''Mycena'' is a large

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 ...

of small

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 (f ...

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 that are rarely more than a few centimeters in width. They are characterized by a white

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...

, a small conical or bell-shaped

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, and a thin fragile

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 ...

. Most are gray or brown, but a few species have brighter colors. Most have a translucent and striate cap, which rarely has an incurved margin. 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 attached and usually have

cystidia 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 ...

. Some species, like ''

Mycena haematopus ''Mycena haematopus'', commonly known as the bleeding fairy helmet, the burgundydrop bonnet, or the bleeding Mycena, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, of the order Agaricales. It is widespread and common in Europe and North Amer ...

'', exude a

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

when the stem is broken, and many species have a

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

or radish-like odor.

Overview

''Mycenas'' are hard to identify to species and some are distinguishable only by microscopic features such as the shape of the cystidia. Some species are

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 ...

, while others contain toxins, but the edibility of most is not known, as they are likely too small to be useful in cooking. ''

Mycena pura ''Mycena pura'', commonly known as the lilac bonnet, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First called ''Agaricus prunus'' in 1794 by Christian Hendrik Persoon, it was assigned its current name in 1871 by German Paul Kummer. ''Myc ...

'' contains the

mycotoxin A mycotoxin (from the Greek μύκης , "fungus" and τοξίνη , "toxin") is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by organisms of kingdom Fungi and is capable of causing disease and death in both humans and other animals. The term 'mycotoxin' ...

muscarine Muscarine, L-(+)-muscarine, or muscarin is a natural product found in certain mushrooms, particularly in ''Inocybe'' and ''Clitocybe'' species, such as the deadly '' C. dealbata''. Mushrooms in the genera ''Entoloma'' and ''Mycena'' have al ...

, but the medical significance of this is unknown. Over 58 species are known to be

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorganisms including ...

, creating a glow known as

foxfire Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with ...

. These species are divided among 16 lineages, leading to evolutionary uncertainty in whether the luminescence developed once and was lost among many species, or evolved in parallel by several species. One advantage of bioluminescence may lie in its potential to attract insects that can disperse the mushroom's spores. Alexander Smith's 1947 ''Mycena''

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

identified 232 species; the genus is now known to include about 500 species worldwide. Maas Geesteranus divided the genus into 38

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

in 1992, providing keys to each for all the species of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. Many new species have been discovered since then, and four new sections have been proposed.

Taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

is complex, as most sections are not truly homogeneous, and the keys fail for some species, especially those that satisfy some criteria for only part of their

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring *Life-cycle hypothesis, ...

. Some sections contain only one species. The name ''Mycena'' comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

μύκης ', meaning "fungus". Species in the genus ''Mycena'' (and in '' Hemimycena'') are commonly known as bonnets.

Selected species

* '' M. abramsii'' * '' M. acicula'' * '' M. adonis'' * '' M. adscendens'' * '' M. aetites'' * '' M. albidocapillaris'' * '' M. alcalina'' * '' M. alnicola'' * '' M. alphitophora'' * '' M. amicta'' * '' M. atkinsonii'' * '' M. atkinsoniana'' * '' M. aurantiomarginata'' * '' M. austrofilopes'' * '' M. austrororida'' * '' M. arcangeliana'' * '' M. aspratilis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. asterina'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. atrata'' * ''M. brunneospinosa'' * '' M. cahaya'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. californiensis'' * ''M. capillaripes'' * '' M. chlorophos'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. chlorophanos'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. cinerella'' * '' M. citricolor'' * ''M. citrinomarginata'' * '' M. clariviolacea'' * '' M. coralliformis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. cristinae'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. crocata'' * '' M. cyanorrhiza'' * '' M. cystidiosa'' * '' M. daisyogunensis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. deeptha'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. deformis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. deusta'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. discobasis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. domingensis'' * '' M. epipterygia'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. erubescens'' * '' M. fera'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. flavescens'' * '' M. flavoalba'' * '' M. fonticola'' * '' M. fuhreri'' * '' M. fulgoris'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. fusca'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. fuscoaurantiaca'' * '' M. galericulata'' * '' M. galopus'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. griseoviridis'' * '' M. globulispora'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. gombakensis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. guldeniana'' * '' M. guzmanii'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. haematopus'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. holoporphyra'' * '' M. illuminans'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. inclinata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. interrupta'' * '' M. intersecta'' * '' M. kentingensis'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. kuurkacea'' * '' M. lacrimans'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lazulina'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. leaiana'' * ''M. lacrimans'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lanuginosa'' * '' M. leptocephala'' * ''M. lucentipes'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lumina'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luteopallens'' * '' M. luxaeterna'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. luxarboricola'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. lux-coeli'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luxfoliata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luxfoliicola'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. luxperpetua'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. maculata'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. manipularis'' * '' M. margarita'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. marasmielloides'' * '' M. metata'' * '' M. minirubra'' * '' M. multiplicata'' * '' M. mustea'' * '' M. nargan'' * '' M. nebula'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. nidificata'' * '' M. nocticaelum'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. noctilucens'' * '' M. oculisnymphae'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. olida'' * '' M. olivaceomarginata'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. oregonensis'' * '' M. overholtsii'' * '' M. perlae'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. pelianthina'' * '' M. polygramma'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pruinosoviscida'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pseudostylobates'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. pura'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. pura'' complex * '' M. purpureofusca'' * '' M. renati'' * '' M. rosea'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. rosella'' * '' M. roseoflava'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. sanguinolenta'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. seminau'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. semivestipes'' * ''M. seynii'' * '' M. silvaelucens'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. sinar'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. sinar var. tangkaisinar'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. singeri'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. spinosissima'' * ''M. stipata'' * '' M. strobilinoides'' * '' M. stylobates'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. subcaerulea'' * '' M. sublucens'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. tenuispinosa'' * '' M. tintinnabulum'' (bioluminescent) * '' M. urania'' * '' M. vinacea'' (bioluminescent) * ''M. viscosa'' * '' M. vitilis'' * ''M. vulgaris'' * '' M. zephirus'' (bioluminescent)

References

External links

Mushroom Expert - The Genus ''Mycena''

Fungi Bioluminescence Laboratory

Online copy of Smith's 1947 Monograph
from the

University of Michigan Herbarium The University of Michigan Herbarium is the herbarium of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. One of the most-extensive botanical collections in the world, the herbarium has some 1.7 million specimens of vascu ...

National Geographic Photo in the News
featuring pictures of bioluminescent species

including a great deal of information on many species {{Taxonbar, from=Q1124575 Agaricales genera Bioluminescent fungi

Overview

Selected species

See also

References

Further reading

External links