Inocybe

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Inocybe (Fiber caps)
File:Inocybe sp 20061101w.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Class: Basidiomycetes
Order: Cortinariales
Family: Cortinariaceae
Genus: Inocybe

Inocybe is a large, complex genus of mushrooms. Members of Inocybe are mycorrhizal, and some evidence shows that the high degree of speciation in the genus is due to adaptation to different trees and perhaps even local environments.

File:Inocybe rimosa.jpg
I. rimosa
Altenstadt, Germany in August

Typical mushrooms of the genus are any of various shades of brown, although some lilac or purplish species exist. Caps are small and conical, though flattening somewhat in age, generally with a pronounced raised central knob. The cap often appears fibrous or frayed, giving the genus its common name of "fiber caps". Many species have a distinctive odor, various described as musty or spermatic.

Inocybe species are not considered suitable for consumption. Many species contain large doses of muscarine, and no easy method of distinguishing them from potentially edible species exists. In fact, Inocybe is the most commonly-encountered mushroom genus for which microscopic characteristics are the only means of certain identification to the species level. Seven species of Inocybe are hallucinogenic, [1] having been found to contain psilocybin including Inocybe aeruginascens which also contains aeruginascine. (N, N, N-trimethyl-4-phosphoryloxytryptamine)

There are hundreds of species of Inocybe and a complete listing here is infeasible. Representatives of the genus include:

File:Inocybe obscura 20061015w.jpg
I. obscura

Footnotes

  1. http://www.museocivico.rovereto.tn.it/UploadDocs/104_art09-Guzman%20&%20C.pdf
  2. Matheny PB, Bougher NL (2004). "A new violet species of Inocybe (Agaricales) from Urban and Rural Landscapes in Western Australia". Australasian Mycologist. 24 (1).

in certain countries inocybe mushroomes are consumed as food:papua new guinea and other under developed countries,increasing the sevirity of edible species in the inocybe genus.

References

  • Atkinson, G. F. (1918). Some new species of Inocybe. American Journal of Botany 5: 210-218.
  • Cripps, C. L. (1997). The genus Inocybe in Montana aspen stands. Mycologia 89: 670-688.
  • Stuntz, D. E. (1978). Interim skeleton key to some common species of Inocybe in the Pacific Northwest. Notes and species descriptions by Gibson, I. (2004).

it:Inocybe

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