Entoloma

Taxobox
color = lightblue
name = Pinkgills ("Entoloma")
status =

secure


image_caption = "E. sinuatum"
Piacenza's Appennino, Italy
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
subclassis = Hymenomycetes
ordo = Agaricales
familia = Entolomataceae
genus = "Entoloma"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Entoloma sinuatum" "Entoloma abortivum" Entoloma hochstetteri

"Entoloma" (or pinkgills) is a genus of terrestrial pink-gilled mushrooms with angular spores. They have a drab appearance, pink gills which are attached to the stem, a smooth thick cap, and angular spores. Most "Entolomas" are saphrophytic. The best-known member of which is the livid agaric ("Entoloma sinuatum") responsible for a number of poisonings over the years in Europe and North America, and "E. rhodopolium" in Japan. Some southern hemisphere species found in Australia, "Entoloma rodwayi" and "E. viridomarginatum", and "E. hochstetteri" from New Zealand, are very colourful, with pilei of unusual shades of green and blue-green. Most "Entolomas" are dull shades of olive, brown, or grey and some are mycorrhizal.

Taxonomic history

The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words "entos"/ἐντός" 'inner' and "lóma/λῶμα 'fringe' from the inrolled margin. [cite book | author = Nilson S & Persson O | year = 1977 | title = Fungi of Northern Europe 2: Gill-Fungi | publisher = Penguin|isbn=0-14-063006-6|pages=p. 98] The Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries classified all pink-spored gilled fungi in a series "Hyporhodius" within his large genus "Agaricus", subdividing into five tribes based on cap shape, gills and size in 1821. He later refined this in 1838, placing those with universal veils into tribe "Volvaria", those with free gills and a discrete stipe into tribe "Pluteus", those with a "Tricholoma"-like shape into tribe "Entoloma", and those with a depressed cap and decurrent gills into tribe "Clitopilus". The small tribe "Leptonia" had convex fleshy membranaceous caps, the tribe "Nolanea", were slender fungi with bell-shaped caps and hollow stems, and lastly tribe "Eccilia" had umblicilate caps and adnate gills. Paul Kummer raised "Entoloma", "Nolanea", "Leptonia" and "Eccilia" to genus-level in 1871, though Lucien Quélet created a new genus "Rhodophyllus" uniting all those fungi with pinkish-red adnate or sinuate gills and angular spores, similar in scope to the original "Hyporhodius". The two classifications coexisted until recently, with those taxonomists favoring a broader genus concept following Quélet, and the others Kummer. French mycologist Henri Romagnesi took up study of the genus in what was to last over forty years, describing new species and creating a new infrageneric classification making it one of the most studied and best known agaric genera to date.it iconcite book |title=Fungi Europaei:Entoloma|author=Noordelos ME |year=1992 |publisher=Giovanna Biella |location=Saronno, Italy |isbn= |pages=p. 13] Over time, more authors and texts have followed Kummer.

The genus as it stands appears to be polyphyletic when looking at data produced by the molecular study by Moncalvo in 2002, with species of "Nolanea", "Leptonia" and "Inocephalus" interspersed with various pinkgill species in a broadly monophyletic entolomatoid group. [Moncalvo JM, et al. 2002. One hundred and seventeen clades of euagarics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 23:357-400. Available from: [http://www.botany.utoronto.ca/faculty/moncalvo/117clade.pdf http://www.botany.utoronto.ca/faculty/moncalvo/117clade.pdf] ]

Ecology

Most species are saprotrophic, though some may form mycorrhizal relationships. They may be found in a wide variety of habitats, including grasslands, woodlands, peat-bogs and moors, and Arctic or alpine conditions. Several species including "Entoloma saepium", "E. clypaetum", "E. aprile" and "E. saundersii" are thought to form mycorrhizal relationships with members of the Rosaceae including "Malus", "Pyrus", "Crataegus" and "Prunus". [Noordelos, p. 38-39] [cite book | author = Breitenbach J & Kränzlin F | year = 1991 | title = Fungi of Switzerland 4: Agarics, 2nd Part|pages=p. 64 | isbn= 3-85604-240-7]

Distribution

Pinkgills are found the world over, from the equator to polar regions. Some Arctic species are circumpolar in their distribution. Others are widely distributed and some, such as "E. sericeum" and "E. incanum" may have been spread by man. [Noordelos, p. 39]

Toxicity

Although some of the spring entolomas, such as "E. clypeatum", are consumed, especially in Europe, edibility is unknown for many species, and some are definitely poisonous and dangerous. "E. rhodopolium" has been found to contain significant quantities of the mycotoxin muscarine. Most Entolomas are very difficult to identify, but "Entoloma abortivum" is edible.

References

External links

* [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/entoloma.html Mushroom Expert - The genus Entoloma]
* [http://www.entoloma.nl/html/entintroeng.html Characteristics of Entoloma]
* [http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/sep2006.html Tom Volk's Fungi of the Month - Entoloma abortivum]