Weraroa Novae Zelandiae

''Weraroa'' was a genus of mushrooms from the families Hymenogastraceae and Strophariaceae. The genus was initially described by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1958 to accommodate the single species ''Secotium novae-zelandiae'' reported by Gordon Herriott Cunningham in 1924.Cunningham GH. (1924). "A critical revision of the Australian and New Zealand species of the genus ''Secotium''". ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales'' 49(2): 97–119. It was thought that the genus represented an intermediary evolutionary stage between a hypogeous (underground) ancestor and the related epigeous (above ground) genus ''Stropharia''.
Advances in phylogenetics and taxonomic changes since 1958 found it contained unrelated species from multiple genera. It is now considered a synonym of the genus '' Psilocybe''.

Description

The following descriptions may not represent all species formerly the genus.

Macroscopic

''Weraroa'' contained secotioid fungi, meaning that the margin of the pileus rarely breaks free of the stipe, making them resemble somewhat a pouch on the end of a stem, or stalked-puffball. The peridium (outer wall), which at maturity is glutinous, may range in shape from fusoid to spherical to ovoid or ellipsoid.

The gleba consists of elongated loculi that are various shades of brown. The stipe may also be glutinous, and is continuous with a columella reaching and merging with the upper peridium, often with a thin veil-like structure that joins the edge of the peridium with the top of the stipe. The context is fleshy and may be gelatinous in the outer portion of the peridium.Singer R, Smith AH. (1958). "Studies on secotiaceous fungi. III. The genus ''Weraroa''". ''Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club'' 85(5): 324–334.

Cunningham was first to report that the mushroom takes a long time to mature, and specimens can also persist for long times.

Microscopic

Spores are typically from 10 to 20 µm in diameter, ellipsoid in shape, smooth, and pigmented ochre to brownish. The basidia (usually 4-spored) often envelop their sterigmata in gastroid-like fashion (i.e., enclosed), and may be narrower in the middle with a broader base. Chrysocystidium are present on the hymenium, on the sterile surfaces of young specimens, and as endocystidia.

Habitat and distribution

Species are usually found in rainforests or wet grasslands, growing on the ground or on wood; species of ''Weraroa'' have been found in New Zealand and the United States.

Accepted species

Few records of these species exist; it is unlikely they truly belong in the genus ''Weraroa'' (synn. '' Psilocybe'').
* '' Weraroa coprophila'' A.H. Sm. (1956)
* '' Weraroa nivalis'' A.H. Sm. (1965)
* '' Weraroa patagonica'' Singer & J.E. Wright (1959)
* '' Weraroa spadicea'' Singer (1959)

Former species

* ''Weraroa cucullata'' (Shope & Seaver) Thiers & Watling (1971) was transferred out of this genus into ''Leratiomyces'' as ''Leratiomyces cucullatus'' (Shoppe & Seaver) Beever & D.-C. Park (2008).Bridge PD, Spooner BM, Beever RE, Park DC. (2008). "Taxonomy of the fungus commonly known as ''Stropharia aurantiacea'', with new combinations in ''Leratiomyces''". ''Mycotaxon'' 103:109–121.
*''Weraroa erythrocephala'' (Tul. & C. Tul.) Singer & A.H. Sm. (1958) was also transferred into ''Leratiomyces'' as ''Leratiomyces erythrocephalus'' (Tul. & C. Tul.) Beever & D.-C. Park (2008).
*''Weraroa novae-zelandiae'' (G. Cunn.) Singer (1958), the type species of the genus, was transferred into '' Psilocybe'' as '' Psilocybe weraroa'' Borov., Oborník & Noordel (2011). Phylogenetic research conducted from 2008 on demonstrated a close relationship between ''W. novae-zelandiae'' and the blue-staining ''Psilocybe'' in the phylogenetic ''Cyanescens'' clade, including '' Psilocybe cyanescens'' and ''Psilocybe subaeruginosa''. Around this time research was also demonstrating that the genus ''Psilocybe'' was polyphyletic, and that the blueing and non - blueing species belonged in separate genera. As the blueing group did not contain the type species, and because ''W. novae-zelandiae'' was the type species for ''Weraroa'', all of the blue-staining Psilocybe species could at that point have been transferred into ''Weraroa''. However, the generic name ''Psilocybe'' was conserved for the blueing group with the type species decided as ''Psilocybe semilanceata'' (Fr.) P. Kumm (1871). ''W. novae-zelandiae'' was, therefore, classified as ''Psilocybe'' under the new name (nomen novum) ''Psilocybe weraroa''. The name ''Weraroa novae-zelandiae'' was already in use by what is now '' Deconica novae-zelandiae'' (Guzmán & E. Horak) J.A. Cooper (2012).
*''Weraroa virescens'' (Massee) Singer & A.H. Sm. (1958) became '' Clavogaster virescens'' (Massee) J.A. Cooper (2015), restoring the 1896 genus '' Clavogaster'' with a type species. The former type, ''Clavogaster novozelandicus'' Henn (1896) had become a later synonym of ''C. virescens''.

References

External links

“Hey Man, Do they grow any Weraroa around here?”
by Peter Werner

''Weraroa'' in Landcare Research NZFUNGI database

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7983140

Hymenogastraceae
Strophariaceae
Psilocybe
Psychoactive fungi
Fungi of New Zealand
Fungi of North America
Secotioid fungi
Taxa named by Rolf Singer