''Loreleia'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of brightly colored
agaric
An agaric () is a type of fungus 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. In the UK, agarics are called "mushroo ...
s in the
Hymenochaetales
The Hymenochaetales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the class (biology), class Agaricomycetes. The order in its current sense is based on molecular phylogeny, molecular research and not on any unifying morphology (biology), morphologica ...
that have an
omphalinoid
''Omphalina'' is a genus of small agarics with white, nonamyloid, basidiospores and decurrent gills. Typically the cap has a deep central depression giving the umbrella-like to funnel-shaped cap the appearance of a belly button, or a belly w ...
morphology.
They inhabit
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...
es and or
liverwort
The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ...
s on soil in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
regions of the
Northern Hemisphere.
Phylogenetically related agarics are in the genera ''
Contumyces
''Contumyces'' is a genus of brightly colored possibly bryophilous or graminicolous agarics in the Hymenochaetales. They have an omphalinoid morphology, and therefore were previously classified in ''Omphalina''http://perso.orange.fr/famm/Photos/B ...
'', ''
Gyroflexus
''Gyroflexus'' is a monotypic genus with a yellowish-ivory colored omphalinoid agaric in the Hymenochaetales that grows on living ''Sphagnum'' Phylogenetically related agarics are in the genera ''Rickenella'', ''Blasiphalia'', ''Loreleia'', ''Can ...
'', ''
Rickenella
''Rickenella'' is a genus of brightly colored bryophilous agarics in the Hymenochaetales that have an omphalinoid morphology. They inhabit mosses on mossy soils, peats, tree trunks and logs in temperate regions of both the Northern and Southern H ...
'', ''
Cantharellopsis
''Cantharellopsis'' is a tan- to whitish-colored bryophilous monotypic genus in the Hymenochaetales. The fruit bodies of the single species ''Cantharellopsis prescotii'' has a form intermediate between an ''Omphalina'' and a chanterelle (''Cantha ...
'' and ''
Blasiphalia'', as well as the
stipitate-
stereoid
''Stereoid'' is the first album of the Hungarian electronic trio Compact Disco. It was released in 2009 by Hungarian independent record label CLS Records
CLS Music is a Budapest based independent record label, founded in 2002 as CLS Records. ...
genera ''
Muscinupta
''Muscinupta'' is a fungal genus that produces small white delicate fan-shaped to cupulate fruitbodies on mosses. It is monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. ...
'' and ''
Cotylidia
''Cotylidia'' is a fungal genus characterized by small to moderately sized, white to palely yet brightly colored, stalked, fan-shaped to funnel-shaped fruit bodiehttps://web.archive.org/web/20070821184454/http://www.fungaljungal.org/family_pages ...
'' and the clavaroid genus, ''
Alloclavaria
''Alloclavaria'' is a clavarioid genus in the Hymenochaetales recently segregated from '' Clavaria'' by molecular analysis. Phylogenetically related fungi are in the agaricoid genera ''Rickenella'', ''Contumyces'', ''Gyroflexus'', ''Loreleia'', ...
''.
[ However, the large number of DNA ]base-pair
A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...
changes causes a long-branch to form in phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analyses depicted as cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
s.
In the field, to the eye, ''Loreleia'' is most similar to ''Rickenella'' because of the orangish colors and omphalinoid shape, but microscopically it differs by the absence of cystidia
A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that ar ...
that in ''Rickenella'' make the latter minutely fuzzy as seen with a hand lens. ''Loreleia'' penetrates the rhizoid
Rhizoids are protuberances that extend from the lower epidermal cells of bryophytes and algae. They are similar in structure and function to the root hairs of vascular land plants. Similar structures are formed by some fungi. Rhizoids may be u ...
s of liverworts and may form a type of symbiosis with them, but in axenic
In biology, axenic (, ) describes the state of a culture in which only a single species, variety, or strain of organism is present and entirely free of all other contaminating organisms. The earliest axenic cultures were of bacteria or unicellul ...
culture tests, ''L. marchantiae'' killed ''Marchantia polymorpha'' when directly inoculated in contrast to the absence of necrosis in nature ''in situ''. In nature ''Loreleia'' often occur in wet areas such as seepages with their hosts, ''Marchantia
''Marchantia'' is a genus of liverworts in the family Marchantiaceae and the order Marchantiales.
The thallus of ''Marchantia'' shows differentiation into two layers: an upper photosynthetic layer with a well-defined upper epidermis with pores ...
''.
Older literature often treats the species, like ''L. postii'' and ''L. marchantiae'', in the genera ''Omphalina
''Omphalina'' is a genus of small agarics with white, nonamyloid, basidiospores and decurrent gills. Typically the cap has a deep central depression giving the umbrella-like to funnel-shaped cap the appearance of a belly button, or a belly with a ...
'' or '' Gerronema''.
Etymology
''Loreleia'' was named after the American mycologist, Dr. Lorelei L. Norvell (b.1943), who studied omphalinoid agarics,Lorelei
The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
of folklore.
References
External links
www.nahuby.sk
Image of ''Loreleia postii''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6680331
Repetobasidiaceae
Agaricomycetes genera