''Oliveonia'' 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 ...

in the order

Auriculariales The Auriculariales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. Species within the order were formerly referred to the "heterobasidiomycetes" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that produce spores on ...

. Species form thin, effused,

corticioid The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or pa ...

basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp of a basidiomycota, basidiomycete, the Multicellular organism, multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are chara ...

(fruit bodies) with microscopically prominent

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 ...

and aseptate

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 ...

producing

basidiospores A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are pro ...

that give rise to secondary spores. All species are believed to be

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 ...

, most growing on dead wood. The genus was originally published by American

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

L.S. Olive in 1957 as ''Heteromyces'', but this is an illegitimate later

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones (equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition, ...

of the

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Heteromyces ''Heteromyces'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species ''Heteromyces rubescens''. Both the genus and species were described by Swiss lichenologist Johannes Müller Argovie ...

'' Müll.Arg. (1889). The genus was renamed ''Oliveonia'' by Dutch mycologist M.A. Donk in 1958.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10609142 Auriculariales Basidiomycota genera Taxa described in 1958