''Macrotyphula'' is a genus of clavarioid fungi in the family

Phyllotopsidaceae The Phyllotopsidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Basidiocarps are either clavarioid and simple (in the genus ''Macrotyphula'') or agaricoid and clustered on wood. The family was established as a result of molecular research, ...

. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are simple, narrowly club-shaped to filiform, sometimes arising from a sclerotium. 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 Ronald H. Petersen, more commonly known as Ron Petersen, born in 1934, is a mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, the ...

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 ''clava'' ...

'' 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 held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, indicates that the genus is

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

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 (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 s ...

, 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 Phyl ...

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 ''Macrotyphula'' is a genus of clavarioid fungi in the family Phyllotopsidaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are simple, narrowly club-shaped to filiform, sometimes arising from a sclerotium. They typically grow on dead wood or leaf litter, ofte ...

''. 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) 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 those "trad ...

, 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