The Agaricales are an order of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics, but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are closely related and some belong in other orders, such as the Russulales and Boletales. Conversely, DNA research has also shown that many non-agarics, including some of the clavarioid fungi and gasteroid fungi belong within the Agaricales. The order has 46 extant families, more than 400 genera, and over 25,000 described species, along with six extinct genera known only from the fossil record. Species in the Agaricales range from the familiar Agaricus bisporus and the deadly Amanita virosa to the coral-like Clavaria zollingeri and bracket-like Fistulina hepatica.
Psathyrella is a large genus of about 400 species, and is similar to the genera Coprinellus, Coprinopsis, Coprinus and Panaeolus, usually with a thin cap and white or yellowish white hollow stem. The caps do not self digest as do those of Coprinellus and Coprinopsis. Some also have brown spores rather than black. These fungi are often drab-colored, difficult to identify, and all members are considered inedible or worthless and so they are often overlooked. However they are quite common and can occur at times when there are few other mushrooms to be seen. The first report of a gilled mushroom fruiting underwater is Psathyrella aquatica.
Alexander Hanchett Smith was an American mycologist known for his extensive contributions to the taxonomy and phylogeny of the higher fungi, especially the agarics.
Mythicomyces is a fungal genus in the family Mythicomycetaceae. A monotypic genus, it contains the single species Mythicomyces corneipes, first described by Elias Fries in 1861. The fungus produces fruit bodies with shiny yellowish-orange to tawny caps that are 1–3 cm (0.4–1.2 in) in diameter. These are supported by stems measuring 2–5.7 cm (0.8–2.2 in) long and 1–2 mm thick. A rare to uncommon species, it is found in northern temperate regions of North America and Europe, where it typically fruits in groups, in wet areas of coniferous forests. There are several species with which M. corneipes might be confused due to a comparable appearance or similar range and habitat, but microscopic characteristics can be used to reliably distinguish between them.
Secotium is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The members of this genus are closely related to ordinary Agaricus mushrooms, but do not open out in the usual way; this has given rise to the term "secotioid" for such mushrooms in general. They are thought to form an evolutionary link between agarics and gasteroid fungi. Secotium is a widespread genus, with species that are predominantly found in warm and arid regions.
Clitocybe glacialis is a species of mushroom in the family Tricholomataceae. Formerly known as Lyophyllum montanum, this is a snowbank mushroom, always associated with melting snow along snowbanks and thus glacialis. Originally described by Alexander H. Smith in 1957, this North American species is typically found growing under conifers on mountains.
Mycena californiensis is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It is a common and abundant species in the coastal oak woodlands of California, where it grows saprobically, feeding on the fallen leaves and acorns of various oak species. First described in 1860 by Berkeley and Curtis, the species was collected four years earlier during an exploring and surveying expedition. It was subsequently considered a doubtful species by later Mycena researchers, until a 1999 publication validated the taxon. Mycena elegantula is considered a synonym.
Agaricus californicus, commonly known as the mock meadow mushroom, or California agaricus, is a poisonous mushroom in the section Xanthodermati of the genus Agaricus.
Tulosesus impatiens is a species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. First described in 1821, it has been classified variously in the genera Psathyrella, Pseudocoprinus, Coprinarius, and Coprinus, before molecular phylogenetics reaffirmed it as a Coprinellus species in 2001. The fungus is found in North America and Europe, where the mushrooms grow on the ground in deciduous forests. The fruit bodies have buff caps that are up to 4 cm (1.6 in) in diameter, held by slender whitish stems that can be up to 10 cm (3.9 in) tall. Several other Coprinopsis species that resemble C. impatiens may be distinguished by differences in appearance, habit, or spore morphology.
Psilocybe pelliculosa is a species of fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae. The fruit bodies, or mushrooms, have a conical brownish cap up to 2 cm in diameter atop a slender stem up to 8 cm long. It has a white partial veil that does not leave a ring on the stem. American mycologist Alexander H. Smith first described the species in 1937 as a member of the genus known today as Psathyrella; it was transferred to Psilocybe by Rolf Singer in 1958.
Mycena semivestipes is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It is found in eastern North America.
Psathyrella bipellis is a species of mushroom in the family Psathyrellaceae.
Coprinopsis uliginicola is a species of agaric fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It was formally described by mycologists Kent McKnight and Alexander H. Smith in 1972. It was moved into the genus Coprinopsis in 2015 by Leif Örstadius & Ellen Larsson based on DNA sequences obtained from the holotype. Found in the United States, the paratype collection was made by Smith in the Nez Perce National Forest (Idaho) in 1962. Smith noted the species to also occur in New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, where it grows in wet areas under brush or on decaying aspen wood.
Psathyrella echiniceps is a species of agaric fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. First described under the name Hypholoma echiniceps by George F. Atkinson in 1909, it was transferred to the genus Psathyrella by Alexander H. Smith in 1972. It is found in the US states of California, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington, where it grows in small groups around hardwood stumps.
Psathyrella piluliformis is a species of agaric fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It produces fruit bodies (mushrooms) with broadly convex caps measuring 2–5 cm in diameter. The caps are chestnut to reddish brown, the color fading with age and with dry weather. The closely spaced gills have an adnate attachment to the stipe. They are initially tan until the spores mature, when the gills turn dark brown. Fragments of the partial veil may remain on the cap margin, and as a wispy band of hairs on the stipe. The stipe is 2–7 cm tall and 3–7 mm wide, white, smooth, hollow, and bulging at the base. Fruiting occurs in clusters at the base of hardwood stumps.
Psathyrella spadicea or Homophron spadiceum, commonly known as the chestnut brittlestem, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. The fungus was originally described by German mycologist Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1783 as Agaricus spadiceus. Rolf Singer transferred it to the genus Psathyrella in 1951, in which it was classified in the section Spadiceae. In 2015 Örstadius & Larsson recreated the genus Homophron for a group of psathyrelloid mushrooms with no veil and with light-coloured spores, and P. spadicea was moved to the new genus.
Psathyrella canadensis is a species of agaric fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. Described as new to science by American mycologist Alexander H. Smith in 1972, it is found in Canada and the United States, where it grows as a saprobe on rotting wood.
David Ross Sumstine was an American educator and mycologist.
Britzelmayria multipedata is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is commonly known as the clustered brittlestem.
