Dermateaceae | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Leotiomycetes |
Order: | Helotiales |
Family: | Dermateaceae Fries (1849) [1] |
Type genus | |
Dermea Fries (1825) [1] |
The Dermateaceae is a family of cup fungi in the order Helotiales. Most species in this family are plant pathogens but some are saprobes. These fungi are commonly referred to as "earth tongues" or "earthfan fungi" due to their distinctive appearance.
Dermateaceae fungi are characterized by their fruiting bodies, which are often small, cup-shaped, or tongue-shaped structures. These structures can vary in color, but they are typically brown or dark in appearance.
Members of the Dermateaceae family are typically found in terrestrial environments. They are often associated with decaying plant material, leaf litter, and soil. Some species may be mycorrhizal, forming mutually beneficial relationships with plants.
Dermateaceae fungi can be found in various parts of the world. They are not limited to a specific geographic region and can be found in both temperate and tropical ecosystems.
Many species within this family are saprophytic, meaning they obtain nutrients by decomposing organic matter, such as dead plant material. As decomposers, they play a vital role in nutrient cycling and ecosystem health.
Dermateaceae is a well-defined family within the order Helotiales, which is part of the class Leotiomycetes. It is a taxonomically recognized group of fungi.
Like other fungi, Dermateaceae reproduce through the formation of spores, typically produced in the fruiting bodies. The spores are essential for the dispersal and reproduction of the fungi.
The family Dermateaceae includes a diversity of species, with different ecological roles and adaptations. Some species are highly specialized to colonize specific substrates, while others have a broader ecological range.
This is a list of genera in the family, based on the 2007 Outline of Ascomycota. [2]
Aivenia — Angelina — Anthopsis — Ascluella — Atropellis — Belonopsis — Blumeriella — Calloria — Calloriella — Cashiella — Cejpia — Chaetonaevia — Chlorosplenium — Coleosperma — Coronellaria — Crustomollisia — Cryptohymenium — Dennisiodiscus — Dermateopsis — Dermea — Dibeloniella — Diplocarpa — Diplocarpon — Diplonaevia — Discocurtisia — Discohainesia — Drepanopeziza — Duebenia — Durandiella — Eupropolella — Felisbertia — Graddonia — Haglundia — Hysteronaevia — Hysteropezizella — Hysterostegiella — Involucroscypha — Laetinaevia — Leptotrochila — Marssonina [3] — Micropeziza — Mollisia — Naevala — Naeviella — Naeviopsis — Neofabraea — Neotapesia — Niptera — Nothophacidium — Obscurodiscus — Obtectodiscus — Patellariopsis — Patinella — Pezicula — Pezolepis — Phaeonaevia — Pirottaea — Pleoscutula — Ploettnera — Podophacidium — Pseudonaevia — Pseudoniptera — Pseudopeziza — Pyrenopeziza — Sarconiptera — Schizothyrioma — Scleropezicula — Scutobelonium — Scutomollisia — Sorokina — Sorokinella — Spilopodia — Spilopodiella — Trochila — Tuberculariella — Waltonia
Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defining feature of this fungal group is the "ascus", a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores, called ascospores, are formed. However, some species of Ascomycota are asexual and thus do not form asci or ascospores. Familiar examples of sac fungi include morels, truffles, brewers' and bakers' yeast, dead man's fingers, and cup fungi. The fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens such as Cladonia belong to the Ascomycota.
Mycelium 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 found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates into a monokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible monokaryotic mycelia join and form a dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. A mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or may grow to span thousands of acres as in Armillaria.
A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus Tuber. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, and Leucangium. These genera belong to the class Pezizomycetes and the Pezizales order. Several truffle-like basidiomycetes are excluded from Pezizales, including Rhizopogon and Glomus. Truffles are ectomycorrhizal fungi, so they are found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. These fungi have ecological roles in nutrient cycling and drought tolerance.
Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside. They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polypores are closely related to each other. Polypores are also called bracket fungi or shelf fungi, and they characteristically produce woody, shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies that are called conks.
Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles, and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics. The decomposition of organic matter by soil organisms has an immense influence on soil fertility, plant growth, soil structure, and carbon storage. As a relatively new science, much remains unknown about soil biology and its effect on soil ecosystems.
The ericoid mycorrhiza is a mutualistic relationship formed between members of the plant family Ericaceae and several lineages of mycorrhizal fungi. This symbiosis represents an important adaptation to acidic and nutrient poor soils that species in the Ericaceae typically inhabit, including boreal forests, bogs, and heathlands. Molecular clock estimates suggest that the symbiosis originated approximately 140 million years ago.
Helotiales is an order of the class Leotiomycetes within the division Ascomycota. The taxonomy within Helotiales has been debated. It has expanded significantly as genomic techniques for taxonomical identification have become more commonly used. As of February 2020, the order is estimated to contain 30 accepted families, 519 genera, and 6266 species.
Spathularia flavida, commonly known as the yellow earth tongue, the yellow fan, or the fairy fan, is an ascomycete fungus found in coniferous forests of Asia, Europe and North America. It produces a small, fan- or spoon-shaped fruit body with a flat, wavy or lobed cream to yellow colored "head" raised on a white to cream stalk. The height is usually approximately 2–5 cm, and up to 8 cm. The fungus fruits on the ground in mosses, forest duff or humus, and fruit bodies may occur singly, in large groups, or in fairy rings. The spores produced by the fungus are needle-like, and up to 95 μm long. Several varieties have been described that differ largely in their microscopic characteristics. S. flavida has been described by authorities variously as inedible, of unknown edibility, or edible but tough.
A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one of the traditional eukaryotic kingdoms, along with Animalia, Plantae and either Protista or Protozoa and Chromista.
Crucibulum is a genus in the Nidulariaceae, a family of fungi whose fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled bird's nests. Often called "splash cups", the fruiting bodies are adapted for spore dispersal by using the kinetic energy of falling drops of rain. The "eggs" inside the bird's nests are hard waxy shells containing spores, and tend to stick to whatever nearby herbage they land on, thus increasing the odds of being consumed and dispersed by herbivorous animals. Members of this genus are saprobic, obtaining nutrients from dead organic matter, and are typically found growing on decayed wood and wood debris. The three known Crucibulum species are distinguished from other genera of the Nidulariaceae by their relatively simple funiculus – a cord of hyphae that connects the peridiole to the exterior of the bird's nest.
Cyathus is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, which is a family collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. They are given this name as they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs" – structures large enough to have been mistaken in the past for seeds. However, these are now known to be reproductive structures containing spores. The "eggs", or peridioles, are firmly attached to the inner surface of this fruit body by an elastic cord of mycelia known as a funiculus. The 45 species are widely distributed throughout the world and some are found in most countries, although a few exist in only one or two locales. Cyathus stercoreus is considered endangered in a number of European countries. Some species of Cyathus are also known as splash cups, which refers to the fact that falling raindrops can knock the peridioles out of the open-cup fruit body. The internal and external surfaces of this cup may be ridged longitudinally ; this is one example of a taxonomic characteristic that has traditionally served to distinguish between species.
Chorioactis is a genus of fungi that contains the single species Chorioactis geaster. The mushroom is commonly known as the devil's cigar or the Texas star in the United States, while in Japan it is called kirinomitake (キリノミタケ). This extremely rare mushroom is notable for its unusual appearance and disjunct distribution; it is found only in select locales in Texas and Japan. The fruit body, which grows on the stumps or dead roots of cedar elms or dead oaks, somewhat resembles a dark brown or black cigar before it splits open radially into a starlike arrangement of four to seven leathery rays. The interior surface of the fruit body bears the spore-bearing tissue known as the hymenium, and is colored white to brown, depending on its age. The fruit body opening can be accompanied by a distinct hissing sound and the release of a smoky cloud of spores.
