Panaeolus

Taxobox | name = "Panaeolus"

---

image_width = 220px
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Agaricales
familia = Panaeoleae or Bolbitiaceae
genus = "Panaeolus"
genus_authority = (Fries) Quél.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = List of Panaeolus species
type_species = "Panaeolus papilionaceus var. papilionaceus"

"Panaeolus" is a genus of small, black-spored, saprotrophic agarics. The word "Panaeolus" is Greek for "all variegated", alluding to the spotted gills of the mushrooms produced.

Characteristics

These fungi are mostly dung and grassland species, some of which are quite common in Europe and North America. The gills of "Panaeolus" do not as do the members of the related genus "Coprinus". Members of "Panaeolus" can also be mistaken for "Psathyrella", however the later genus are usually found growing on wood.

The gills of these mushrooms are black or grey and have a spotty, speckled or cloudy appearance, caused by the way that the dark spores ripen together in tiny patches on the gill surface; different patches darken at different times. Another character of the genus is that the spores are smooth. [Meinhard Moser, translated by Simon Plant: "Keys to Agarics and Boleti" (Roger Phillips 1983) ISBN 0-9508486-0-3]

The closely related genus "Panaeolina" shares the spotted gills but they are dark brown (not black) and the spores are ornamented. This genus is sometimes treated as part of "Panaeolus". [See [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/panaeolus_foenisecii.html Mushroom expert page on "Panaeolus foenisecii"] , which gives further references using both naming choices.]

Edibility

No members of "Panaeolus" are used for food, though some are used as a recreational drug. Thirteen [http://www.magic-mushrooms.net/World_Wide_Distribution_of_Magic_Mushrooms.pdf] species of "Panaeolus" contain the hallucinogen psilocybin including "Panaeolus cyanescens" and "Panaeolus subbalteatus". The bluing hallucinogenic members of this genus are sometimes segregated into a separate genus, "Copelandia".

Several members of this genus are known to contain psilocin and psilocybin and it is suspected that a number of other members of this genus contain unidentified psychoactive compounds. [http://www.svims.ca/council/Panaeo.htm] All members of this genus contain serotonin, urea, and tryptophan. cite book |author=Paul Stamets |year=1996 |title=Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World |publisher=Ten Speed Press |pages=245|chapter=8]

Notable species

*"Panaeolus acuminatus"
*"Panaeolus africanus"
*"Panaeolus antillarum"
*"Panaeolus bispora"
*"Panaeolus cambodginiensis"
*"Panaeolus cyanescens"
*"Panaeolus fimicola"
*"Panaeolus foenisecii" (= "Panaeolina foenisecii")
*"Panaeolus olivaceus"
*"Panaeolus papilionaceus var. papilionaceus"
*"Panaeolus papilionaceus var. parvisporus"
*"Panaeolus semiovatus var. phalaenarum"
*"Panaeolus semiovatus var. semiovatus"
*"Panaeolus subbalteatus"
*"Panaeolus tropicalis"

External links

* [http://www.svims.ca/council/Panaeo.htm Key to Panaeolus in the Pacific Northwest]
* [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/olah_panaeolus_key.pdf Panaeolus key by Ola'h that emphasizes microscopic features]
* [http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T3104.HTM Panaeolus - A Genus of Toadstools]
* [http://www.museocivico.rovereto.tn.it/UploadDocs/104_art09-Guzman%20&%20C.pdf A Worldwide Geographical Distribution of the Neurotropic Fungi]
* [http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Panaeolus Wikispecies - Panaeolus]

References