Crepidotus | |
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Crepidotus variabilis | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Basidiomycetes |
Order: | Agaricales |
Family: | Crepidotaceae |
Genus: |
Crepidotus (Fr.) Staude |
Type species | |
Crepidotus mollus (Schaeff.) Staude |
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Synonyms | |
1879 Phialocybe P.Karst. |
1879 Phialocybe P.Karst.
1886 Calathinus Quél.
1887 Dochmiopus Pat.
1889 Octojuga Fayod
1889 Pleurotellus Fayod
1903 Tremellopsis Pat.
1909 Tremellastrum Clem.
1959 Pellidiscus Donk
Crepidotus is a genus of fungi in the family Crepidotaceae. Species of Crepidotus all have small, convex to fan-shaped sessile caps and grow on wood or plant debris. The genus has been studied extensively, and monographs of the North American, European and Neotropical species have been published.
Crepidotus means cracked ear.
Members of this genus are small, convex to fan-shaped, and . Species have cheilocystidia Spore prints are yellow-brown to brown. All species of Crepidotus are known to be secondary decomposers of plant matter; most are saprobic on wood. Little is known about the ebility of various species; the usually small and insubstantial specimens discourage mycophagy.
Elias Magnus Fries first circumscribed Crepidotus in 1821 as a tribe in the genus Agaricus, although he later (1836–1838) revised his concept. In 1857, Staude elevated Tribus Crepidotus to a genus, with Agaricus mollis (Schaeff) as the type species. Early descriptions of the genus contained between six and forty-six species, depending on the author.
In 1947, Rolf Singer wrote a monograph about the genus, and unlike prior treatments, used microscopic characters to help delineate infrageneric (i.e., below genus-level classification) relationships. Based on his revisions, the genus included 30 species. Soon after, Pilát (1950) extended Singer's monograph, including additional species to bring the total species to 75. However, many of his Crepidotus taxa would later be transferred to other genera. Currently, approximately 150 species are widely accepted, although many more have been described.