''Imaia'' is a fungal

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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Morchellaceae The Morchellaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi in the order Pezizales. According to a standard reference work, the family has contained at least 49 species distributed among four genera. However, in 2012, five genera that produce ascoma that ...

found in Japan, and in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

of the US. A

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus, ''Imaia'' was circumscribed in 2008 by James Martin Trappe and Gábor M. Kovácsto to contain the

truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''Peziz ...

-like species formerly known as ''Terfezia gigantea'' when

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

analysis demonstrated that its

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s were markedly different from those of ''

Terfezia ''Terfezia'' (Berber: Tirfas) is a genus of truffle-like fungi within the Pezizaceae family. ''Terfezia'' species are commonly known as desert truffles. Some authorities consider this the type genus of the family Terfeziaceae, although phylog ...

''. The fruit bodies of ''Imaia gigantea'' are spherical to roughly elliptical to irregular in shape, brown, and usually develop cracks in age. The interior

gleba Gleba (, from Latin ''glaeba, glēba'', "lump") is the fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of certain fungi such as the puffball or stinkhorn. The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp. The continu ...

comprises brown pockets of asci separated by white veins. The

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s are spherical or nearly so, up to 70 µm long, and enclosed by a thick epispore.

Taxonomy

The generic name ''Imaia'' honors Japanese mycologist

Sanshi Imai was a Japanese mycologist of Hokkaido Imperial University. Eponymous taxa *'' Clitocybe imaiana'' *''Imaia ''Imaia'' is a fungal genus in the family Morchellaceae found in Japan, and in the Appalachian Mountains of the US. A monotypic genus ...

(1900-1976), who collected the type specimen, while the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''gigantea'' alludes to the large size of the specimens in the type collection, one of which measured .

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q6002956 Fungi of Asia Fungi of North America Pezizales Monotypic Ascomycota genera