''Stagnicola'' is an

agaric 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) ...

fungal

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 ...

that contains the single species ''Stagnicola perplexa''. This fungus colonizes plant debris in wet

coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

floor depressions and shallow pools, and fruits after the pools drain or dry in late summer to early fall in North America (Canada, USA) and Europe. The genus is characterized by smooth, yellowish brown

basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromos ...

s lacking a

germ pore A germ pore is a small pore in the outer wall of a fungal spore through which the germ tube exits upon germination. It can be wikt:apical, apical or eccentric in its location, and, on light microscopy, may be visualized as a lighter coloured are ...

, and a naucorioid appearance, with brownish

mycelium Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...

at the base of the stems.

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, ''Stagnicola'' appeared rather isolated and proved to be closest to '' Mythicomyces'' and '' Mythicomyces'' was closest to the

Psathyrellaceae The Psathyrellaceae are a family of dark-spored agarics that generally have rather soft, fragile fruiting bodies, and are characterized by black, dark brown, rarely reddish, or even pastel-colored spore prints. About 50% of species produce frui ...

. In 2019 the two genera were shown to be closely related and placed in a new family, Mythicomycetaceae sister to the

. ''Stagnicola perplexa'' is considered to be a rare fungus and is on list of rare mushrooms in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

of the USA and in Europe.

Etymology

The name ''Stagnicola'' refers to colonizing (-''cola'') of its habitat, stagnant pools. When the authors coined the name, they were unaware of a genus of snails with the same name, '' Stagnicola''. The

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

is independent of the

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all tho ...

, and therefore both the snail and mushroom generic names are valid and available.

References

External links

USDA - Forest Service - Handbook to Additional Fungal Species of Special Concern in the Northwest Forest Plan ROD list

E-Flora BC ''Stagnicola perplexa''

MycoKey - ''Stagnicola perplexa''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7596959 Fungi of North America Fungi of Europe Monotypic Basidiomycota genera Psathyrellaceae