Genus of fungi
Pholiotina is a genus of small agaric fungi. It was circumscribed by Swiss mycologist Victor Fayod in 1889 for "Conocybe"-like species with partial veils. The genus has since been expanded to include species lacking partial veils.
Taxonomic details.
The genus "Pholiotina" is defined as small thin "Mycena"-like mushrooms, with an hymenoderm pileipellis, a dry cap surface, cystidia that are sub-capitate to blunt, and spores which are rusty brown in deposit. Spores of mushrooms of this genus are thick walled, smooth and have a germ pore.
Victor Fayod designated "Pholiotina blattaria" as the type species of "Pholiotina", but this name was used for many different species of "Pholiotina" with partial veils and it is unclear which species is really "P. blattaria", which makes it a nomen dubium. He designated a lectotype for this species in the same publication, and microscopic examination revealed that this specimen belongs to the species "P. vexans", making "P. vexans" the current type species of "Pholiotina".
Some authors considered "Pholiotina" part of the genus "Conocybe". However, a molecular phylogenetics study has shown that, while "Pholiotina" as currently defined is polyphyletic, the three clades that have been placed in "Pholiotina" are more closely related to other genera than to "Conocybe". The two genera can be distinguished microscopically: "Pholiotina" contains a differentiated central zone called a mediostratum that is lacking in "Conocybe". Additionally, most "Pholiotina" species have cystidia with rounded to tapered tips, compared to the enlarged, globular cystidial tips of "Conocybe".
In a 2007 publication, Hausknecht and Krisai-Greilhuber devised an infrageneric classification that includes the sections "Piliferae" and "Vestitae", and the series "Aeruginosa", "Aporos", "Appendiculata", "Brunnea", "Coprophila", "Filipes", "Keniensis", "Mairei", "Pygmaeoaffinis", "Resinosocystidiata", "Sulcata", "Teneroides", "Utriformis", and "Vexans". However, a 2013 study by Tóth "et al." found "Pholiotina" as it is currently defined to be polyphyletic, with one clade forming the sister group to "Descolea", another forming the sister group to "Bolbitius" and another forming the sister group to "Galerella nigeriensis". All the species of "Pholiotina" with partial veils and some species without, including the type species, "P. vexans", formed a monophyletic clade closely related to "Descolea". It is likely that the species in this clade will be kept as "Pholiotina" species, while the species in the other two clades will be removed to other genera, but this has not happened yet. This study also found some of the sections named by Hausknecht and Krisai-Greilhuber to be paraphyletic or polyphyletic.
Notable species.
The genus "Pholiotina" includes the psychoactive species "P. cyanopus". As "Pholiotina" was polyphyletic under its previous definition, many species were subsequently transferred to other genera.
References.
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