genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of saprophytic
fungi
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 ...
in the family
Agyriaceae
The Agyriaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Pertusariales. It contains two genera: ''Agyrium
''Agyrium'' is a genus of saprophytic fungi in the family Agyriaceae. It probably evolved from a lichen ancestor, as it is clos ...
Elias Magnus Fries
Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist.
Career
Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö.
He acquired ...
in his 1821 work ''
Systema Mycologicum
Systema Mycologicum is a systematic classification of fungi drawn up in 1821 by the Swedish mycologist and botanist Elias Fries
Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist.
Career
F ...
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
was not indicated; Fries published the name validly a year later in the second volume of the same work. The species ''
Agyrium rufum
''Agyrium'' is a genus of saprophytic fungi in the family Agyriaceae. It probably evolved from a lichen ancestor, as it is closely related to many lichenized species of fungi.
Taxonomy
''Agyrium'' was first proposed by Elias Magnus Fries in ...
'' was assigned as the type by
Frederic Clements
Frederic Edward Clements (September 16, 1874 – July 26, 1945) was an American plant ecologist and pioneer in the study of plant ecology and vegetation succession.
Biography
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he studied botany at the University of Nebra ...
and
Cornelius Lott Shear Cornelius Lott Shear (1865–1956) was an American mycologist and plant pathologist. In 1908 he created the American Phytopathological Society. He was the first to describe the grass ''Bromus arizonicus
''Bromus arizonicus'' is a species of br ...
in 1931.
Description
Characteristics of genus ''Agyrium'' include the following: a poorly developed
thallus
Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...
that is immersed in its substrate; ascomata in the form of an
apothecium
An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are ...
with a reduced ring-shaped exciple (the layer surrounding the
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 ...
that sometimes develops into a distinct margin);
paraphyses
Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis.
In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...
that are highly branched; and
ascospore
An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...
s that are
ellipsoid
An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation.
An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...
and thin-walled.
The
mycelia
Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates in ...
of ''Agyrium'' fungi, although not strictly lichenised, are associated with and sometimes penetrate
green algae
The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...
– particularly near the apothecia. This is a condition that has been described as "facultative parasitism".
Species
,
Species Fungorum
''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of Mi ...
accepts two species of ''Agyrium''.
*''
Agyrium aurantium
''Agyrium'' is a genus of saprophytic fungi in the family Agyriaceae. It probably evolved from a lichen ancestor, as it is closely related to many lichenized species of fungi.
Taxonomy
''Agyrium'' was first proposed by Elias Magnus Fries in ...
''
*''
Agyrium rufum
''Agyrium'' is a genus of saprophytic fungi in the family Agyriaceae. It probably evolved from a lichen ancestor, as it is closely related to many lichenized species of fungi.
Taxonomy
''Agyrium'' was first proposed by Elias Magnus Fries in ...
''
The type species, ''Agyrium rufum'', has a largely
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
distribution and occurs widely in Europe, although it has also been recorded in
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
. ''Agyrium aurantium'' occurs in China.
Although 46
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
have been placed in ''Agyrium'' since its inception, many of them were described more than a century ago and have not been investigated with modern
molecular
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...
techniques. Several of them have since been transferred to other genera. For example:
*''Agyrium caesium'' = '' Puttea caesia''
*''Agyrium densum'' = '' Mellitiosporiella densa''
*''Agyrium flavescens'' = ''
Skyttella mulleri
''Skyttella'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Cordieritidaceae. It contains two species. The genus was circumscribed in 1988 by David Leslie Hawksworth and Rolf Santesson, with ''Skyttella mulleri'' assigned as the type specie ...