In mycology, a lamella, or gill, is a papery hymenophore rib under the cap of some mushroom species, most often agarics. The gills are used by the mushrooms as a means of spore dispersal, and are important for

species identification Identification in biology is the process of assigning a pre-existing taxon name to an individual organism. Identification of organisms to individual scientific names (or codes) may be based on individualistic natural body features, experimentally ...

. The attachment of the gills to the

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

is classified based on the shape of the gills when viewed from the side, while color, crowding and the shape of individual gills can also be important features. Additionally, gills can have distinctive microscopic or macroscopic features. For instance, ''

Lactarius ''Lactarius'' is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid ("latex") they exude when cut or damaged. Like ...

'' species typically seep latex from their gills. It was originally believed that all gilled fungi were

Agaricales The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms (for their distinctive gills) 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, alo ...

, but as fungi were studied in more detail, some gilled species were demonstrated not to be. It is now clear that this is a case of convergent evolution (i.e. gill-like structures evolved separately) rather than being an anatomic feature that evolved only once. The apparent reason that various basidiomycetes have evolved gills is that it is the most effective means of increasing the ratio of surface area to mass, which increases the potential for spore production and dispersal. Other groups of fungi to bear gills include: * The genera '' Russula'' and ''

'' of the Russulales. * Several genera in the Boletales, including ''

Gomphidius ''Gomphidius'' is a genus of mushrooms, commonly known as spike-caps, that are members of the Boletales ( suborder Suillineae), or pored fungi. They appear to have gill-like structures which resemble those of agarics, however the similarity is s ...

'' and '' Chroogomphus'' as well as ''

Tapinella atrotomentosa ''Tapinella atrotomentosa'', commonly known as the velvet roll-rim or velvet-footed pax, is a species of fungus in the family Tapinellaceae. Although it has gills, it is a member of the pored mushroom order Boletales. August Batsch described th ...

'' (which has been traditionally named '' Paxillus atrotomentosus'') and other species in that genus, the False chanterelle ('' Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca''). * Such polypore-like fungi such as '' d aedaleopsis confragosa'', '' Lenzites betulina'' and '' Gloeophyllum sepiarium''. Members of the two related genera of chanterelles, '' Cantharellus'' and '' Craterellus'', have rudimentary lamellar structures which are sometimes referred to as "false gills". They are distinguished from "true gills" because the structure of the fertile surface ("

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...

") continues uninterrupted over the gill edge, so they are little more than folds, wrinkles or veins. The genus '' Gomphus'' also has false gills. These primitive lamellae indicate how the evolution towards true gills probably happened.

Classification

Morphologically, gills are classified according to their attachment to the stipe:

image:Adnate_gills_icon2.svg, Adnate image:Adnexed_gills_icon2.svg, Adnexed image:Decurrent_gills_icon2.svg, Decurrent image:Emarginate_gills_icon2.svg, Emarginate image:Free_gills_icon2.svg, Free image:Seceding gills icon2.svg, Seceding image:Sinuate gills icon2.svg, Sinuate image:Subdecurrent gills icon2.svg, Subdecurrent

References

External links

IMA Mycological Glossary: Gill
{{Fungus structure Fungal morphology and anatomy ja:キノコの部位#ひだ