''Collybia'' (in the strict sense) is a

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 ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

s in the family

Tricholomataceae The Tricholomataceae are a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. the ...

. The genus has a widespread but rare distribution in northern

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

areas, and contains three species that grow on the decomposing remains of other mushrooms. Until recently a large number of other white-spored species, some very common, were assigned to this genus, but now the majority have been separated into other genera: ''

Gymnopus ''Gymnopus'' is a genus of fungus in the family Omphalotaceae. The genus has a widespread, cosmopolitan distribution and contains about 300 species. History and classification The type species for the Gymnopus, '' Gymnopus fusipes,'' dates ba ...

'', '' Rhodocollybia'' and ''

Dendrocollybia ''Dendrocollybia'' is a fungal genus in the family Tricholomataceae of the order Agaricales. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species ''Dendrocollybia racemosa'', commonly known as the branched Collybia or the branched shanklet. Th ...

''.

''Collybia'' sensu lato

''Collybia'' sensu lato is one of the groups of fungi of 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 ...

that has created

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

differences of opinion in the scientific community. The generic name ''Collybia'' is due to

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 ...

and first appeared in 1821. ''Collybia'' was originally a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

from an

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 bisp ...

classification. In 1857, Friedrich Staude recognized ''Collybia'' as a genus. The name ''Collybia'' means "small coin". Later in his systematic work of 1838, Fries characterized ''Collybia'' as those species with #white spores, #incurved cap margin, #central cartilaginous stipe, and #fruit bodies which decay easily ("putrescent"). The last criterion divided these mushrooms from those of ''

Marasmius ''Marasmius'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Marasmiaceae. It contains about 500 species of agarics, of which a few, such as '' Marasmius oreades'', are edible. However, most members of this genus are small, unimpressive ...

'', which had the property of being able to revive after having dried out (called "marcescent"). Although Fries considered this an important characteristic, some later authors like

Charles Horton Peck Charles Horton Peck (March 30, 1833 – July 11, 1917) was an American mycologist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the New York State Botanist from 1867 to 1915, a period in which he described over 2,700 species of North American fun ...

(1897) and

Calvin Henry Kauffman Calvin Henry Kauffman (March 1, 1869–1931) was an American botanist and mycologist. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he was affiliated with the University of Michigan from 1904 until his death, and was known ...

(1918) did not agree with Fries's criteria for the classification, and Gilliam (1976) discarded marcescence as a characteristic for the identification and differentiation of these genera. At that point, the very varied genus encompassed the modern genera ''

Oudemansiella ''Oudemansiella'' is a genus of fungi in the family Physalacriaceae. The genus contains about 15 species that are widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions. Yang and colleagues revised the genus in a 2009 publication, describing several ...

'' (including ''

Xerula ''Xerula'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms in the family Physalacriaceae The Physalacriaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Species in the family have a widespread distribution, ranging from the Arctic, ('' Rhizomarasmius''), t ...

''), ''

Crinipellis ''Crinipellis'' is a genus of fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains about 65 species. It was circumscribed by French mycologist Narcisse Théophile Patouillard in 1889. Species *'' Crinipellis ac ...

'', ''

Flammulina ''Flammulina'' is a genus of fungi in the family Physalacriaceae. The genus, widespread in temperate regions, has been estimated to contain 10 species. List of species * '' Flammulina callistosporioides'' * '' Flammulina elastica'' * '' Flamm ...

'', ''

Calocybe ''Calocybe'' is a small genus of about 40 species of mushroom, including St. George's mushroom, which is edible, and milky mushroom, which is edible and is cultivated in India. There are not many species of this genus in Britain. The name is de ...

'', ''

Lyophyllum ''Lyophyllum'' is a genus of about 40 species of fungi, widespread in north temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the ...

'', ''

Tephrocybe ''Tephrocybe'' is a genus of about 40 species of mushroom, with a widespread distribution in temperate areas. The genus was circumscribed by Dutch mycologist Marinus Anton Donk Marinus Anton Donk (14 August 1908 – 2 September 1972) was a Dutc ...

'', '' Strobilurus'', and others. In 1993, Antonín and Noordeloos published the first part of a

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

of the genera ''Marasmius'' and ''Collybia'' after conducting a survey of these genera in Europe. In 1997, they published the second part of the monograph that included all ''Collybia'' species. In 1997, Antonín and colleagues published a generic concept within these two genera and organized the nomenclature to provide a new combination of genera: ''Gymnopus'', ''Collybia'', ''Dendrocollybia'', ''Rhodocollybia'' and ''Marasmiellus''. The nomenclature and reclassification has since been supported by subsequent

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 ...

analysis. Most of these mushrooms belong to the family

Marasmiaceae The Marasmiaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi which have white spores. They mostly have tough stems and the capability of shrivelling up during a dry period and later recovering. The widely consumed edible fungus ''Lentinula edodes'', the ...

and have low convex caps and white gills, with

adnate Adnate may refer to: * Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower * Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills) * Conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are ...

attachment to the stem. This general form has given rise to the term ''collybioid'', which is still in use to describe this type of fruit body.

''Collybia'' sensu stricto

The

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 ...

for ''Collybia'' is ''C. tuberosa'', a small white

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

mushroom (with caps up to ) which develops from a reddish-brown apple seed-shaped

sclerotium A sclerotium (; (), is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favo ...

in and on putrescent fungi or remaining in soil after complete decay of the host tissue. The three species remaining in the genus are small (up to ). The caps are whitish and often radially wrinkled. All three species are

saprobic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (f ...

, and grow on the decomposing remains of other mushrooms. When the genus was split up, the much-reduced genus was moved from ''

'' to ''

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q244305 Tricholomataceae Agaricales genera de:Rüblinge

''Collybia'' sensu lato

''Collybia'' sensu stricto

See also

References