''Rhodophana'' 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 ...

of mushroom-forming fungi in the family

Entolomataceae The Entolomataceae, also known as Rhodophyllaceae, are a large family of pink-spored terrestrial gilled mushrooms which includes the genera ''Entoloma'', '' Rhodocybe'', and ''Clitopilus''. The family collectively contains over 1500 species, the ...

. It originally described as a genus in 1947 by

Robert Kühner Robert Kühner (15 March 1903 in Paris – 27 February 1996 in Lyon) was a French mycologist most notable for reviewing many forms of agaric (mushroom fungus) genera. He studied at the Sorbonne, afterwards from 1921 until 1932, he was working ...

, but the description was invalid until it was re-published in 1971, though as a subgenus of ''

Rhodocybe ''Rhodocybe'' is a small genus of small and medium-sized brownish-pink spored mushrooms, or (following recent mycological research) it is a subgroup of genus ''Clitopilus''. These mushrooms are saprotrophic and most grow on the ground, but some ...

''. It did not find favour as a genus until ''Rhodocybe'' was found to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

and Kluting et al. resurrected the name in 2014 as part of a DNA-based reclassification of the family. ''Rhodophana'' is distinguished from other genera of the Entolomataceae because there are

clamp connections A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of Basidiomycetes fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), recei ...

and based on the structure of the cap skin. This genus has a thin outer cutis in a single layer merging into the main trama whilst other family members have a two-layer cap skin. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is ''Rhodophana nitellina''. The name is derived from "rhodon" (ῥόδον) = "rose" (referring to the pink colour of the spores and gills) and "phanos" (φανός) = bright or conspicuous (referring to the cap colour).

References

Entolomataceae Agaricales genera {{Agaricales-stub

See also

References