''Mycetinis querceus'' ( syn. ''Marasmius querceus'') is one of the garlic-scented mushrooms formerly in the genus ''

Marasmius ''Marasmius'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Marasmiaceae. It contains about 500 species of agarics, of which a few, such as '' Marasmius oreades'', are edible. However, most members of this genus are small, unimpressive ...

''. It has a reddish brown stipe, and usually grows on fallen oak leaves.

Description

The species can be described as follows: *The cap is reddish brown to pale brown, and is hygrophanous, drying to a paler colour. It measures around 1-2.5 cm in diameter. *The gills are white to cream and crowded. The spore powder is white. *The brownish stem can grow to 10 cm tall and up to 4 mm in diameter. It is powdery ("

pruinose Pruinescence , or pruinosity, is a "frosted" or dusty-looking coating on top of a surface. It may also be called a pruina (plural: ''pruinae''), from the Latin word for hoarfrost. The adjectival form is pruinose . Entomology In insects, a "blo ...

") or covered in minute hairs ("pubescent"), a feature which distinguishes it from ''M. scorodonius''. *The smell is strongly of garlic. *The spores are roughly ellipsoid and measure 7-10 µm x 4-5 µm. *There are no cheilocystidia (on the gill edge) or pleurocystidia (on the gill faces).

Naming and related species

The Latin species name, ''querceus'', means "relating to oak", and refers to its being found commonly on oak leaf litter. This species was originally defined as ''Marasmius querceus'' by the German mycologist

Max Britzelmayr Max Britzelmayr (7 January 1839 – 6 December 1909) was a German mycologist and lichenologist who was a native of Augsburg. He spent his career as a schoolteacher and ''Kreisschulinspektor'' (school district administrator) in Augsburg. He is k ...

in 1896 and it had that name until it was put into the new genus ''Mycetinis'' in 2005 (see the ''

Mycetinis ''Mycetinis'' is a genus of fungus in the Omphalotaceae family, containing about eight species formerly classified in ''Marasmius''. General This group of mushrooms was long known as a section (''Alliacei'') within the more familiar genus ''Maras ...

'' page for more details). Mycetinis prasiosmus (10

The name ''Marasmius prasiosmus'' (following

Fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. The ...

) has wrongly been used for this mushroom by some authors, but this is an erroneous synonym because there is a conflict between Fries's description of 1838 (which does represent ''M. querceus'') and his original description of 1818 and 1821 (which legitimately represents a different mushroom). The pruinose or pubescent reddish brown stipe, together with its habitat on deciduous leaf litter are enough to distinguish it from other European species of ''Mycetinis''.

Ecology and distribution

This mushroom is found in autumn on fallen deciduous leaves, especially those of various types of ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

''. It is uncommon but widespread in Europe, and recorded from North Africa.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q57986443 querceus Fungi of Europe Taxa named by Max Britzelmayr Fungi described in 1896