Entoloma Mathinnae
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''Entoloma mathinnae'' is a species of agaric fungus in the family
Entolomataceae The Entolomataceae, also known as Rhodophyllaceae, are a large family of pink-spored terrestrial gilled mushrooms which includes the genera ''Entoloma'', '' Rhodocybe'', and ''Clitopilus''. The family collectively contains over 1500 species, the ...
. Known only from Tasmania, Australia, it was described as new to science in 2009.
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 have light yellow-brown, convex caps up to wide atop stems measuring long.


Taxonomy

The species was described in 2009 in the journal '' Mycotaxon'' by Australian mycologists Genevieve Gates, Bryony M. Horton, and Dutch '' Entoloma'' authority
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 ...
. ''Entoloma mathinnae'' is classified in the section ''Entoloma'' of the genus '' Entoloma''. Species in this section are characterized by having a '' Tricholoma''-like appearance, a smooth cap, and spores that are small and somewhat angular. The type collection was made in 2008 in the small town of Mathinna, Tasmania. The
specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
refers to not only the type locality, but also the 19th-century
indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
girl Mathinna, after whom the town is named.


Description

The
fruit bodies 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 ...
of the fungus have convex caps with a low umbo, and attain a diameter of . The caps are a light yellow-brown colour that fades somewhat approaching the margin. The cap surface is smooth or somewhat sticky, and the cap margin develops cracks in maturity. The gills are crowded together closely: there are about 80 full-length gills interspersed with 3–5 tiers of lamellulae (short gills that do not extend completely from the cap margin to the stem). The attachment of the gills to the
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
ranges from adnate (broadly fused) to emarginate (having a notched edge). Gills are a bright yellow colour throughout. The cylindrical stem measures by thick, tapering slightly at the base. Its surface is fibrillose, and its colour white to pale brown, although sometimes it has grey-violet tones mixed in. Initially solid, the stem hollows with age. The flesh of the mushroom is firm and white, and lacks any distinct taste or odor.
Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...
s are somewhat angular, with 6 to 8 sides, and dimensions averaging 7.3 by 6.9 
μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored, clamped at their bases, and measure 20–34 by 7–9 μm.


Habitat and distribution

The fungus has been collected from two sites in Tasmania. The northeastern site is a
rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
located at an altitude of about , containing predominantly trees of the species ''
Eucalyptus delegatensis ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
'' with an understorey of the shrub ''
Leptospermum lanigerum ''Leptospermum lanigerum'', commonly known as the woolly teatree, is a small tree or medium shrub from the plant family ''Myrtaceae''. Its common name derives from the conspicuously hairy capsules produced as fruit, along with the fine, silky hai ...
''. The southwestern site, a low-altitude wet
sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...
forest, has the trees '' Eucalyptus obliqua'' and an understorey of '' Leptospermum scoparium'' and '' Melaleuca squarrosa''. All of the plant associates of ''E. mathinnae'' are in the family
Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...
. Although it is not known whether the fungus has any specific association with these plants, some ''Entoloma'' species are suspected of being
mycorrhiza   A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
l, and members of the Myrtaceae are known to form ectomycorrhizas with fungi. , there are about 100 species of ''Entoloma'' known from Tasmania, many of which have not yet been formally described.


See also

* List of ''Entoloma'' species


References


External links

* *
Entolomatacae of Tasmania
Image {{Taxonbar, from=Q5380590 Entolomataceae Fungi described in 2009 Fungi of Australia Taxa named by Machiel Noordeloos Fungus species