An agaric () is a type of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

fruiting body The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) 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 cyc ...

characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with

lamellae Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * ...

(gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms" or "toadstools". In North America they are typically called "gilled mushrooms". "Agaric" can also refer to a

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

species characterized by an agaric-type fruiting body. Archaically, agaric meant 'tree-fungus' (after Latin ''agaricum''); however, that changed with the Linnaean interpretation in 1753 when

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

used the generic name ''

Agaricus ''Agaricus'' is a genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, with over 400 members worldwide and possibly again as many disputed or newly-discovered species. The genus includes the common ("button") mushroom ('' Agaricus bi ...

'' for gilled mushrooms. Most species of agaricus belong to the order

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 ...

in the subphylum

Agaricomycotina The subdivision Agaricomycotina, also known as the hymenomycetes, is one of three taxa of the fungal division Basidiomycota (fungi bearing spores on basidia). The Agaricomycotina contain some 20,000 species, and about 98% of these are in the cla ...

. The exceptions, where agarics have evolved independently, feature largely in the orders

Russulales The Russulales are an order (biology), order of the Agaricomycetes, (which include the agaric genera ''Russula'' and ''Lactarius (fungus), Lactarius'' and their polypore, polyporoid and corticioid relatives). According to the ''Dictionary of the ...

Boletales The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. ...

, Hymenochaetales, and several other groups of basidiomycetes. Old systems of classification placed all agarics in the Agaricales and some (mostly older) sources use "agarics" as the colloquial collective noun for the Agaricales. Contemporary sources now tend to use the term euagarics to refer to all agaric members of the Agaricales. "Agaric" is also sometimes used as a common name for members of the genus ''

'', as well as for members of other genera; for example, ''

Amanita muscaria ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscar ...

'' is sometimes called "fly agaric".

References

{{reflist

External links

"Gilled Mushrooms"
at AmericanMushrooms.com

by Gary Lincoff & Michael Wood, ''MykoWeb.com'' Fungal morphology and anatomy Mushroom types