''Handkea'' is a genus of

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 ...

mushrooms in the family

Agaricaceae 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 publishe ...

. In 1989, German mycologist Hanns Kreisel described the genus ''Handkea'' to include species of '' Calvatia'' with distinct microscopic features, including a unique type of capillitium (coarse thick-walled

hyphae A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

in the

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 conti ...

), with curvy slits instead of the usual pores. Although accepted by some authors, the genus concept has been rejected by others. The genus name of ''Handkea'' is in honour of Horst-Herbert Handke (1913-2005), who was a German botanist and Professor at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analyses published in 2008 shows that ''Handkea'' may be grouped in a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

along with species from several other genera, including ''

Lycoperdon ''Lycoperdon'' is a genus of puffball mushrooms. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains about 50 species. In general, it contains the smaller species such as the pear-shaped puffball and the gem-studded puffball. It was formerly cl ...

'', ''

Vascellum ''Vascellum'' is a genus of puffball fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The genus was defined by Czech mycologist František Šmarda in 1958. Species *'' Vascellum abscissum'' (R.E.Fr.) Kreisel 1962 – South America *'' Vascellum angulatum'' (Di ...

'', '' Morganella'', ''

Bovistella ''Bovistella'' is a genus of puffball fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The genus was circumscribed by mycologist Andrew Price Morgan in 1892. Species , the nomenclatural authority Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international pr ...

Species

References

External links