''Mycena'' 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 ...

of about 500 species of

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 ...

. Rarely more than a few centimeters in width, the mushrooms are characterized by a small conical or bell-shaped

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 a thin fragile

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

. Most are grey or brown, but a few species have brighter colours. Most have a translucent and striate cap, which rarely has an incurved margin. The

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are attached and usually have

cystidia A cystidium (: 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 are o ...

. Some species, like '' M. haematopus'', exude a

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

when the stem is broken, and many species have a

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

or radish-like odour. They produce a white

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

. The species are

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

. Their edibility varies, with some members containing toxins.

Taxonomy

''Mycena'' is a rich genus, considered one of the most abundant genera of mushrooms within 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 ...

and with species distributed across the world. Alexander Smith's 1947 ''Mycena''

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

identified 232 species; the genus is now known to include about 500 species worldwide. Maas Geesteranus divided the genus into 38

sections Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

in 1992, providing keys to each for all the species of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

. Many new species have since been discovered, and four new sections have been proposed. The

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 ...

is complex, as most sections are not truly homogeneous, and the keys fail for some species, especially those that satisfy some criteria for only part of their

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from conception to reproduction *Life-cycle hypothesis, in economics *Erikson's stages of psy ...

. Some sections contain only one species.

Selected species

* '' M. abramsii'' * '' M. acicula'' * '' M. adonis'' * '' M. adscendens'' * '' M. aetites'' * '' M. albidocapillaris'' * '' M. alcalina'' * '' M. alnicola'' * '' M. alphitophora'' * '' M. amicta'' * '' M. atkinsonii'' * '' M. atkinsoniana'' * '' M. aurantiomarginata'' * '' M. austrofilopes'' * '' M. austrororida'' * '' M. arcangeliana'' * '' M. aspratilis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. asterina'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. atrata'' * ''

M. brunneospinosa M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. cahaya'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. californiensis'' * ''

M. capillaripes M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. chlorophos'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. chlorophanos'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. cinerella'' * '' M. citricolor'' * ''

M. citrinomarginata M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. clariviolacea'' * '' M. clarkeana'' * '' M. coralliformis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. cristinae'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. crocata'' * '' M. cyanorrhiza'' * '' M. cystidiosa'' * '' M. daisyogunensis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. deeptha'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. deformis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. deusta'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. discobasis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. domingensis'' * '' M. epipterygia'' (bioluminescent) * ''

M. erubescens M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. fera'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. flavescens'' * '' M. flavoalba'' * '' M. fonticola'' * '' M. fuhreri'' * '' M. fulgoris'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. fusca'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. fuscoaurantiaca'' * '' M. galericulata'' * '' M. galopus'' (bioluminescent) * ''

M. griseoviridis M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. globulispora'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. gombakensis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. guldeniana'' * '' M. guzmanii'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. haematopus'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. holoporphyra'' * '' M. illuminans'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. inclinata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. indigotica'' * '' M. interrupta'' * '' M. intersecta'' * '' M. kentingensis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. kuurkacea'' * ''

M. lacrimans M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lazulina'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. leaiana'' * ''

'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lanuginosa'' * '' M. leptocephala'' * ''

M. lucentipes M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lumina'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luteopallens'' * '' M. luxaeterna'' (bioluminescent) * ''

M. luxarboricola M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lux-coeli'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luxfoliata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luxfoliicola'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luxperpetua'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. maculata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. manipularis'' * '' M. margarita'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. marasmielloides'' * '' M. mariae'' * '' M. metata'' * '' M. minirubra'' * '' M. multiplicata'' * '' M. mustea'' * '' M. nargan'' * '' M. nebula'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. nidificata'' * '' M. nocticaelum'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. noctilucens'' * '' M. oculisnymphae'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. olida'' * '' M. olivaceomarginata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. oregonensis'' * '' M. overholtsii'' * '' M. perlae'' (bioluminescent) * ''

M. pelianthina M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. polygramma'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pruinosoviscida'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pseudostylobates'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pura'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pura'' complex * '' M. purpureofusca'' * '' M. renati'' * '' M. rosea'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. rosella'' * '' M. roseoflava'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. sanguinolenta'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. seminau'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. semivestipes'' * '' M. seynesii'' * '' M. silvaelucens'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. sinar'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. sinar var. tangkaisinar'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. singeri'' (bioluminescent) * ''

M. spinosissima M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * ''

M. stipata M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. strobilinoides'' * '' M. stylobates'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. subcaerulea'' * '' M. subcyanocephala'' * '' M. sublucens'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. tenuispinosa'' * '' M. tintinnabulum'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. urania'' * '' M. vinacea'' (bioluminescent) * ''

M. viscosa M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet. M may also refer to: Companies and products * M (fragrance), a 2008 fragrance by Mariah Carey * M-series rangefinder, a series of Leica camera models * M (virtual assistant), a form ...

