Catathelasma

Catathelasma
Catathelasma imperiale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Subdivision: Agaricomycotina
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Tricholomataceae
Genus: Catathelasma
Lovejoy
Type species
Catathelasma evanescens
Lovejoy
Species

C. evanescens
C. imperiale
C. singeri
C. ventricosum

Catathelasma is a genus of fungi in the Tricholomataceae family. The genus contains four species, none of which is common.

Description

All four species of Catathelasma are found in North America but only one (C. imperiale) is known in Europe. They are all fairly massive Tricholoma-like fungi, but are distinguished from that genus because they have decurrent gills and (at the microscopic level) because they have amyloid spores and a bilateral gill trama.[1] They are mycorrhizal, growing on the ground under conifers, have a tough consistency, and their stems taper towards the bottom and are often partly buried in the soil. They have prominent veil remnants (two rings, or a ring and a volva).

They all tend to be found in the mountains. In Europe the single species varies in frequency from "quite rare" to "rare".[2][3][4]

History and Naming

The genus Catathelasma was defined by Ruth Ellen Harrison Lovejoy in 1910 based on the type species C. evanescens, which she described as a new species at the same time. In her description she says[5]

The ring and volva, together with the very decided decurrent gills (upon which character the generic name is based), are telling characteristics of this genus of the Leucosporae.

According to Genaust's etymological dictionary of botanical names, "Catathelasma" comes from Ancient Greek words "kata" (κατά - downwards) and "thelasma" (θήλασμα - meaning "the act of suckling"). He says that the reason for this construction is unclear, but suggests that the author is comparing the shape made by the gills running down the stem with a teat stretched out during suckling.[6] "Decurrent" means "running down the stem" and another possible connection with Lovejoy's description is that "katatheo" (καταθέω) means "I run down".[7] However it is difficult to see how that could logically give rise to the noun "Catathelasma".

The earlier history of this group of mushrooms took place in Europe. The only European species of the genus was first described in 1845 by Fries under the name Agaricus imperialis. In 1872 Quélet classified it within Armillaria and in 1922 the Austrian botanist Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau invented for this single species the separate genus Biannularia, a name which is still encountered in the literature. For a time Catathelasma and Biannularia were regarded as separate (though closely related) genera, as for instance in a 1936 paper by Rolf Singer.[8] Later Singer united the genus[9] using Lovejoy's name.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shubhrata R. Mishra (2005). Morphology of Fungi. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House. p. 126. A limited consultation is available through Google Books at .
  2. ↑ Kuo, M. (2006, October). Catathelasma. See the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/catathelasma.html.
  3. ↑ Courtecuisse, R. & Duhem, B. (1994). Guide des champignons de France et d'Europe. Delachaux et Niestlé. p. 208. ISBN 2-603-00953-2. Also available in English.
  4. ↑ Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CABI. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-85199-826-8.
  5. ↑ Ruth Harrison Lovejoy (1910). "Some New Saprophytic Fungi of the Middle Rocky Mountain Region". The Botanical Gazette. 50: 383. The text can be found on-line at .
  6. ↑ Helmut Genaust (1996). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen (in German). Gabler Wissenschaftsverlage. p. 134., which may be seen on-line through Google books at . Genaust says "Benennungsmotiv unklar: wahrscheinl. werden die bis auf den Stiel herablaufenden, schmützig-weiß bis blaß-gelblichen Lamellen mit dem Bild einer beim Saugen gestreckten Milchzitze verglichen" - in English "Motive for the naming unclear: probably the dirty white to pale yellowish gills which run down onto the stem are being compared to the image of a teat being stretched out during suckling".
  7. ↑ Henry George Liddell; Robert Scott. An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-864226-1. See the Perseus Project entry at .
  8. ↑ Rolf Singer (1936). "Das System der Agaricales". Annales Mycologici (in German). 34 (4-5): 317.
  9. ↑ Singer R. (1940). "Notes sur quelques Basidiomycètes". Revue de Mycologie (in French). 5: 3–13.

External links

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