Marasmius

Marasmius
Marasmius elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Subclass:	Hymenomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Marasmiaceae
Genus:	Marasmius Fr. (1838)
Type species
M. rotula

Marasmius rotula

Marasmius sp.
Mycological characteristics
	gills on hymenium
	cap is convex
	hymenium is adnate
	stipe is bare
	spore print is white
	ecology is saprotrophic
	edibility: unknown

There are about 300 species of agarics in the genus Marasmius (family Marasmiaceae), of which a few, such as Marasmius oreades, are edible. However, most members of this genus are small, nondescript brown mushrooms. Their small size and unimpressive appearance mean they are often not readily distinguishable to non-specialists, and they are therefore seldom collected by mushroom hunters. Several of the species are known to grow in the characteristic fairy ring pattern.

The author of the genus was Elias Magnus Fries^[1], who in 1838^[2] classified white-spored agarics having a tough central stipe in this taxon if they were marcescent, i.e. they could dry out, but later revive when moistened. For Fries, marcescence (by contrast with the "putrescent" nature of most mushrooms) was an important character for classification, which he used to separate this group from genus Collybia (which has now been split into many newer genera). The name Marasmius itself comes from a Greek word marasmos, meaning drying out. Modern mycologists no longer consider the marcescence/putrescence distinction a reliable criterion for taxonomy, but Fries's definition of the genus is still roughly applicable.

The listing below is by no means complete, but represents some of the better-known members of the genus.

• Marasmius alliaceus
• Marasmius cohaerens
• Marasmius delectans
• Marasmius elegans
• Marasmius nigripes
• Marasmius oreades - the fairy ring mushroom
• Marasmius pulcherripes
• Marasmius pyrrhocephalus
• Marasmius rotula
• Marasmius siccus
• Marasmius strictipes
• Marasmius sullivantii

See also

Fungi portal

• Mushroom hunting
• Mushroom poisoning

References & External links

1. ^ See record in Index Fungorum
2. ^ E. M. Fries Epicrisis systematis mycologici (1838) Uppsala: Typographia Academica

• Genus Marasmius at Mushroom Expert.com [1]

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