Hygrophoraceae
Encyclopedia
The Hygrophoraceae are a family
of fungi in the order
Agaricales
. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including Hygrophorus
and Hygrocybe
species (the waxcaps or waxy caps), DNA evidence has extended the limits of the family, so that it now contains not only agarics but also basidiolichens
and corticioid fungi
. Species are thus diverse and are variously ectomycorrhizal, lichenized
, associated with mosses, or saprotrophic. The family contains 18 genera
and over 400 species. None is of any great economic importance, though fruit bodies of some Hygrocybe and Hygrophorus species are considered edible and may be collected for sale in local markets.
, Hygrocybe
, Camarophyllus (= Hygrophorus), and Godfrinia (= Hygrocybe), but also Gomphidius
(despite its blackish spores) and Nyctalis (= Asterophora
). Not all subsequent authors accepted the Hygrophoraceae; Carleton Rea
(1922), for example, continued to place these genera within a widely defined Agaricaceae
.
In his major and influential revision of the Agaricales, however, Singer
(1951) did accept the Hygrophoraceae, omitting Gomphidius and Nyctalis, but including Neohygrophorus
. Singer's circumscription, with a few later additions, was followed by most authors until the 1990s. Thus the 1995 edition of the Dictionary of the Fungi listed Austroomphaliaster
, Bertrandia, Camarophyllopsis
, Cuphophyllus, Humidicutis
, Hygroaster
, Hygrocybe
, Hygrophorus
, Hygrotrama (= Camarophyllopsis
), Neohygrophorus
, and Pseudohygrocybe as genera of the Hygrophoraceae. Bas (1990), however, did not consider the group distinct, placing the hygrophoroid genera within the Tricholomataceae
, a disposition followed by the next (2001) edition of the Dictionary of the Fungi. In contrast, Bon
(1990) believed the Hygrophoraceae were so distinct that he placed the family in its own separate order, the Hygrophorales.
and Neohygrophorus
, however, do not belong within the family, but several other agaric and non-agaric genera do. The agaric genera include Ampulloclitocybe
, Cantharellula
, and Lichenomphalia
, as well as the partly agaric, partly cyphelloid
genus Arrhenia
. The non-agaric genera include the corticioid
Eonema (formerly placed in Athelia
) and Cyphellostereum
, as well as the shelf-like basidiolichen
genus Dictyonema
. As a result, the Hygrophoraceae as currently understood have no morphological
features in common.
species) occur on wood, or on mosses (Arrhenia
species), or herbaceous stems (Eonema pyriforme). Most are found in woodland, though (in Europe at least) Hygrocybe
species are typical of waxcap grasslands
.
Species are nutritionally diverse. Hygrophorus
species are ectomycorrhizal, typically forming associations with the roots of living trees. Hygrocybe
species are now believed to be moss associates, as are some or all species of Arrhenia
and Cantharellula
. Three genera, Acantholichen
, Dictyonema
, and Lichenomphalina, are basidiolichens
, forming associations with algae
and cyanobacteria. A few genera, such as Ampulloclitocybe
and Eonema, may be saprotrophic.
Members of the Hygrophoraceae are distributed worldwide, from the tropics to the sub-polar regions. Over 400 species have been described to date.
and Hygrocybe
species are edible and widely collected, sometimes being offered for sale in local markets. None is cultivated commercially.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of fungi in the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Agaricales
Agaricales
The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms , or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13000 described species, along with five extinct genera known only from the fossil record...
. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including Hygrophorus
Hygrophorus
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent...
and Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
species (the waxcaps or waxy caps), DNA evidence has extended the limits of the family, so that it now contains not only agarics but also basidiolichens
Basidiolichen
Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the Basidiomycota, a much smaller group of lichens than the far more common ascolichens in the Ascomycota. In arctic, alpine, and temperate forests, the most common basidiolichens are in the agaric genus Lichenomphalia and the clavarioid genus Multiclavula...
and corticioid fungi
Corticioid fungi
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...
. Species are thus diverse and are variously ectomycorrhizal, lichenized
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
, associated with mosses, or saprotrophic. The family contains 18 genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
and over 400 species. None is of any great economic importance, though fruit bodies of some Hygrocybe and Hygrophorus species are considered edible and may be collected for sale in local markets.
History
The family Hygrophoraceae was first proposed by Lotsy (1907) to accommodate agarics with thick, waxy lamellae (gills) and white spores. Lotsy's family included not only the waxcap-related genera HygrophorusHygrophorus
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent...
, Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
, Camarophyllus (= Hygrophorus), and Godfrinia (= Hygrocybe), but also Gomphidius
Gomphidius
Gomphidius is a genus of mushrooms, commonly known as spike-caps, that are members of the Boletales , or pored fungi. They appear to have gill-like structures which resemble those of agarics, however the similarity is superficial only. The best-known member is the slimy spike-cap...
