''Deconica'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Strophariaceae. It was formerly considered

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with '' Psilocybe'' until

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 ...

studies showed that genus to be polyphyletic, made of two major

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s: one containing bluing, hallucinogenic species, the other non-bluing and non-hallucinogenic species. ''Deconica'' contains species formerly classified in the

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

''Deconica'' and ''Coprophila'' of ''Psilocybe''.

Taxonomy

Until recently, ''Deconica'' was generally considered to be

with '' Psilocybe'', and was originally named as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of '' Agaricus'' by Worthington George Smith in 1870. It was later raised to generic level by

Petter Karsten Petter Adolf Karsten (16 February 1834 – 22 March 1917) was a Finnish mycologist, the foremost expert on the fungi of Finland in his day, and known in consequence as the "father of Finnish mycology". Karsten was born in Merimasku near Turku, s ...

in 1879. However, several

studies published in the 2000s demonstrated that ''Psilocybe'', as it was defined then, was polyphyletic. The studies supported the idea of dividing the genus into two

s, one consisting of the bluing, hallucinogenic species, and the other made of the non-bluing, non-hallucinogenic species. However, the generally accepted lectotype (a specimen later selected when the original author of a taxon name did not designate a

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

) of the genus as a whole was ''

Psilocybe montana ''Deconica montana'', commonly known as the mountain moss Psilocybe, is a common species of mushroom that usually grows in mossy and montane regions around the world. The appearance is that of a typical "little brown mushroom" with a small, brow ...

'', a non-hallucinogenic species; if those forms of the species in the study were to be segregated, it would leave the hallucinogenic clade without a valid name. To resolve this taxonomical dilemma, it was proposed in 2005 to conserve the name ''Psilocybe'', with ''P. semilanceata'' as the type, leaving the option to use ''Deconica'' as the name for the non-hallucinogenic clade. The proposal was accepted unanimously by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi in 2009. Recently, it has been reported that the non-bluing '' Psilocybe fuscofulva'' does not produce hallucinogenic compounds. Thus, non-hallucinogenic species are also covered by the genus '' Psilocybe'', not only ''Deconica''. ''Deconica'' had previously been recognized as a separate genus by several authors, including

Rolf Singer Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a Germany, German-born mycologist and one of the most important Taxonomy (biology), taxonomists of gilled mushrooms (agarics) in the 20th century. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University ...

in 1951, Dennis and Orton in 1960, and Horak in 1979.

Species

Many species in ''Deconica'' were transferred there by mycologist

Machiel Noordeloos Machiel Evert Noordeloos (born 16 April 1949) is a Dutch mycologist. He is known for his contributions to the taxonomy of European mushrooms and especially his expertise on the genus ''Entoloma''. Noordeloos is an assistant professor at the Nat ...

in a 2009 publication.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5249581 Agaricales genera Strophariaceae