mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogen ...

, a lamella, or gill, is a papery

hymenophore A hymenophore refers to the hymenium-bearing structure of a fungal fruiting body. Hymenophores can be smooth surfaces, lamellae Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (myc ...

rib under the cap of some

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

species, most often

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushroom ...

s. The gills are used by the mushrooms as a means of spore dispersal, and are important for

species identification Identification in biology is the process of assigning a pre-existing taxon name to an individual organism. Identification of organisms to individual scientific names (or codes) may be based on individualistic natural body features, experimentally ...

. The attachment of the gills to the

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

is classified based on the shape of the gills when viewed from the side, while color, crowding and the shape of individual gills can also be important features. Additionally, gills can have distinctive

microscopic The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale be ...

or macroscopic features. For instance, ''

Lactarius ''Lactarius'' is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid ("latex") they exude when cut or damaged. Like ...

'' species typically seep

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

from their gills. It was originally believed that all gilled fungi were

Agaricales The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms (for their distinctive gills) or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13,000 described species, alo ...

, but as fungi were studied in more detail, some gilled species were demonstrated not to be. It is now clear that this is a case of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

(i.e. gill-like structures evolved separately) rather than being an

anatomic Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

feature that evolved only once. The apparent reason that various

basidiomycetes Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Bas ...

have evolved gills is that it is the most effective means of increasing the ratio of surface area to mass, which increases the potential for spore production and dispersal. Other groups of fungi to bear gills include: * The genera ''

Russula ''Russula'' is a very large genus composed of around 750 worldwide species of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored – making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushr ...

'' and ''

'' of the

Russulales The Russulales are an order of the Agaricomycetes, (which include the agaric genera '' Russula'' and ''Lactarius'' and their polyporoid and corticioid relatives). According to the ''Dictionary of the Fungi'' (10th edition, 2008), the order consi ...

. * Several genera in the

Boletales The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. T ...

, including '' Gomphidius'' and '' Chroogomphus'' as well as ''

Tapinella atrotomentosa ''Tapinella atrotomentosa'', commonly known as the velvet roll-rim or velvet-footed pax, is a species of fungus in the family Tapinellaceae. Although it has gills, it is a member of the pored mushroom order Boletales. August Batsch described t ...

'' (which has been traditionally named ''

Paxillus atrotomentosus ''Tapinella atrotomentosa'', commonly known as the velvet roll-rim or velvet-footed pax, is a species of fungus in the family Tapinellaceae. Although it has gills, it is a member of the pored mushroom order Boletales. August Batsch described t ...

'') and other species in that genus, the False chanterelle (''

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca ''Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca'', commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gar ...

''). * Such polypore-like fungi such as '' d aedaleopsis confragosa'', ''

Lenzites betulina ''Trametes betulina'' (formerly ''Lenzites betulina''), sometimes known by common names gilled polypore, birch mazegill or multicolor gill polypore, is a species of inedible fungus. Although it is a member of the Polyporales order, its fruit ...

'' and ''

Gloeophyllum sepiarium ''Gloeophyllum sepiarium'', the rusty gilled polypore, is a wood decay fungus that causes a brown rot. ''Gloeophyllum sepiarium'' grows in thin, dark brown/green brackets on dead conifers. Often found on wood in lumberyards, the fruiting body gr ...

''. Members of the two related genera of chanterelles, ''

Cantharellus ''Cantharellus'' is a genus of popular edible mushrooms, commonly known as chanterelles, a name which can also refer to the type species, '' Cantharellus cibarius''. They are mycorrhizal fungi, meaning they form symbiotic associations with plant ...

'' and ''

Craterellus ''Craterellus'' is a genus of generally edible fungi similar to the closely related chanterelles, with some new species recently moved from the latter to the former. Both groups lack true gills on the underside of their caps, though they often ...

'', have rudimentary lamellar structures which are sometimes referred to as "false gills". They are distinguished from "true gills" because the structure of the fertile surface ("

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others so ...

") continues uninterrupted over the gill edge, so they are little more than folds, wrinkles or veins. The genus '' Gomphus'' also has false gills. These primitive lamellae indicate how the evolution towards true gills probably happened.

Classification

Morphologically, gills are classified according to their attachment to the stipe:

image:Adnate_gills_icon2.svg, Adnate image:Adnexed_gills_icon2.svg, Adnexed image:Decurrent_gills_icon2.svg, Decurrent image:Emarginate_gills_icon2.svg, Emarginate image:Free_gills_icon2.svg, Free image:Seceding gills icon2.svg, Seceding image:Sinuate gills icon2.svg, Sinuate image:Subdecurrent gills icon2.svg, Subdecurrent

References

External links

IMA Mycological Glossary: Gill
{{Fungus structure Fungal morphology and anatomy ja:キノコの部位#ひだ