The Pezizales are an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

of the subphylum

Pezizomycotina Pezizomycotina make up most of the Ascomycota fungi and include most lichenized fungi too. Pezizomycotina contains the filamentous ascomycetes and is a subdivision of the Ascomycota (fungi that form their spores in a sac-like ''ascus''). It is mo ...

within the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature ...

Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as

morels ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales (division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges wit ...

, the

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

and white truffles, and the desert truffles. The Pezizales can be saprobic,

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plan ...

l, or parasitic on plants. Species grow on soil, wood, leaves and dung. Soil-inhabiting species often fruit in habitats with a high pH and low content of organic matter, including disturbed ground. Most species occur in temperate regions or at high elevation. Several members of the

Sarcoscyphaceae The ''Sarcoscyphaceae'' are a family of cup fungi in the order Pezizales. Members of the Sarcoscyphaceae are cosmopolitan in distribution, found in both tropical and temperate regions. Genera A 2008 estimate placed 13 genera and 102 species ...

and

Sarcosomataceae The Sarcosomataceae are a family of fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organism ...

are common in tropical regions.

Description

Members of this order are characterized by

asci ASCI or Asci may refer to: * Advertising Standards Council of India * Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy * Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative * American Society for Clinical Investigation * Argus Sour Crude Index * Association of ...

that typically open by rupturing to form a terminal or eccentric lid or operculum. The ascomata are apothecia or are closed structures of various forms derived from apothecia. Apothecia range in size from less than a millimeter to approximately 15 cm, and may be stalked or sessile. The order includes epigeous, semihypogeous to hypogeous (truffles) taxa. The

ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera ...

s are single-celled, bipolar symmetrical, and usually bilaterally symmetrical, ranging from roughly spherical to ellipsoidal to occasionally

fusoid Fusiform means having a spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a structure that continues from one or both ends, such as an aneurysm on a ...

. The

s of some species develop surface ornamentations such as warts, ridges, or spines. The tissues of the ascomata are fleshy and often fragile. Although the majority of species are known only in the teleomorphic state, the anamorphs of some species are known.

Taxonomy

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups ...

analysis of molecular and morphological data suggests that there are three lineages within Pezizales. Lineage A includes Ascobolaceae and Pezizaceae. The former has no known hypogeous species. Lineage B includes the two epigeous families

Rhizinaceae The Rhizinaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi in the order Pezizales. The family was circumscribed by German mycologist Hermann Friedrich Bonorden Hermann Friedrich Bonorden (28 August 1801 – 19 May 1884) was a German physician and mycol ...

and

Caloscyphaceae The Caloscyphaceae are a family of fungi in the order Pezizales. The family was circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of ...

, as well as two sub-lineages with known hypogeous species,

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 ...

–

Discinaceae The Discinaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi, the best known members of which are the false morels of the genus ''Gyromitra''. Originally erected by Erich Heinz Benedix in 1961, it was found to be a discrete clade in a molecular study of rib ...

and Helvellaceae–

Tuberaceae The Tuberaceae () are a family of mycorrhizal fungi in the order Pezizales, that evolved during or after the first major radiation of Angiosperms in the Jurassic period (140–180 million years ago, Mya). It includes the genus ''Tuber'', which i ...

. Lineage C include

Ascodesmidaceae The Ascodesmidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Pezizales The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of sp ...

with no known hypogeous species as well as

Glaziellaceae Glaziellaceae is a family of fungi in the order Pezizales that contains the single monotypic genus ''Glaziella''. The type species ''Glaziella vesiculosa'', originally collected in Cuba, was referred to the genus ''Xylaria'' by Miles Joseph Berk ...

and Pyronemataceae. It is unknown where

Carbomycetaceae The Carbomycetaceae are a family of fungi in the order Pezizales. The family contains the single genus ''Carbomyces'', which in turn contains three species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a ...

fits into this lineage.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q660555 Ascomycota orders Taxa described in 1897