''Rickenella'' 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 brightly colored bryophilous (moss inhabiting)
agarics in the
Hymenochaetales
The Hymenochaetales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order in its current sense is based on molecular research and not on any unifying morphological characteristics. According to one 2008 estimate, the Hymenochaetales con ...
that have an
omphalinoid morphology.
They inhabit patches of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
that grow on soil, tree trunks and logs in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
regions of the planet.
Phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
ally related agarics are in the genera ''
Contumyces'', ''
Gyroflexus'', ''
Loreleia'', ''
Cantharellopsis'' and ''
Blasiphalia'', as well as the stipitate-stereoid genera ''
Muscinupta'' and ''
Cotylidia''.
and the
clavarioid genus, ''
Alloclavaria''.
''Rickenella'' is most similar to ''Contumyces'' and ''Blasiphalia'', from the former differing by having its
cystidia on the cap, stipe, and hymenium solitary and scattered. The hair-like cystidia on the cap and stipe give the small mushrooms a fuzzy appearance when viewed through a magnifying glass or hand lens.
This helps to distinguish the genus from genera like ''
Loreleia'', which can be orange colored and inhabits similar sites, as well as other brightly pigmented omphalinoid genera. ''Rickenella'' does not produce massive clasping, hand-like
appressoria on the
rhizoids of its host, as does ''Blasiphalia''. Instead, ''Rickenella'' produces a small appressorium or no appressoria and penetrates the rhizoids of its moss hosts, growing within the cells.
The monotypic genus ''
Blasiphalia'' is a recent molecular segregate of ''Rickenella''.
Etymology
''Rickenella'' was named after the German mycologist
Adalbert Ricken, the author of "Die Blätterpilze (Agaricaceae) (1915) Deutschlands und der angrenzenden Länder, besonders Oesterreichs und der Schweiz".
caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de
/ref>
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2714656
Agaricomycetes genera
Repetobasidiaceae