(despite its blackish spores) and Nyctalis (= Asterophora
Asterophora
Asterophora is a genus of fungi that grow as parasites on mushrooms. The genus contains three species, which have a widespread distribution, especially in temperate areas.Asterophora species are characterized by the massive production of chlamydospores in their fruit bodies and by the production of...
). Not all subsequent authors accepted the Hygrophoraceae; Carleton Rea
Carleton Rea
Carleton Rea was an English mycologist, botanist, and naturalist.-Background and education:Carleton Rea was born in Worcester, the son of the City Coroner. He was educated at The King's School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied law...
(1922), for example, continued to place these genera within a widely defined Agaricaceae
Agaricaceae
The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and includes the genus Agaricus, as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. The genus contains 85 genera and 1340 species.-Genera:...
.
In his major and influential revision of the Agaricales, however, Singer
Rolf Singer
Rolf Singer was a German-born mycologist and one of the most important taxonomists of gilled mushrooms in the 20th century....
(1951) did accept the Hygrophoraceae, omitting Gomphidius and Nyctalis, but including Neohygrophorus
Neohygrophorus
Neohygrophorus is a genus of fungus in the Tricholomataceae family. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Neohygrophorus angelesianus, found in North America....
. Singer's circumscription, with a few later additions, was followed by most authors until the 1990s. Thus the 1995 edition of the Dictionary of the Fungi listed Austroomphaliaster
Austroomphaliaster
Austroomphaliaster is a genus of fungi in the Tricholomataceae family. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Austroomphaliaster nahuelbutensis, found in temperate South America....
, Bertrandia, Camarophyllopsis
Camarophyllopsis
Camarophyllopsis is a genus of 26 species of fungi with a widespread distribution, especially in northern temperate areas. Members of Camarophyllopsis are distinguished from members of the Hygrophoraceae family by mainly by their hymenoderm pileipellis. The arrangement of lamellar trama is highly...
, Cuphophyllus, Humidicutis
Humidicutis
Humidicutis is a small genus of brightly coloured agarics, the majority of which are found in Eastern Australia. They were previously described as members of Hygrocybe, such as the Mauve splitting wax-cap Humidicutis lewelliniae of eastern Australia and Malaysia.The generic name derives from the...
, Hygroaster
Hygroaster
Hygroaster is a genus of fungi in the Tricholomataceae family....
, Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
, Hygrophorus
Hygrophorus
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent...
, Hygrotrama (= Camarophyllopsis
Camarophyllopsis
Camarophyllopsis is a genus of 26 species of fungi with a widespread distribution, especially in northern temperate areas. Members of Camarophyllopsis are distinguished from members of the Hygrophoraceae family by mainly by their hymenoderm pileipellis. The arrangement of lamellar trama is highly...
), Neohygrophorus
Neohygrophorus
Neohygrophorus is a genus of fungus in the Tricholomataceae family. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Neohygrophorus angelesianus, found in North America....
, and Pseudohygrocybe as genera of the Hygrophoraceae. Bas (1990), however, did not consider the group distinct, placing the hygrophoroid genera within the Tricholomataceae
Tricholomataceae
The Tricholomataceae are a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. A classic "wastebasket taxon", the Tricholomataceae is inclusive of any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to the Amanitaceae, Lepiotaceae, Hygrophoraceae,...
, a disposition followed by the next (2001) edition of the Dictionary of the Fungi. In contrast, Bon
Marcel Bon
Marcel Bon is one of France’s best known field mycologists. He was born in Picardy, in 1925 and came to mycology through general botany, and pharmacology...
(1990) believed the Hygrophoraceae were so distinct that he placed the family in its own separate order, the Hygrophorales.
Current status
Recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, suggests that the Hygrophoraceae are distinct from the Tricholomataceae and are monophyletic (and hence a natural grouping). The genera CamarophyllopsisCamarophyllopsis
Camarophyllopsis is a genus of 26 species of fungi with a widespread distribution, especially in northern temperate areas. Members of Camarophyllopsis are distinguished from members of the Hygrophoraceae family by mainly by their hymenoderm pileipellis. The arrangement of lamellar trama is highly...
and Neohygrophorus
Neohygrophorus
Neohygrophorus is a genus of fungus in the Tricholomataceae family. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Neohygrophorus angelesianus, found in North America....
, however, do not belong within the family, but several other agaric and non-agaric genera do. The agaric genera include Ampulloclitocybe
Ampulloclitocybe
Ampulloclitocybe is a genus of three species of fungi with a widespread distribution....
, Cantharellula
Cantharellula
Cantharellula is a genus of fungi in the Tricholomataceae family.-Species:*C. alpina*C. coprophila*C. felleoides*C. humicola*C. infundibuliformis*C. intermedia*C. lilacinopruinatus*C. oregonensis*C. tarnensis...
, and Lichenomphalia
Lichenomphalia
Lichenomphalia is both a basidiolichen and an agaric genus. Most of the species have inconspicuous lichenized thalli that consist of scattered, small, loose, nearly microscopic green balls or foliose small flakes containing single-celled green algae in the genus Coccomyxa, all interconnected by a...
