Endoptychum is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of secotioid

Secotioid

Secotioid fungi are an intermediate growth form between mushroom-like hymenomycetes and closed bag-shaped gasteromycetes, where an evolutionary process of gasteromycetation has started but not run to completion...

 fungi in the family Agaricaceae

Agaricaceae

The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and includes the genus Agaricus, as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. The genus contains 85 genera and 1340 species.-Genera:...

. Like the majority of secotioid taxa, the individual species of Endoptychum are thought to be recent mutations from agaricoid species, hence, Endoptychum is likely not a valid monophyletic genus.

So far, molecular phylogeny

Molecular phylogeny

Molecular phylogenetics is the analysis of hereditary molecular differences, mainly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree...

 and morphological

Morphology (biology)

In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....

 study has revealed that E. depressum clearly is a species of Agaricus

Agaricus

Agaricus is a large and important genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, with possibly over 300 members worldwide...

and E. agaricoides, the type species, is a species of Chlorophyllum

Chlorophyllum

Chlorophyllum is a genus of large agarics similar in appearance to the true parasol mushroom. Chlorophyllum was originally coined in 1898, a time when spore color was the deciding factor for differentiating genera...

. E. depressum has been renamed Agaricus inapertus Vellinga. Recognition of the name Chlorophyllum agaricoides (Czern.) Vellinga would entail deprecation of the entire genus name Endoptychum in favor of Chlorophyllum and awaits a formal decision of the International Botanical Congress

International Botanical Congress

International Botanical Congress is a large-scale meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, from all over the world. Authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies , congresses are held every six years with the venue circulating around the world. The XVIII...

.

External links

• