''Rhizomarasmius pyrrhocephalus'' is a taxon of fungus. It serves as 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 its genus.

Taxonomy

The genus ''

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 ...

'' was split from ''

Marasmius ''Marasmius'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Marasmiaceae. It contains about 500 species of agarics, of which a few, such as '' Marasmius oreades'', are edible. However, most members of this genus are small, unimpressiv ...

'' due to morphological differences such as the

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 ...

and the rooting stipe (hence the prefix ''rhizo''). ''Rhizomarasmius pyrrhocephalus'' is the

''.''

Etymology

The genus name is a combination of the prefix ''Rhizo'', 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 ...

ῥίζα (''rhíza'', "root"), and 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 ...

''marasmos'' (μαρασμός; "drying out; withering"). The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek ''pyrrho'' (πῦρ • pyr; "fire") and ''cephalus'' ("head").

Description

The orange-colored

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 ...

is wide. Its rooted black stipe has velvety hairs and is up to long. It has adnate

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 ...

and 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. ...

, not unlike ''Marasmius'' species.

Similar species

It can resemble '' Marasmius sullivantii'', '' Marasmiellus biformis'' and '' M. subnudus''.

Distribution and habitat

This mushroom is known mainly from eastern North America, and grows from May to October on

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

and wood.

References

{{Improve categories, date=January 2024 pyrrhocephalus Taxa named by Miles Joseph Berkeley