The Entolomataceae 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 ...
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
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
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 ...
. The family contains eight genera and 2250 species, the majority of which are in ''
Entoloma
''Entoloma'' is a genus of fungi in the order Agaricales. Called pinkgills in English, basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are typically agaricoid (gilled mushrooms), though a minority are gasteroid. All have salmon-pink basidiospores which colour the ...
''.
[ ]Basidiocarps
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 bodies) are typically 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) ...
oid (mushrooms with gills), but a minority are cyphelloid. secotioid
Secotioid fungi produce an intermediate fruiting body form that is between the mushroom-like hymenomycetes and the closed bag-shaped gasteroid fungi, gasteromycetes, where an evolutionary process of gasteromycetation has started but not run to co ...
, or gasteroid
The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr. (literally "stomach fungi"), or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores insi ...
. All produce pink basidiospores
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 nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are pr ...
that are variously angular (polyhedral), ridged, or nodulose. Species are mostly 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 ...
, though a few are parasitic on other fungi. The family occurs worldwide.
Taxonomy
The family Entolomataceae was first introduced in 1972 by the Czech mycologists
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 ...
František Kotlaba and Zdeněk Pouzar
Zdeněk Pouzar (13 April 1932 – 4 June 2023) was a Czech mycologist. Along with František Kotlaba, he published several works about the taxonomy of polypore, corticioid, and gilled fungi. Pouzar was a noted expert on stromatic pyrenomycetes ...
to replace the earlier name Rhodophyllaceae. The latter, introduced in 1951 by 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 ...
, is illegitimate
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce.
Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
because it is based on the illegitimate genus ''Rhodophyllus'' which includes (and is therefore a superfluous synonym of) the earlier and legitimate name ''Entoloma''.[ The family is well defined by its distinctive spore morphology, formed by a unique type of spore-wall thickening called the "epicorium",][ and by recent DNA studies.][
]
Genera
Many different internal classifications of the Entolomataceae have been proposed. In 1871, German mycologist Paul Kummer
Paul Kummer (22 August 1834 – 6 December 1912) was a Minister (Christianity), minister, teacher, and scientist in Zerbst, Germany, known chiefly for his contribution to mycological botanical nomenclature, nomenclature. Earlier Taxonomy (biology), ...
created the genera ''Eccilia'', ''Leptonia'', ''Nolanea'', and ''Entoloma'' for species with angular spores, based on perceived differences in the morphology of fruit bodies. These genera were widely used throughout the twentieth century, but DNA studies have now shown them to be polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...
(artificial).
The current view is that Entolomataceae with angular spores should either all be classified in the genus ''Entoloma
''Entoloma'' is a genus of fungi in the order Agaricales. Called pinkgills in English, basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are typically agaricoid (gilled mushrooms), though a minority are gasteroid. All have salmon-pink basidiospores which colour the ...
'', which forms a large but monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
(natural) group,[ or split between ''Entoloma'' and the smaller, basal group '' Entocybe''.]
Distribution
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
and species are common in both temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
and tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
climates.[Cannon PF, Kirk PM. (2007). ''Fungal families of the world''. CABI Publishing. 456 pp.]
File:Clitopilus.prunulus2.-.lindsey.jpg, ''Clitopilus prunulus
''Clitopilus prunulus'', commonly known as the miller or the sweetbread mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom. It has a grey to white cap, decurrent gills, and pink spores.
It is found in grasslands in Europe and North America. Growing solitary ...
''
File:Entocybe trachyospora (Largent) Largent, T.J. Baroni & V. Hofstetter 1112375.jpg, '' Entocybe trachyospora''
File:Entoloma hochstetteri 34200.jpg, '' Entoloma hochstetteri''
File:Rhodocybe fumanellii (10.3897-mycokeys.36.27094) Figure 4.jpg, '' Rhodocybe fumanellii''
File:Rhodophana nitellina 734902.jpg, '' Rhodophana nitellina''
See also
* List of Entolomataceae genera
*List of Agaricales families
The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungus, fungi in the class Agaricomycetes (division Basidiomycota). It is the largest group of mushroom-forming fungi, and includes more than 600 genus, genera and over 25,000 species. Molecular, Mol ...
References
External links
Machiel Noordeloos on ''Entoloma'' & ''Rhodocybe''
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Entolomataceae