Banksiamyces is a genus of fungi in the order Helotiales, with a tentative placement in the family Helotiaceae. The genus contains four species, which grow on the seed follicles of the dead infructescences or "cones" of various species of Banksia, a genus in the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Australia. Fruit bodies of the fungus appear as small, shallow dark cups on the follicles of the Banksia fruit. The edges of dry fruit bodies fold inwards, appearing like narrow slits. The first specimens of Banksiamyces, known then as Tympanis toomansis, were described in 1887. Specimens continued to be collected occasionally for almost 100 years before becoming examined more critically in the early 1980s, leading to the creation of a new genus to contain what was determined to be three distinct species, B. katerinae, B. macrocarpus, and B. toomansis. A fourth species, B. maccannii, was added in 1984.
Mycena polygramma, commonly known as the grooved bonnet, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. The inedible fruit bodies are small, pale gray-brown mushrooms with broadly conical caps, pinkish gills. They are found in small troops on stumps and branches of deciduous and occasionally coniferous trees. The mushroom is found in Asia, Europe, and North America, where it is typically found on twigs or buried wood, carrying out its role in the forest ecosystem by decomposing organic matter, recycling nutrients, and forming humus in the soil. M. polygramma contains two uncommon hydroxy fatty acids and is also a bioluminescent fungus whose intensity of light emission follows a diurnal pattern.
Clavaria is a genus of fungi in the family Clavariaceae. Species of Clavaria produce basidiocarps that are either cylindrical to club-shaped or branched and coral-like. They are often grouped with similar-looking species from other genera, when they are collectively known as the clavarioid fungi. All Clavaria species are terrestrial and most are believed to be saprotrophic. In Europe, they are typical of old, mossy, unimproved grassland. In North America and elsewhere, they are more commonly found in woodlands.
Mycoforestry is an ecological forest management system implemented to enhance forest ecosystems and plant communities through the introduction of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi. Mycoforestry is considered a type of permaculture and can be implemented as a beneficial component of an agroforestry system. Mycoforestry can enhance the yields of tree crops and produce edible mushrooms, an economically valuable product. By integrating plant-fungal associations into a forestry management system, native forests can be preserved, wood waste can be recycled back into the ecosystem, carbon sequestration can be increased, planted restoration sites are enhanced, and the sustainability of forest ecosystems are improved. Mycoforestry is an alternative to the practice of clearcutting, which removes dead wood from forests, thereby diminishing nutrient availability and reducing soil depth.
Pholiota squarrosa, commonly known as the shaggy scalycap, the shaggy Pholiota, or the scaly Pholiota, is a species of mushroom in the family Strophariaceae. Common in North America and Europe, it is a secondary parasite, in that it attacks trees that have already been weakened from prior injury or infection by bacteria or other fungi. It has a wide range of hosts among deciduous trees, although it can also infect conifers. It can also live as a saprobe, deriving nutrients from decomposing wood.
The Nidulariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Commonly known as the bird's nest fungi, their fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled birds' nests. As they are saprobic, feeding on decomposing organic matter, they are often seen growing on decaying wood and in soils enriched with wood chips or bark mulch; they have a widespread distribution in most ecological regions. The five genera within the family, namely, Crucibulum, Cyathus, Mycocalia, Nidula, and Nidularia, are distinguished from each other by differences in morphology and peridiole structure; more recently, phylogenetic analysis and comparison of DNA sequences is guiding new decisions in the taxonomic organization of this family.
Tetracladium is a genus of fungi belonging to the order Helotiales. Species within this genus are primarily known for their ubiquitous presence in various habitats, including soil, decaying plant matter, and aquatic environments. The genus name "Tetracladium" derives from the Greek words "tetra," meaning four, and "cladion," meaning branch, referring to the typical branching pattern observed in the conidiophores of these fungi.
Quadracaea is a fungal genus in the division Ascomycota. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the division is unknown, and it has not yet been placed with certainty into any class, order, or family. The genus contains three species of hyphomycetes. Quadracea is characterised by its distinctive spore-producing structures and the unique appearance and morphology of its spores.