'' * '' M. vitilis'' * '' M. vulgaris'' * '' M. zephirus'' (bioluminescent)

Etymology

The name ''Mycena'' comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

μύκης ', meaning "fungus". Species in the genus ''Mycena'' (and in ''

Hemimycena ''Hemimycena'' is a genus of fungi in the family Mycenaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, and according to a 2008 estimate, contains about 50 species. The genus was described by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1938. They lack amyloid reacti ...

'') are commonly known as bonnets.

Description

''Mycenas'' are hard to identify to species and some are distinguishable only by microscopic features such as the shape of the cystidia. In terms of morphology, ''Mycena'' mushrooms are notably minute in their size (anywhere from 0.5 to ~15 cm in cap-size). Pileate-stipitate in form, there can exist a wide range in both the anatomical characteristics and color of the

basidiocarp 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 ...

s—though most often basidiocarps are grey or brown. Veils and volva presence in the morphology is not observed. The hymenium is most often either lamellate or poroid, dependent upon the species. Spores are smooth and can be amyloid or non-amyloid, also dependent upon the species. Some species also secrete a latex-like fluid when damaged at the base of the stem. Over 58 species are known to be

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...

, creating a glow known as

foxfire Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with ...

. These species are divided among 16 lineages, leading to evolutionary uncertainty in whether the luminescence developed once and was lost among many species, or evolved in parallel by several species. One advantage of bioluminescence may lie in its potential to attract insects that can disperse the mushroom's spores. Bioluminescence in the genus occurs as a reaction between oxygen and

luciferin Luciferin () is a generic term for the light-emitting chemical compound, compound found in organisms that generate bioluminescence. Luciferins typically undergo an enzyme-catalyzed reaction with Oxygen, molecular oxygen. The resulting transforma ...

molecules catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase. In recent years, mycologists have conducted research examining the development of bioluminescence within fungi, investigating the origin of the genes coding for luciferase enzymes that cause these fantastic visible traits. So far, the literature suggests 3 separate origins of bioluminescence within Agaricales, occurring within the families

Omphalotaceae The Omphalotaceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the order (biology), order Agaricales. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are most frequently agarics (gilled mushrooms), but occasionally corticioid (in the genus ''Brunneocorticium'') or por ...

Physalacriaceae The Physalacriaceae are a family of 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 mush ...

, and

Mycenaceae The Mycenaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. According to the ''Dictionary of the Fungi'' (10th edition, 2008), the family contains 10 genera and 705 species. This is one of several families that were separated from the Tricholo ...

Ecology

Traditionally, the group has been thought to play a purely saprotrophic role in the environment, mostly occurring on hardwoods and producing

white rot A wood-decay or xylophagous fungus is any species of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot. Some species of wood-decay fungi attack dead wood, such as ''Serpula lacrymans'', and some, such as '' Armillaria'' (honey fungus), are par ...

s—though it should be mentioned that, as of 2008, some plant pathogens had also been discovered. Additionally, it is also worth noting that, in a 2020 study, Thoen et al. challenges the traditional view that the genus has only a saprobic ecological role, suggesting instead that the ability of ''Mycena'' to form plant root interactions in vitro may indicate the capability to establish

ectomycorrhiza An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobio ...

l relationships with a host. Recent discoveries show that ''Mycena'' can not only grow from a rotting wood, but also from a living plant root (2023) and a living frog (2024).

Uses

Some species 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 ...

, while others contain toxins, but the edibility of most is not known, as they are likely too small to be useful in cooking. ''

Mycena pura ''Mycena pura'', commonly known as the lilac mycena, lilac bonnet, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. Taxonomy First called ''Agaricus prunus'' in 1794 by Christian Hendrik Persoon, it was assigned its current name in 1871 by Ge ...

'' and '' M. rosea'' contain the

mycotoxin A mycotoxin (from the Greek μύκης , "fungus" and τοξικός , "poisonous") is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by fungi and is capable of causing disease and death in both humans and other animals. The term 'mycotoxin' is usually rese ...

muscarine Muscarine, L-(+)-muscarine, or muscarin is a Secondary metabolite, natural product found in certain mushrooms, particularly in ''Inocybe'' and ''Clitocybe'' species, such as the deadly ''Clitocybe dealbata, C. dealbata''. Mushrooms in the g ...

, but the medical significance of this is unknown.

References

External links

Mushroom Expert - The Genus ''Mycena''

Fungi Bioluminescence Laboratory

Online copy of Smith's 1947 Monograph
from the

University of Michigan Herbarium The University of Michigan Herbarium is the herbarium of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. One of the most-extensive botanical collections in the world, the herbarium has some 1.7 million specimens of vascul ...

National Geographic Photo in the News
featuring pictures of bioluminescent species

including a great deal of information on many species {{Taxonbar, from=Q1124575 Agaricales genera Bioluminescent fungi