''Panaeolus'' is a genus of small, black-spored, saprotrophic agarics. The word ''Panaeolus'' is Greek for "all variegated", alluding to the spotted gills of the mushrooms produced.

Characteristics

These fungi are mostly

dung Dung most often refers to animal feces. Dung may also refer to: Science and technology * Dry animal dung fuel * Manure * Cow dung * Coprolite, fossilized feces * Dung beetle Art * Mundungus Fletcher or "Dung", a character in the Harry Potter n ...

and grassland species, some of which are quite common in Europe and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The gills of ''Panaeolus'' do not deliquesce as do the members of the related

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 ...

'' Coprinellus'' and '' Coprinopsis''. Members of ''Panaeolus'' can also be mistaken for '' Psathyrella'', however the latter genus is usually found growing on wood or lignin-enriched soils and has brittle

stipes Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

. The gills of these mushrooms are black or grey and have a spotty, speckled or cloudy appearance, caused by the way that the dark spores ripen together in tiny patches on the gill surface; different patches darken at different times. The spores are smooth. The closely related genus ''

Panaeolina Panaeolina is a small genus of small mushrooms, containing only about four species. They are a subgroup of Panaeolus which have dark brown spores. The type species is Panaeolina foenisecii, a common lawn mushroom. Members of ''Panaeolina'' ar ...

'' shares the spotted gills but they are dark brown (not black) and the spores are ornamented. This genus is sometimes treated as part of ''Panaeolus''. The spores are smooth or roughened, with a germ pore, and all species except for Panaeolus foenisecii have a jet black spore print.

Edibility

No members of ''Panaeolus'' are used for food, though some are used as a

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. Thirteen species of ''Panaeolus'' contain the hallucinogen psilocybin including '' Panaeolus cyanescens'' and ''

Panaeolus cinctulus ''Panaeolus cinctulus'', syn. ''Panaeolus subbalteatus'', commonly known as the banded mottlegill, weed Panaeolus or is a very common, widely distributed psilocybin mushroom. According to American naturalist and mycologist David Arora, ''Panaeolus ...

''. The bluing hallucinogenic members of this genus were sometimes previously segregated into a separate (but now deprecated) genus, '' Copelandia'', but are now universally classified in ''Panaeolus''. Several members of this genus are known to contain psilocin and psilocybin and it is suspected that a number of other members of this genus contain unidentified psychoactive compounds. All members of this genus contain

serotonin Serotonin () or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vas ...

derivatives.

Notable species

References

External links

Key to Panaeolus in the Pacific Northwest

Panaeolus key by Ola'h that emphasizes microscopic features

Panaeolus - A Genus of Toadstools

A Worldwide Geographical Distribution of the Neurotropic Fungi
* Wikispecies - Panaeolus {{Taxonbar, from=Q2120832 Agaricales genera Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries