''Marasmius'' 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 ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

-forming

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 family

Marasmiaceae The Marasmiaceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the order (biology), order Agaricales. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are most frequently agarics (gilled mushrooms), but occasionally cyphelloid (in the genus ''Cellypha''). According to a ...

. It contains about 500

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

agarics 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), ...

, of which a few, such as ''

Marasmius oreades ''Marasmius oreades'', also known as the fairy ring mushroom, fairy ring champignon or Scotch bonnet, is a mushroom native to North America and Europe. Its common names can cause confusion, as many other mushrooms grow in fairy rings, such as t ...

'', are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

. However, most members of this genus are small, unimpressive brown mushrooms. Their humble appearance contributes to their not being readily distinguishable to non-specialists, and they are therefore seldom collected by

mushroom hunters Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, mushroom foraging, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild. This is typically done for culinary purposes, although medicinal and psychotropic uses are also know ...

. Several of the species are known to grow in the characteristic

fairy ring A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by ...

pattern.

The author of the genus was

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

, who in 1838 classified white-spored agarics having a tough central stipe in this taxon if they were

marcescent Marcescence is the withering and persistence of plant organs that normally are shed, and is a term most commonly applied to plant leaves. The underlying physiological mechanism is that trees transfer water and sap from the roots to the leaves ...

, i.e. they could dry out but later revive when moistened. For Fries, marcescence—by contrast with the " putrescent" (decomposing) nature of most mushrooms—was an important character for

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 ...

, which he used to separate this group from genus ''

Collybia ''Collybia'' (in the strict sense) is a genus of mushrooms in the family Clitocybaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution in northern temperate areas, and contains well known species like the Collybia nuda, blewit, Collybia sordida, s ...

'' (which has now been split into many newer genera). The name ''Marasmius'' itself comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word ''marasmos'', meaning "drying out; withering". Modern

mycologist 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 ...

s no longer consider the marcescence/putrescence distinction a reliable criterion for

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

, but Fries's definition of the genus is still roughly applicable.

Species

Below is a list of more prominent species (for a complete list see List of ''Marasmius'' species). Note that some well-known former members of ''Marasmius,'' such as '' M. alliaceus'', have been moved into the new genus ''

Mycetinis ''Mycetinis'' is a genus of fungus in the Omphalotaceae family, containing about eight species formerly classified in ''Marasmius''. General This group of mushrooms was long known as a section (''Alliacei'') within the more familiar genus ''Maras ...

''; a few others have been reclassified as ''

Rhizomarasmius ''Rhizomarasmius'' is a genus of fungi in the family Physalacriaceae, containing about five species. General The genus was created in 2000 by Ron Petersen, R. H. Petersen to accommodate two species then classified in Marasmius (''M. pyrrhocephalu ...

'' or ''

Gloiocephala ''Gloiocephala'' is a genus of fungi in the family Physalacriaceae. The genus is widespread, though mainly known from tropical and sub-tropical areas, and contains about 30 species. The mushrooms of this group are very small and grow on stems a ...

''. Former ''M. androsaceus'' is now considered to belong to genus ''

Gymnopus ''Gymnopus'' is a genus of fungus in the family Omphalotaceae. The genus has a widespread, cosmopolitan distribution and contains about 300 species. History and classification The type species for ''Gymnopus'', '' Gymnopus fusipes,'' dates ba ...

''. *'' M. amazonicus'' *'' M. anomalus'' *'' M. atrocastaneus'' *'' M. auklandicus'' *'' M. aurantiobasalis'' *'' M. bambusinus'' *'' M. bellus'' *'' M. bulliardii'' *'' M. buxi'' - box parachute *'' M. caperatus'' *'' M. capillaris'' *'' M. caricis'' *'' M. chordalis'' *'' M. cladophyllus'' *'' M. cohaerens'' *'' M. collinus'' *'' M. corbariensis'' *'' M. crinis-equi'' *'' M. croceus'' *'' M. curranii'' *'' M. curreyi'' *'' M. cylindraceocampanulatus'' *'' M. delicatus'' *'' M. delectans'' *'' M. elegans'' - velvet parachute *'' M. epiphylloides'' - ivy parachute *'' M. epiphyllus'' - leaf parachute *'' M. exocarpi'' *'' M. exustoides'' *'' M. favrei'' *'' M. fishii'' *'' M. fulvoferrugineus'' *'' M. funalis'' *'' M. galbinus'' *'' M. gelatinosipes'' *'' M. graminum'' *'' M. haematocephalus'' *'' M. hudsonii'' - holly parachute *'' M. indopurpureostriatus'' *'' M. insititius'' *'' M. kanukaneus'' *'' M. koae'' *'' M. kroumirensis'' *'' M. limosus'' *'' M. masonii'' *'' M. meridionalis'' *'' M. micraster'' *'' M. midnapurensis'' *'' M. minutus'' *'' M. nigripes'' *'' M. oreades'' - fairy ring mushroom *'' M. otagensis'' *'' M. pallenticeps'' *'' M. palmivorus'' *'' M. perforans'' *'' M. perpusillus'' *'' M. phalaricola'' *'' M. podocarpicola'' *'' M. prasiosmus'' *'' M. pulcherripes'' *'' M. pyrrhocephalus'' *'' M. pusillissimus'' *'' M. pusio'' *'' M. quercophilus'' *'' M. resinosus'' *'' M. rhombisporus'' *'' M. rhopalostylidis'' *'' M. rimuphilus'' *'' M. rosulatus'' *'' M. rotula'' - collared parachute or pinwheel mushroom *'' M. sacchari'' *'' M. saccharinus'' *'' M. sasicola'' *'' M. semiustus'' *'' M. setosus'' *'' M. siccus'' *'' M. spaniophyllus'' *'' M. splachnoides'' *'' M. subsupinus'' *'' M. stenophyllus'' *'' M. strictipes'' (edible) *'' M. sullivantii'' *'' M. tageticolor'' *'' M. tenuiparietalis'' *'' M. tenuissimus'' *'' M. tinctorius'' *'' M. torquescens'' *'' M. unilamellatus'' *'' M. vagus'' - wandering creamsicle *'' M. wettsteinii'' *'' M. wynneae'' - pearly parachute

References

External links

*
Genus ''Marasmius''
at Mushroom Expert.com {{Authority control Agaricales genera Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries Bioluminescent fungi

Species

See also

References

External links