''Macrotyphula'' 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 ...

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 ...

in the

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 ...

Phyllotopsidaceae The Phyllotopsidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Basidiocarps are either clavarioid ('' Macrotyphula''), agaricoid ('' Tricholomopsis''), or cyphelloid. Marcel Locquin originally established the family on the basis of share ...

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 simple, narrowly club-shaped to filiform, sometimes arising from a

sclerotium A sclerotium (; : sclerotia () is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant u ...

. They typically grow on dead wood or leaf litter, often in swarms.

Taxonomy

The genus was described in 1972 by American mycologist Ronald H. Petersen for '' M. fistulosa'' which he considered morphologically distinct from species in the genus ''

Clavariadelphus ''Clavariadelphus'' is a genus of club fungi in the family Clavariadelphaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution in temperate areas, and contains an estimated 19 species. The name might mean ''uterus-shaped club'', from the Latin meaning ...

'' where it had previously been referred. Additional species have subsequently been referred to ''Macrotyphula''.

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 ...

, indicates that the genus is

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 ...

and forms a natural group.

The genus ''Sclerotium''

''Sclerotium'' was introduced by the German mycologist and theologian Heinrich Julius Tode in 1790 to accommodate fungal

sclerotia A sclerotium (; : sclerotia () is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant u ...

(propagules composed of thick-walled hyphae). Over 400 species were subsequently added to this

form genus Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships. Form classification, generally restricted to palaeontology, reflects uncertainty; the goal of sc ...

, comprising sclerotia or sclerotia-like entities from a wide range of fungi within the

phyla Phyla, the plural of ''phylum'', may refer to: * Phylum, a biological taxon between Kingdom and Class * by analogy, in linguistics, a large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another Phy ...

Ascomycota Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

and

Basidiomycota Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

. With a move towards a more natural classification of fungi, the genus ''Sclerotium'' was restricted to sclerotial

anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an ase ...

s of ''Macrotyphula'', since the type species, ''Sclerotium complanatum'', is the anamorph of '' Macrotyphula phacorrhiza''. Other species have been transferred elsewhere. Following changes to the

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

, the practice of giving different names to teleomorph and

forms of the same fungus was discontinued, meaning that ''Macrotyphula'' should become a synonym of the earlier name ''Sclerotium''. A formal proposal to conserve the genus ''Macrotyphula'' against ''Sclerotium'' is, however, in preparation.

References

Agaricales genera Taxa named by Ron Petersen {{Agaricales-stub

Taxonomy

The genus ''Sclerotium''

See also

References