The Agaricaceae 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 basidiomycete fungi and include the

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 ...

'' Agaricus'', as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae.

Taxonomy

The family Agaricaceae was published by French botanist François Fulgis Chevallier in 1826. It is named after the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

'' Agaricus'', originally circumscribed by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in his 1753 work ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

''. In his authoritative 1986

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

of the

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 ...

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 ...

divided the Agaricaceae into four

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

distinguished largely by spore color: ''Leucocoprineae'', ''Agariceae'', ''Lepioteae'', and ''Cystodermateae''. Genera once classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Battarreaceae, Lycoperdaceae, and Mycenastraceae have since been moved to the Agaricaceae based on

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies. According to a standard reference text, the Agaricaceae contains 85 genera and 1340 species.

Description

Agaricaceae species use a wide variety of fruit body

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

. Although the pileate form (i.e., with a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

and stipe) is predominant, gasteroid and secotioid forms are known. In pileate species, the gills are typically thin, and free from attachment to the stipe. Caps are scurfy to smooth, and range from roughly flat to umbonate. They typically have a centrally attached stipe and a membrane-like

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. ...

. The species formerly classified in the family Lycoperdaceae are also known as the "true

puffball Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that (when mature) bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass sever ...

s". Their fruiting bodies are round and are composed of a tough skin surrounding a mass of spores. When they mature, the skin splits open and they release their spores. The spore print color of Agaricaceae species is highly variable, ranging from white to greenish to ochraceous to pink or sepia; rusty-brown or cinnamon brown colours are absent. Microscopically, the spore surface ranges from smooth to ornamented, and the presence of a

germ pore A germ pore is a small pore in the outer wall of a fungal spore through which the germ tube exits upon germination. It can be wikt:apical, apical or eccentric in its location, and, on light microscopy, may be visualized as a lighter coloured are ...

is variable. Amyloidity (i.e. sensitivity to

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the Microscope, microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissue (biology), tissues), in cytology (microscopic ...

in Melzer's reagent) is also variable. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are usually small, four-spored, and may have interspersed cystidia.

Genera

The extinct genus '' Coprinites'' is one of four known Agaricaceae genera in the fossil record. Others include '' Aureofungus'', '' Protomycena'', and '' Archaeomarasmius''. ''Archaeomarasmius leggeti'', from

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

amber, is 90–94 Ma); the other fossil genera are from Dominican amber and date to 15–20 Ma. The family currently includes the following genera: *'' Agaricus'' *'' Barcheria'' *'' Bovista'' *''

Calbovista ''Calbovista'' is a fungal genus containing the single species ''Calbovista subsculpta'', commonly known as the sculptured puffball, sculptured giant puffball, and warted giant puffball. It is a common puffball of the Rocky Mountains and Pacifi ...

'' (previously in family Lycoperdaceae) *'' Calvatia'' *'' Chamaemyces'' *'' Chlorophyllum'' *'' Clarkeinda'' *'' Coniolepiota'' * †'' Coprinites'' *'' Coprinus'' *'' Cystoagaricus'' *'' Cystolepiota'' *'' Disciseda'' *'' Endoptychum'' *'' Eriocybe'' *'' Gyrophragmium'' *'' Handkea'' *'' Heinemannomyces'' *'' Hymenagaricus'' *'' Lepiota'' *'' Leucoagaricus'' *'' Leucocoprinus'' *''

Lycoperdon ''Lycoperdon'' is a genus of puffball mushrooms. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains about 50 species. In general, it contains the smaller species such as the pear-shaped puffball and the gem-studded puffball. It was formerly cl ...

'' *'' Macrolepiota'' *'' Melanophyllum'' *'' Micropsalliota'' *'' Montagnea'' *'' Podaxis'' *'' Ripartitella'' *'' Rugosospora'' *'' Sericeomyces'' *'' Smithiomyces'' *'' Tulostoma'' *'' Verrucospora''

Ecology

The ''Agaricaceae'' are widely distributed. Most species are saprobic and prefer

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

habitats. Genera '' Leucoagaricus'' and '' Leucocoprinus'' are known to be cultivated by fungus-growing ants in ant-fungus mutualism.

Economic significance

The genus '' Agaricus'' includes some species that are cultivated commercially throughout the world. The common "button mushroom", ''

Agaricus bisporus ''Agaricus bisporus'', commonly known as the cultivated mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Eurasia and North America. It is cultivated in more than 70 countries and is one of the most commonly and widely consumed ...

'', is the most widely cultivated edible mushroom. '' Agaricus blazei'' is a well-known medicinal mushroom used for a number of therapeutic and medicinal purposes. Several species are poisonous, such as some '' Lepiota'', ''Agaricus sect. Xanthodermatei'' and '' Chlorophyllum'' species .

References

External links

Agaricaceae
i
BoDD – Botanical Dermatology Database
{{Authority control Agaricales families Agaricaceae Extant Burdigalian first appearances