''Calvatia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

puffball Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that (when mature) bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass sever ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

s that includes the giant puffball ''C. gigantea''. It was formerly classified within the now-obsolete order

Lycoperdales The Lycoperdales are a now outdated order of fungi. The order included some well-known types such as the giant puffball, the earthstars, and other tuberous fungi. They were defined as having epigeous basidiomes, a hymenium present, one to three ...

, which, following a restructuring of fungal taxonomy brought about by

molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

, has been split; the puffballs, ''Calvatia spp.'' are now placed in the family

Lycoperdaceae The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus '' Agaricus'', as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. Taxonomy The family Agaricaceae was publis ...

of the order

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

. Most species in the genus ''Calvatia'' are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

when young, though some are best avoided, such as '' Calvatia fumosa'', which has a very pungent odor. The name ''Calvatia'' derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''calvus'' meaning "bald" and ''calvaria'', meaning "dome of the skull".

Taxonomy

''Calvatia'' was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by Swedish mycologist

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

in 1849. Fries included a single species in the genus, ''

Calvatia craniiformis ''Calvatia craniiformis'', commonly known as the brain puffball or the skull-shaped puffball, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. It is found in Asia, Australia, and North America, where it grows on the ground in open wood ...

'', which was originally described as ''Bovista craniiformis'' by

Lewis David de Schweinitz Lewis David de Schweinitz (13 February 1780 – 8 February 1834) was a German-American botanist and mycologist from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Considered the "Father of North American Mycology," he also made significant contributions to botany. ...

in 1832.

Species

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and th ...

lists 58 species of ''Calvatia''. Calvatia nipponica 01

* '' C. agaricoides'' Dissing & M. Lange 1962 * '' C. ahmadii'' Khalid & S.H. Iqbal 2004 – Pakistan * '' C. aniodina'' Pat. 1912 – Africa * '' C. arctica'' Ferd. & Winge 1910 – Greenland * '' C. argentea'' (Berk.) Kreisel 1992 * '' C. bellii'' (Peck) M. Lange 1990 * '' C. bicolor'' (Lév.) Kreisel 1992 * '' C. boninensis'' S.Ito & S.Imai 1939 –

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , is a list of islands of Japan, Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and Island#Tropical islands, tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total ...

, Japan * '' C. booniana'' A.H.Sm. 1964 * '' C. borealis'' T.C.E.Fr. 1914 – Europe * '' C. candida'' (Rostk.) Hollós 1902 * '' C. capensis'' (Lloyd) J.C.Coetzee, Eicker & A.E.van Wyk 2003 * '' C. connivens'' M.Lange 1990 – Greenland * '' C. cretacea'' (Berk.) Lloyd 1917 * '' C. craniiformis'' (Schwein.) Fr. ex De Toni 1888 * '' C. crucibulum'' (Mont.) Kreisel 1992 * '' C. cyathiformis'' (Bosc) Morgan 1890 * '' C. flava'' (Massee) Kreisel 1992 * '' C. friabilis'' (G.Moreno, Altés, C.Ochoa & J.E.Wright) G.Moreno, Altés & C.Ochoa 2006 * '' C. fulvida'' Sosin 1952 * '' C. fusca'' (G.Cunn.) Grgur. 1997 * '' C. gardneri'' (Berk.) Lloyd 1904 * '' C. gigantea'' (Batsch) Lloyd 1904 * '' C. guzmanii'' C.R.Alves & Cortez 2012 * '' C. holothurioides'' Rebriev 2013 * '' C. horrida'' M.Lange 1990 –

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

, Norway * '' C. incerta'' Bottomley 1948 * '' C. kakavu'' (Zipp.) Overeem 1927 * '' C. lacerata'' A.H.Sm. 1964 * '' C. lachnoderma'' Pat. 1907 * '' C. lilacina'' (Mont. & Berk.) Henn. 1904 * '' C. lloydii'' Zeller & Coker 1947 * '' C. lycoperdoides'' Kościelny & Wojt. 1935 * '' C. macrogemmae'' Lloyd 1923 * '' C. nipponica'' Kawam. ex Kasuya & Katum. 2008 * '' C. nodulata'' Alfredo & Baseia 2014 – Brazil * '' C. oblongispora'' V.L.Suárez, J.E.Wright & Calonge 2009 – Brazil * '' C. occidentalis'' Lloyd 1915 * '' C. ochrogleba'' Zeller 1947 * '' C. olba'' Grgur. 1997 –

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia * '' C. olivacea'' (Cooke & Massee) Lloyd 1905 * '' C. owyheensis'' A.H.Sm. 1964 * '' C. pachydermica'' (Speg.) Kreisel 1992 * '' C. pallida'' A.H.Sm. 1964 * '' C. paradoxa'' A.H.Sm. 1964 * '' C. polygonia'' A.H.Sm. 1964 * '' C. primitiva'' Lloyd 1904 * '' C. pseudolilacina'' (Speg.) Speg. 1919 * '' C. pygmaea'' (R.E.Fr.) Kreisel, G.Moreno, C.Ochoa & Altés 1998 * '' C. pyriformis'' (Lév.) Kreisel 1992 * '' C. rosacea'' Kreisel 1989 – Ecuador * '' C. rubrotincta'' Zeller 1947 * '' C. rugosa'' (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) D.A. Reid 1977 * '' C. sculpta'' (Harkn.) Lloyd 1904 * '' C. septentrionalis'' M.Lange 1990 – Greenland * '' C. sporocristata'' Calonge 2003 – Costa Rica * '' C. subtomentosa'' Dissing & M.Lange 1962 * '' C. tropicalis'' (Speg.) Speg. 1919 * '' C. turneri'' (Ellis & Everh.) Demoulin & M.Lange 1990 * '' C. utriformis'' (Bull.) Jaap 1918 * '' C. vinosa'' Kasuya & Retn. 2006 – Indonesia * '' C. violascens'' (Cooke & Massee) R.T.Baker 1907

References

External links

''Puffballs and their allies in Michigan''
by Alexander H. Smith, 1951. (Full text of monograph.) {{Authority control Agaricaceae Agaricales genera Puffballs Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries Taxa described in 1849 *

Taxonomy

Species

See also

References

External links