In mycology, a lamella, or gill, is a papery hymenophore 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 "mushroo ...

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 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 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 (angiosper ...

from their gills. It was originally believed that all gilled fungi were Agaricales, 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 (i.e. gill-like structures evolved separately) rather than being an anatomic feature that evolved only once. The apparent reason that various basidiomycetes 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'' and ''

'' of the Russulales. * 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 ...

, including '' Gomphidius'' and '' Chroogomphus'' as well as '' Tapinella atrotomentosa'' (which has been traditionally named '' Paxillus atrotomentosus'') and other species in that genus, the False chanterelle ('' Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca''). * Such polypore-like fungi such as '' d aedaleopsis confragosa'', '' Lenzites betulina'' and '' Gloeophyllum sepiarium''. Members of the two related genera of chanterelles, '' Cantharellus'' and '' Craterellus'', 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") 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