, as well as the partly agaric, partly cyphelloid
Cyphelloid fungi
The cyphelloid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota that have disc-, tube-, or cup-shaped basidiocarps , resembling species of discomycetes in the Ascomycota...
genus Arrhenia
Arrhenia
Arrhenia is a genus of about 25 species in the Tricholomataceae family. Arrhenia also includes species formerly placed in the genera Leptoglossum and Phaeotellus and the lectotype species itself has an unusual growth form that would not normally be called agaricoid...
. The non-agaric genera include the corticioid
Corticioid fungi
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...
Eonema (formerly placed in Athelia
Athelia (fungus)
Athelia is a genus of corticioid fungi in the family Amylocorticiaceae. Some species are facultative parasites of plants and of lichens. The widespread genus contains 28 species....
) and Cyphellostereum
Cyphellostereum
Cyphellostereum is genus of basidiolichens. Species produce white, somewhat cup-shaped fruit bodies on a thin film of green on soil which is the thallus...
, as well as the shelf-like basidiolichen
Basidiolichen
Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the Basidiomycota, a much smaller group of lichens than the far more common ascolichens in the Ascomycota. In arctic, alpine, and temperate forests, the most common basidiolichens are in the agaric genus Lichenomphalia and the clavarioid genus Multiclavula...
genus Dictyonema
Dictyonema
Dictyonema is a large and diverse genus of mainly tropical lichens in the family Hygrophoraceae.-The Dictyonema symbiosis:Most lichens are a symbiosis between an ascomycete fungi and a photosynthetic green algae...
. As a result, the Hygrophoraceae as currently understood have no morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
features in common.
Habitat, nutrition, and distribution
The majority of species in the Hygrophoraceae are ground-dwelling, though a few (such as ChrysomphalinaChrysomphalina
Chrysomphalina is a genus of four species of fungi with a North Temperate distribution.-External links:* at Index Fungorum...
species) occur on wood, or on mosses (Arrhenia
Arrhenia
Arrhenia is a genus of about 25 species in the Tricholomataceae family. Arrhenia also includes species formerly placed in the genera Leptoglossum and Phaeotellus and the lectotype species itself has an unusual growth form that would not normally be called agaricoid...
species), or herbaceous stems (Eonema pyriforme). Most are found in woodland, though (in Europe at least) Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
species are typical of waxcap grasslands
Waxcap grassland
Waxcap grassland is a term used to describe short-sward, nutrient-poor grasslands supporting rich assemblages of larger fungi, particularly waxcaps , characteristic of such habitats. Waxcap grasslands occur principally in Europe, where they are declining as a result of agricultural practices...
.
Species are nutritionally diverse. Hygrophorus
Hygrophorus
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent...
species are ectomycorrhizal, typically forming associations with the roots of living trees. Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
species are now believed to be moss associates, as are some or all species of Arrhenia
Arrhenia
Arrhenia is a genus of about 25 species in the Tricholomataceae family. Arrhenia also includes species formerly placed in the genera Leptoglossum and Phaeotellus and the lectotype species itself has an unusual growth form that would not normally be called agaricoid...
and Cantharellula
Cantharellula
Cantharellula is a genus of fungi in the Tricholomataceae family.-Species:*C. alpina*C. coprophila*C. felleoides*C. humicola*C. infundibuliformis*C. intermedia*C. lilacinopruinatus*C. oregonensis*C. tarnensis...
. Three genera, Acantholichen
Acantholichen
Acantholichen is a lichenized genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. It is a monotypic genus, containing the sole species Acantholichen pannariodes, discovered originally in Costa Rica in 1998. This species has a bluish, gelatinous thallus, and a fine, white powdery bloom covering the hairy...
, Dictyonema
Dictyonema
Dictyonema is a large and diverse genus of mainly tropical lichens in the family Hygrophoraceae.-The Dictyonema symbiosis:Most lichens are a symbiosis between an ascomycete fungi and a photosynthetic green algae...
, and Lichenomphalina, are basidiolichens
Basidiolichen
Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the Basidiomycota, a much smaller group of lichens than the far more common ascolichens in the Ascomycota. In arctic, alpine, and temperate forests, the most common basidiolichens are in the agaric genus Lichenomphalia and the clavarioid genus Multiclavula...
, forming associations with algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
and cyanobacteria. A few genera, such as Ampulloclitocybe
Ampulloclitocybe
Ampulloclitocybe is a genus of three species of fungi with a widespread distribution....
and Eonema, may be saprotrophic.
Members of the Hygrophoraceae are distributed worldwide, from the tropics to the sub-polar regions. Over 400 species have been described to date.
Economic usage
Fruit bodies of some HygrophorusHygrophorus
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent...
and Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
species are edible and widely collected, sometimes being offered for sale in local markets. None is cultivated commercially.