Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and infection.
A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber. In addition to Tuber, over 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 usually found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. These fungi have significant ecological roles in nutrient cycling and drought tolerance.
The Pezizaceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota which produce mushrooms that tend to grow in the shape of a "cup". Spores are formed on the inner surface of the fruit body (mushroom). The cup shape typically serves to focus raindrops into splashing spores out of the cup. Additionally, the curvature enables wind currents to blow the spores out in a different manner than in most agarics and boletes.
Rhizopogon is a genus of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes in the family Rhizopogonaceae. Species form hypogeous sporocarps commonly referred to as "false truffles". The general morphological characters of Rhizopogon sporocarps are a simplex or duplex peridium surrounding a loculate gleba that lacks a columnella. Basidiospores are produced upon basidia that are borne within the fungal hymenium that coats the interior surface of gleba locules. The peridium is often adorned with thick mycelial cords, also known as rhizomorphs, that attach the sporocarp to the surrounding substrate. The scientific name Rhizopogon is Greek for 'root' (Rhiz-) 'beard' (-pogon) and this name was given in reference to the rhizomorphs found on sporocarps of many species.
The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as morels, the black and white truffles, and the desert truffles. The Pezizales can be saprobic, mycorrhizal, or parasitic on plants. Species grow on soil, wood, leaves and dung. Soil-inhabiting species often fruit in habitats with a high pH and low content of organic matter, including disturbed ground. Most species occur in temperate regions or at high elevation. Several members of the Sarcoscyphaceae and Sarcosomataceae are common in tropical regions.
Terfezia is a genus of truffle-like fungi within the Pezizaceae family. Terfezia species are commonly known as desert truffles. Some authorities consider this the type genus of the family Terfeziaceae, although phylogenetic analysis suggests that it nests within the Pezizaceae. The Dictionary of the Fungi suggests that the genus contains 12 species. A recent (2011) publication used molecular analysis to show that the American Terfezia species had been incorrectly classified, and moved Terfezia spinosa and Terfezia longii to Mattirolomyces and Stouffera, respectively; as a result, no Terfezia species are known to exist in North America.
The sporocarp of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cycle, while the rest of the life cycle is characterized by vegetative mycelial growth and asexual spore production.
Leotia is a genus of cup fungi of the division Ascomycota. Leotia species are globally distributed, and are believed to be ectomycorrhizal. They are commonly known as jelly babies because of the gelatinous texture of their fruiting bodies.
The Discinaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi, the best known members of which are the false morels of the genus Gyromitra. Originally erected by Erich Heinz Benedix in 1961, it was found to be a discrete clade in a molecular study of ribosomal DNA by mycologist Kerry O'Donnell in 1997. As of 2008, the family is thought to contain 5 genera and 58 species. As of 2022, the GBIF accepts Discina(Fr.) Fr., Gymnohydnotrya B.C.Zhang & Minter, 1989, GyromitraFr., 1849, HydnotryaBerk. & Broome and Maublancomyces. But calls NeogyromitraS.Imai and PseudorhizinaJacz. doubtful.
Paurocotylis is a genus of fungi in the family Pyronemataceae. The genus contains multiple species, with the most well known being Paurocotylis pila, a truffle-like fungus found in Europe and New Zealand. It was described by Miles Joseph Berkeley in Joseph Dalton Hooker's 1855 publication The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage II, Flora Novae-Zealandiae.
Kalaharituber is a fungal genus in the family Pezizaceae. It is a monotypic genus, whose single truffle-like species, Kalaharituber pfeilii, is found in the Kalahari Desert, which spans the larger part of Botswana, the east of Namibia and the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
Sarcosphaera is a fungal genus within the Pezizaceae family. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Sarcosphaera coronaria, commonly known as the pink crown, the violet crown-cup, or the violet star cup. It is a whitish or grayish cup fungus, distinguished by the manner in which the cup splits into lobes from the top downward. It is commonly found in the mountains in coniferous woods under humus on the forest floor, and often appears after the snow melts in late spring and early summer. The fungus is widespread, and has been collected in Europe, Israel and the Asian part of Turkey, North Africa, and North America. In Europe, it is considered a threatened species in 14 countries. Although several taxa have been described as Sarcosphaera species since the introduction of the genus in 1869, most lack modern descriptions, have been transferred to the related genus Peziza, or are considered synonymous with S. coronaria.
Sistotrema is a genus of fungi in the family Hydnaceae. The genus contains at least 55 species and has a worldwide distribution. The type species is Sistotrema confluens Pers. (1794).
Tulasnella is a genus of effused (patch-forming) fungi in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps, when visible, are typically smooth, ceraceous (waxy) to subgelatinous, frequently lilaceous to violet-grey, and formed on the underside of fallen branches and logs. They are microscopically distinct in having basidia with grossly swollen sterigmata on which basidiospores are formed. One atypical species, Tulasnella aurantiaca, produces orange to red, gelatinous, pustular anamorphs on wood. Some species form facultative mycorrhizas with orchids and liverworts. Around 80 species of Tulasnella are known worldwide.
Peziza varia, commonly known as the Palomino cup or recurved cup, is a species of fungus in the genus Peziza, family Pezizaceae.
Endogone is a genus of fungi in the family Endogonaceae of the division Zygomycota. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and contains about 20 species.
John Henry Warcup was a New Zealand-born mycologist. He moved to the United Kingdom to undertake his PhD, examining distribution of fungi through soil profiles at Lakenheath Warren, in the University of Cambridge's botany department. He worked as a member of the Botany Department in the British Forestry Commission until 1951, when he accepted a position as a senior microbiologist in the Department of Plant Pathology at the then Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide where he worked until his retirement in 1986. In 1996 he was honoured by the British Mycological Society, becoming a Centenary Fellow. Warcup published over 70 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and was best known for his work with orchid mycorrhizal fungi, along with Aspergillus and Penicillium species. He was the patron of the Australasian Mycological Society, and two monotypic genera of fungi: Warcupia and Warcupiella (family Trichocomaceae) are named in his honour.
Dr Teresa Lebel is a taxonomist and ecologist who works on fungi, with a particular interest in subterranean truffle-like fungi and their mushroom, bolete, bracket or cup relatives.
Paurocotylis pila is a saprobic, truffle-like ascomycete from the genus Paurocotylis. It is native to New Zealand and Australia and is naturalised in the United Kingdom.
