''Infundibulicybe'' 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 ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

that is robustly placed

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

as sister group to the Tricholomatoid clade. It has previously been part of the family of

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 ...

, but recent molecular phylogeny has shown it to take an isolated position within the

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 ...

Description

The fruitingbody of ''Infundibulicybe'' is clitocyboid and not

hygrophanous The adjective hygrophanous refers to the color change of mushroom tissue (especially the pileus surface) as it loses or absorbs water, which causes the pileipellis to become more transparent when wet and opaque when dry. When identifying hygrop ...

. The cap diameter can vary from 1,5 to 25 cm, with some growing as large as 40 cm. Its shape can be depressed to funnel-like with a velvety to finely scaly surface. The colouration of the basidiocarp is white to pale buff to buff, pinkish buff,

yellowish Varieties of the color yellow may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation, intensity, or colorfulness) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and sha ...

, yellowish brown, orange brown, reddish brown or greyish brown. The

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are decurrent to deeply decurrent. This basidiomycete smells faint, from cyanic to sweet aromatic and faintly camphor-like when fresh. The spore deposit is whitish and spores are dikaryoid, smooth, hyaline and without iodine reactions. The

basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-c ...

are 4-spored,

cheilocystidia A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that ar ...

are absent and

clamp connections A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of Basidiomycetes fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), rece ...

present. They grow

saprotrophic 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 ( ...

on litter of leaves and needles or soil in forests, grassland and alpine habitats. ''Infundibulicybe'' shares some characteristics with ''

Omphalina ''Omphalina'' is a genus of small agarics with white, nonamyloid, basidiospores and decurrent gills. Typically the cap has a deep central depression giving the umbrella-like to funnel-shaped cap the appearance of a belly button, or a belly with a ...

'', like the cream-reddish brown tinges of pileus and stipe, the deeply decurrent lamellae and strongly encrusting pigment. Another member of the group, '' I. lateritia'' is a rare alpine-arctic species strictly associated with ''

Dryas octopetala ''Dryas octopetala'', the mountain avens, eightpetal mountain-avens, white dryas or white dryad, is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies. The specific epithe ...

'' (

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

Taxonomy

The group was formerly included in the genus

Clitocybe ''Clitocybe'' is a genus of mushrooms characterized by white, off-white, buff, cream, pink, or light-yellow spores, gills running down the stem, and pale white to brown or lilac coloration. They are primarily saprotrophic, decomposing forest grou ...

, but in 2003 was erected to genus level to accommodate species for which mycelium cannot reduce nitrate and basidiospores do not adhere in tetrads, but exhibit a lacrymoid (tear-shaped) morphology, a confluent base and a cyanophobic basidiospore wall. The genus contains 19 widespread species according to the Index Fungorum and one new species '' I. rufa'', only known from high altitude localities in southwestern China, described in 2016. The type species of the genus, as defined by the author Harmaja, is '' I. gibba''.

Species

*'' I. alkaliviolascens'' *'' I. altaica'' *'' I. bresadolana'' *'' I. catinus'' *'' I. costata'' *'' I. dryadum'' *'' I. geotropa'' *'' I. gibba'' *'' I. gigas'' *'' I. glareosa'' *'' I. lapponica'' *'' I. lateritia'' *'' I. mediterranea'' *'' I. meridionalis'' *'' I. montana'' *'' I. rufa'' *'' I. sinopicoides'' *'' I. splendoides'' *'' I. squamulosa'' *'' I. trulliformis''

References

Agaricales enigmatic taxa Agaricales genera {{Tricholomataceae-stub

Description

Taxonomy

Species

See also

References