fulgis Chevallier in 1826. It was one of five families (along with the

Agaricaceae The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus ''Agaricus'', as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. Taxonomy The family Agaricaceae was publishe ...

Hydnaceae The Hydnaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Originally the family encompassed all species of fungi that produced basidiocarps (fruit bodies) having a hymenium (spore-bearing surface) consisting of slender, downward-hanging ta ...

Polyporaceae The Polyporaceae () are a family (biology), family of polypore, poroid fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The trama (mycology), flesh of their basidiocarp, fruit bodies varies from soft (as in the case of the dryad's saddle illustrated) to v ...

, and

Thelephoraceae The Thelephoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Thelephorales. This grouping of mushrooms is commonly known as the "leathery earthfans". Genera The family includes the following eight genera: * '' Amaurodon'' * '' Hypochnus'' * '' Lenzit ...

) that

Elias Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and lichen sp ...

used to divide the

and

Aphyllophorales The Aphyllophorales is an obsolete order of fungi in the Basidiomycota. The order is entirely artificial, bringing together a miscellany of species now grouped among the clavarioid fungi, corticioid fungi, cyphelloid fungi, hydnoid fungi, and por ...

in his influential work ''

Systema Mycologicum Systema Mycologicum is a systematic classification of fungi drawn up in 1821 by the Swedish mycologist and botanist Elias Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is some ...

''. The family served as a convenient placement for all genera containing species with superficially similar club or coral-like fruitbodies. It was first M.A. Donk and later E.J.H. Corner who realized that, in this broad sense, the family was not a natural

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

assemblage of related species. Corner published his world

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

in 1950 (revised in 1967 and updated in 1970), introducing modern concepts of many

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. Corner included three genera in his concept of the Clavariaceae: ''

Clavaria ''Clavaria'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavariaceae. Species of ''Clavaria'' produce basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are either cylindrical to club-shaped or branched and coral-like. They are often grouped with similar-looking species ...

'', ''

Clavulinopsis ''Clavulinopsis'' is a genus of coral fungi in the family Clavariaceae. The genus, first described scientifically by Casper van Overeem in 1923, has a widespread distribution. The name means "having the appearance of ''Clavulina''". Species , ...

'', and ''

Ramariopsis ''Ramariopsis'' is a genus of coral fungi in the family Clavariaceae. The genus has a collectively widespread distribution and contains about 40 species. The name means 'having the appearance of '' Ramaria. Taxonomy ''Ramariopsis'' was origin ...

''.

Current status

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, based on

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis of

DNA sequences 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 ...

, has confirmed Corner's concept of the Clavariaceae, but has extended it to include

agarics 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), ...

(gilled mushrooms) in the genera '' Camarophyllopsis'', '' Hodophilus'', and '' Lamelloclavaria''. The clavarioid genera ''

Clavicorona ''Clavicorona'' is a fungal genus in the family Clavariaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Maxwell Stanford Doty in 1947, who included the species ''C. pyxidata'', ''C. cristata'', ''C. taxophila'', and ''C. candelabrum'' ...

'', '' Hirticlavula'', and a revised concept of '' Ceratellopsis'' are also included, as is the hydnoid genus '' Mucronella'' and the corticioid genus '' Hyphodontiella''.

Habitat and distribution

The family has a worldwide distribution, though many individual species are more localized. Basidiocarps of ''Hirticlavula'', ''Hyphodontiella'', and ''Mucronella'' occur on dead wood and are thus normally found in woodland. Species of the remaining genera may also be found in woodland, but in Europe are more typical of old, agriculturally unimproved

waxcap grassland Waxcap grassland is short-wikt:sward, sward, nutrient-poor grassland that supports a rich assemblage of larger fungi, particularly waxcaps (species of ''Hygrocybe'' and related genera), characteristic of such habitats. Waxcap grasslands occur pr ...

Ecology

Lignicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

species are presumed to be

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

, wood-decaying fungi; ''Ceratellopsis'' species occur on dead leaves and litter and are also presumed to be saprotrophic. The remaining members of the Clavariaceae are considered to be biotrophic, a few forming associations with ericaceous plants.

References