Secotioid fungi are an intermediate growth form between mushroom-like hymenomycetes and closed bag-shaped gasteromycetes, where an evolutionary process of gasteromycetation has started but not run to completion. Secotioid fungi may or may not have opening caps, but in any case they often lack the vertical geotropic orientation of the hymenophore needed to allow the spores to be dispersed by wind, and the basidiospores are not forcibly discharged or otherwise prevented from being dispersed —note—some mycologists do not consider a species to be secotioid unless it has lost ballistospory.
The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13,000 described species, along with six extinct genera known only from the fossil record. They range from the ubiquitous common mushroom to the deadly destroying angel and the hallucinogenic fly agaric to the bioluminescent jack-o-lantern mushroom.
The Strophariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Under an older classification, the family covered 18 genera and 1316 species. The species of Strophariaceae have red-brown to dark brown spore prints, while the spores themselves are smooth and have an apical germ pore. These agarics are also characterized by having a cutis-type pileipellis. 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 and Alexander H. Smith.
The Marasmiaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi which have white spores. They mostly have tough stems and the capability of shrivelling up during a dry period and later recovering. The widely consumed edible fungus Lentinula edodes, the shiitake mushroom, is a member of this family. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 54 genera and 1590 species.
The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics, including Hygrophorus and Hygrocybe species, DNA evidence has extended the limits of the family, so it now contains not only agarics, but also basidiolichens and corticioid fungi. Species are thus diverse and are variously ectomycorrhizal, lichenized, associated with mosses, or saprotrophic. The family contains 25 genera and over 600 species. None is of any great economic importance, though fruit bodies of some Hygrocybe and Hygrophorus species are considered edible and may be collected for sale in local markets.
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent. All species are ground-dwelling and ectomycorrhizal and are typically found in woodland. Around 100 species are recognized worldwide. Fruit bodies of several species are considered edible and are sometimes offered for sale in local markets.
The Clavariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally the family contained most of the clavarioid fungi, but in its current sense is more restricted, albeit with a greater diversity of basidiocarp forms. Basidiocarps are variously clavarioid or agaricoid (mushroom-shaped), less commonly corticioid or hydnoid.
The Tricholomataceae are a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. the Amanitaceae, Lepiotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Pluteaceae, or Entolomataceae.
The Cortinariaceae are a large family of gilled mushrooms found worldwide, containing over 2100 species. The family takes its name from its largest genus, the varied species of the genus Cortinarius. Many genera formerly in the Cortinariaceae have been placed in various other families, including Hymenogastraceae, Inocybaceae and Bolbitiaceae.
The Hymenogastraceae are 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 Psilocybe in the Hymenogastraceae is now restricted to the hallucinogenic species while nonhallucinogenic former species are largely in the genus Deconica classified in the Strophariaceae.
Phaeocollybia is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenogastraceae. They are characterized by producing fruit bodies (mushrooms) with umbonate caps and rough brown spores. The genus is widely distributed, and contains about 50 species. They are known for a long stipe which continues down into the ground, known as a rooting stipe or pseudorhiza formed as the fruitbody grows up from the subterranean colonized roots well below the organic soil layer. The genus is primarily mycorrhizal but may also be somewhat parasitic on forest trees.
Pholiota is a genus of small to medium-sized, fleshy mushrooms in the family Strophariaceae. They are saprobes that typically live on wood. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and contains about 150 species.
The Inocybaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Members of this family have a widespread distribution in tropical and temperate areas.
Hebeloma aminophilum, commonly known as the ghoul fungus, is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. Found in Western Australia, it gets its common name from the propensity of the fruiting bodies to spring out of decomposing animal remains. Its edibility is unknown.
Hebeloma radicosum, commonly known as the rooting poison pie, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae. Fruit bodies (mushrooms) can be identified by the tapering root-like stipe base, as well as the almond-like odor. Found in Japan, Europe, and North America, it is an ammonia fungus, and fruits on mole, mouse, or shrew middens.
Limnoperdon is a fungal genus in the monotypic family Limnoperdaceae. The genus is also monotypic, as it contains a single species, the aquatic fungus Limnoperdon incarnatum. The species, described as new to science in 1976, produces fruit bodies that lack specialized structures such as a stem, cap and gills common in mushrooms. Rather, the fruit bodies—described as aquatic or floating puffballs—are small balls of loosely interwoven hyphae. The balls float on the surface of the water above submerged twigs. Experimental observations on the development of the fruit body, based on the growth on the fungus in pure culture, suggest that a thin strand of mycelium tethers the ball above water while it matures. Fruit bodies start out as a tuft of hyphae, then become cup-shaped, and eventually enclose around a single chamber that contains reddish spores. Initially discovered in a marsh in the state of Washington, the fungus has since been collected in Japan, South Africa, and Canada.
Episphaeria is a genus of fungus in the Agaricales. The genus is monotypic, and contains the single rare species Episphaeria fraxinicola, found in Europe. Its familial position is not known with certainty. The tiny fruit bodies of the fungus resemble minute, white cups that grow scattered or in groups on the bark of ash trees.
Alnicola is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenogastraceae of the order Agaricales. The genus has a widespread distribution, and contains 60 species that usually form mycorrhizal relationships with species of Alder. The genus name is synonymous with Naucoria, with the correct genus being Alnicola according to the most recent taxonomic treatment.
Nivatogastrium is a genus of secotioid fungi in the family Strophariaceae. The genus has contained four species found in North America and New Zealand, but the type species, Nivatogastrium nubigenum, is now considered to be a gasteroid species of Pholiota, and was transferred to that genus in 2014.
Flammula is a dark brown-spored genus of mushrooms that cause a decay of trees, on whose bases they often fruit, forming clusters of yellowish brown mushrooms.
