The Strophariaceae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 order

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 ...

. Under an older classification, the family covered 18

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and 1316

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. The species of Strophariaceae have red-brown to dark brown

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. ...

s, while the

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

themselves are smooth and have an apical

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 ...

. These

agarics 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), ...

are also characterized by having a cutis-type

pileipellis The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fruit body. It covers the trama, the fleshy tissue of the fruit body. The pileipellis is more or less synonymous with the cuticle, but the cuticle generally describes ...

. Ecologically, all species in this group are saprotrophs, growing on various kinds of decaying organic matter. The family was circumscribed in 1946 by mycologists

Rolf Singer Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a German mycologist and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist of gilled mushrooms (agarics). He wrote the book "The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy (biology), Taxonomy". He fled to various countries d ...

and Alexander H. Smith.

Genera

* The genus ''

Stropharia The genus ''Stropharia'' (sometimes known by the common name roundheads) is a group of medium to large agarics with a distinct membranous ring on the stipe. Well-known members of this genus include the edible '' Stropharia rugosoannulata'' and t ...

'' mainly consists of medium to large agarics with a distinct membranous annulus. Spore-print color is generally medium to dark purple-brown, except for a few species with rusty-brown spores. There is a great deal of variation, however, since this group, as presently delimited, is

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. Members of the core clade of ''Stropharia'' are characterized by crystalline

acanthocytes Acanthocyte (from the Greek word ἄκανθα ''acantha'', meaning 'thorn'), in biology and medicine, refers to an abnormal form of red blood cell that has a spiked cell membrane, due to thorny projections. A similar term is spur cells. Often ...

among the hyphae that make up the rhizoids at the base of the mushroom. *The genus '' Hypholoma'' (formerly ''Naematoloma'') is mainly a saprobe on wood and often grows in caespitose clusters. Spore print varies from medium brown to purple brown. These species all share a subcutaneous layer of inflated cells. *The genus '' Pholiota'' is characterized by a dull brown to cinnamon brown spore print. A well-known edible species is the Japanese

nameko ''Pholiota microspora'', commonly known as ''Pholiota nameko'' or simply , is a small, amber-brown mushroom with a slightly gelatinous coating that is used as an ingredient in miso soup and nabemono. In some countries this mushroom is avail ...

mushroom (''Pholiota nameko''). A

secotioid Secotioid fungi produce an intermediate fruiting body form that is between the mushroom-like hymenomycetes and the closed bag-shaped gasteroid fungi, gasteromycetes, where an evolutionary process of gasteromycetation has started but not run to co ...

form of '' Pholiota'' was previously recognized as a distinct genus, '' Nivatogastrium''. *The genus ''

Psilocybe ''Psilocybe'' ( ) is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Many species contain the Psychedelic drug, psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Taxonomy Taxonomic history A 2002 study of the ...

'' is well known for its psychedelic mushrooms and used to be classified in the Strophariaceae, but is now separated from the nonhallucinogenic species that remain in the family under the name ''

Deconica ''Deconica'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Strophariaceae. It was formerly considered synonym (taxonomy), synonymous with ''Psilocybe'' until molecular phylogenetics, molecular studies showed that genus to be polyphyletic, ma ...

''. ''

'' is now phylogenetically classified in the

Hymenogastraceae The Hymenogastraceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales with both agaric and false-truffle shaped fruitbodies. Formerly, prior to molecular analyses, the family was restricted to the false-truffle genera. The mushroom genus '' Psilo ...

. *The genus ''

'' largely consists of species of agarics previously classified as nonhallucinogenic ''

'' and also of species formerly called '' Melanotus''.

References

External links

MushroomExpert.com - Taxonomy in Transition: The Strophariaceae

{{Authority control Strophariaceae Taxa named by Alexander H. Smith Taxa named by Rolf Singer

Genera

See also

References

External links