''Pseudoplectania'' 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 ...

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

Sarcosomataceae The Sarcosomataceae are a family of fungi in the order Pezizales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 10 genera and 57 species. Most species are found in temperate areas, and are typically saprobic Saprotrophic nutrition or lys ...

. The genus contains 12 species. '' Pseudoplectania ryvardenii'' was described in 2012, while '' Pseudoplectania carranzae'' was transferred to the genus (from ''

Plectania ''Plectania'' is a genus of fungi in the family Sarcosomataceae. It was circumscribed by German botanist Karl Wilhelm Gottlieb Leopold Fuckel in 1870. There were 15 species in the genus in 2008, this has increased to 19 by 2023. Distribution I ...

'') in 2013.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by the German botanist Fuckel in 1870, who originally included the two species '' Pseudoplectania nigrella'' and ''P. fulgens''. In 1889,

Pier Andrea Saccardo Pier Andrea Saccardo (23 April 1845 in Treviso, Province of Treviso, Treviso – 12 February 1920 in Padua, Italy, Padua) was an Italian botany, botanist and mycology, mycologist. His multi-volume ''Sylloge Fungorum'' was one of the first attempt ...

removed the latter species from the genus, making it the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of his newly created ''Otidella'' (now considered

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with ''

Caloscypha ''Caloscypha'' is a fungal genus in the family Caloscyphaceae (order Pezizales). A monotypic genus, it contains the single species ''Caloscypha fulgens'', commonly known as the snowbank orange peel fungus, spring orange peel fungus, the golden ...

'' as described by Boudier in 1885). Saccardo added the species ''Pseudoplectania melania'' and ''P. stygia'', the latter of which is thought to be synonymous with ''P. nigrella.'' Phylogenetic analysis based on the

DNA sequence 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 nu ...

s of

ribosomal RNA Ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) is a type of non-coding RNA which is the primary component of ribosomes, essential to all cells. rRNA is a ribozyme which carries out protein synthesis in ribosomes. Ribosomal RNA is transcribed from ribosomal ...

suggests that ''Pseudoplectania'' groups in a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

together with '' Galiella'', ''

'', ''

Urnula ''Urnula'' is a genus of cup fungi in the family Sarcosomataceae, circumscribed by Elias Magnus Fries in 1849. The genus contains several species found in Asia, Europe, Greenland, and North America. Sarcosomataceae fungi produce dark-colored (bro ...

'', '' Sarcosoma'', and '' Donadinia'', and that it is most closely related to the latter genus. ''Pseudoplectania'' differs from ''Plectania'' mainly in spore shape—spherical in ''Pseudoplectania'' compared to ellipsoidal in ''Plectania''. The generic name means ''false

plectania ''Plectania'' is a genus of fungi in the family Sarcosomataceae. It was circumscribed by German botanist Karl Wilhelm Gottlieb Leopold Fuckel in 1870. There were 15 species in the genus in 2008, this has increased to 19 by 2023. Distribution I ...

''.

Description

The

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

of ''Plectania'' fungi grow either in groups or scattered apart, with stems or without (

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

), and are large and fleshy. They are covered on the external surfaces with short, slender,

flexuous {{Short pages monitor