Nolanea | |
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Nolanea verna , Ukraine | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Agaricales |
Family: | Entolomataceae |
Genus: | Entoloma |
Subgenus: | Nolanea (Fr.) P.Kumm. (1871) |
Type species | |
Nolanea pascua (Pers.) P.Kumm. (1871) | |
Synonyms | |
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Nolanea is a subgenus of fungi in the genus Entoloma . [1] [2] Called pinkgills in English, basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are agaricoid, mostly mycenoid (like species of Mycena ) with slender stems. [3] All have salmon-pink basidiospores which colour the gills at maturity and are angular (polyhedral) under a microscope. Recent DNA evidence has shown that at least 87 species belong to the subgenus Nolanea which has a worldwide distribution. [3]
The taxon Nolanea was introduced in 1821 by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries as a "tribe" of Agaricus comprising slender agarics with bell-shaped caps, hollow stems, and pink spores. [4] In 1871 German mycologist Paul Kummer raised the tribe to genus level. [5] The name was used by many subsequent mycologists, [6] [7] [8] but others have preferred to use the name Entoloma sensu lato for all fungi with pink, angular spores, retaining Nolanea as a subgenus. [9]
Recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has shown that Nolanea, as previously defined, is paraphyletic (an artificial grouping). [10] By excluding some species and adding others, however, Nolanea has been redefined as a monophyletic (natural) grouping. [11] [3] In this new sense, Nolanea has been treated either as a subgenus [3] or as a separate genus. [11]
The redefined Nolanea excludes Entoloma rhombisporum and related species, Entoloma ameides and related species, and cuboid-spored species now placed in Entoloma subgenus Cubospora. [3]
An interesting taxonomic characteristic used to identify Nolanea fructufragaans Largent and Theirs is its distinctive odor. Sporocarp collected in coastal California redwood forest have a candy-store like or a “tooty-fruity” odor. Chemical analysis show anisole and 1,3-dimethoxybenzene as being responsible for this taxonomic characteristic of field collections. [12]