The Aphyllophorales is an obsolete order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 of fungi in the Basidiomycota

Basidiomycota

Basidiomycota is one of two large phyla that, together with the Ascomycota, comprise the subkingdom Dikarya within the Kingdom Fungi...

. The order is entirely artificial, bringing together a miscellany of species now grouped among the clavarioid fungi

Clavarioid fungi

The clavarioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having erect, simple or branched basidiocarps that are formed on the ground, on decaying vegetation, or on dead wood. They are colloquially called club fungi and coral fungi...

, corticioid fungi

Corticioid fungi

The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...

, cyphelloid fungi

Cyphelloid fungi

The cyphelloid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota that have disc-, tube-, or cup-shaped basidiocarps , resembling species of discomycetes in the Ascomycota...

, hydnoid fungi

Hydnoid fungi

The hydnoid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota with basidiocarps producing spores on pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections. They are colloquially called tooth fungi...

, and poroid fungi.

History

The order Aphyllophorales was first proposed in 1922 by Carleton Rea

Carleton Rea

Carleton Rea was an English mycologist, botanist, and naturalist.-Background and education:Carleton Rea was born in Worcester, the son of the City Coroner. He was educated at The King's School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied law...

. "A-phyllo-phora" means "not bearing gills", distinguishing the Aphyllophorales from the gilled agarics (mushrooms and toadstools) that Rea placed in the Agaricales

Agaricales

The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms , or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13000 described species, along with five extinct genera known only from the fossil record...

. The Gasteromycetales and Heterobasidiomycetes were also excluded.

As originally conceived, the Aphyllophorales contained the families Clavariaceae

Clavariaceae

The Clavariaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order of mushrooms. The family contains 7 genera and 120 species. Collectively, they are commonly known as coral fungi due to their resemblance to aquatic coral, although other vernacular names including antler fungi, finger fungi, worm mold,...

, Cyphellaceae

Cyphellaceae

The Cyphellaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order. The family contains 16 genera and 31 species.-Genera:*Asterocyphella*Campanophyllum*Catilla*Cheimonophyllum*Chondrostereum*Cunninghammyces*Cyphella...

, Fistulinaceae

Fistulinaceae

The Fistulinaceae are a family of fungi, the best known member of which is the Beefsteak fungus Fistulina hepatica. Molecular studies have now shown it to lie within the Agaricales....

, Hydnaceae

Hydnaceae

The Hydnaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Originally the family encompassed all species of fungi that produced basidiocarps having a hymenium consisting of slender, downward-hanging tapering extensions referred to as "spines" or "teeth", whether they were related or not...

, Meruliaceae

Meruliaceae

The Meruliaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 47 genera and 420 species. The family was formally circumscribed by English mycologist Carleton Rea in...

, Polyporaceae

Polyporaceae

The Polyporaceae are a family of bracket fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The flesh of their fruiting bodies varies from soft to very tough. Most members of this family have their hymenium in vertical pores on the underside of the caps, but some of them have gills The Polyporaceae are a...

, Polystictaceae, and Thelephoraceae

Thelephoraceae

Thelephoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Thelephorales. This grouping of mushrooms is commonly known as the "leathery earthfans"....

. Most of these families are still current, albeit in an amended form.

Though many attempts were made to create a more natural classification of the Basidiomycota, the Aphyllophorales continued to be used (at least by some) until entirely superseded in the 1990s by classification systems based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences.