The Marasmiaceae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

fungi which have white

spores 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 ...

. They mostly have tough

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 ...

s and the capability of shrivelling up during a dry period and later recovering. The widely consumed

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

fungus ''

Lentinula edodes The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. Ta ...

'', the shiitake mushroom, is a member of this family. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 54

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and 1590

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. The family Omphalotaceae, described by A. Bresinsky in 1985 as a segregate from the

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 ...

, has been 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 Marasmiaceae. However DNA analyses by Moncalvo et al. in 2002 and Matheny et al. in 2006 have now led to that family being accepted by

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names ( scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of M ...

and most recent references. The following genera are included in that family : ''

Anthracophyllum ''Anthracophyllum'' is a genus of fungi in the family Omphalotaceae in the order Agaricales. The genus is widespread in tropical regions, and contains 10 species. See also *List of Marasmiaceae genera The Marasmiaceae are a family of fungi in t ...

'', ''

Gymnopus ''Gymnopus'' is a genus of fungus in the family Omphalotaceae. The genus has a widespread, cosmopolitan distribution and contains about 300 species. History and classification The type species for the Gymnopus, '' Gymnopus fusipes,'' dates ba ...

'', ''

Lentinula ''Lentinula'' is a small genus of wood-inhabiting agarics. The neotropical species ''Lentinula boryana'' (= ''L. cubensis'') is the type species. However, the best-known species is ''L. edodes'', the shiitake. The genus, erected by Fra ...

'', ''

Marasmiellus ''Marasmiellus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Omphalotaceae (synonym to Marasmiaceae). The widespread genus, circumscribed by American mycologist William Murrill in 1915, contains over 250 species. The name comes from the Greek '' marasmus'' ...

'', '' Mycetinis'', '' Rhodocollybia'', ''

Omphalotus ''Omphalotus'' is a genus of basidiomycete mushroom, in the family Marasmiaceae, formally circumscribed by Victor Fayod in 1889. Members have the traditional cap and stem structure. They are saprobic, and fruit in clumps on the ground, adjac ...

''.

Genera

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q544997

Marasmiaceae The Marasmiaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi which have white spores. They mostly have tough stems and the capability of shrivelling up during a dry period and later recovering. The widely consumed edible fungus ''Lentinula edodes'', th ...