''Gummivena'' is a fungal

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 ...

in the

Mesophelliaceae The Mesophelliaceae are a family of truffle-fungi in the order Hysterangiales. The family contains 8 genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. I ...

family. The genus is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, containing the single

truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''Peziz ...

-like species ''Gummivena potorooi'', found in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Described as new to science in 2002, ''Gummivena'' is intermediate in form between ''

Castoreum Castoreum is a yellowish exudate from the castor sacs of mature beavers. Beavers use castoreum in combination with urine to scent mark their territory. Both beaver sexes have a pair of castor sacs and a pair of anal glands, located in two cavities ...

'' and ''

Gummiglobus ''Gummiglobus'' is a genus of truffle-like fungi in the Mesophelliaceae The Mesophelliaceae are a family of truffle-fungi in the order Hysterangiales. The family contains 8 genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biol ...

'', and has a

gleba Gleba (, from Latin ''glaeba, glēba'', "lump") is the fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of certain fungi such as the puffball or stinkhorn. The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp. The continu ...

with "veins" of gummy tissue and a three-layered

peridium The peridium is the protective layer that encloses a mass of spores in fungi. This outer covering is a distinctive feature of gasteroid fungi. Description Depending on the species, the peridium may vary from being paper-thin to thick and rubber ...

. 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 ...

''potorooi'' refers the fact that the fungus is found only in the range of the rare and endangered species

Gilbert's potoroo Gilbert's potoroo or ngilkat (''Potorous gilbertii'') is Australia's most endangered marsupial, the rarest marsupial in the world, and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals, found in south-western Western Australia. It is a ...

(''Potorous gilbertii'').

References

External links

* Hysterangiales Monotypic Basidiomycota genera Truffles (fungi) Taxa named by James Trappe {{Agaricomycetes-stub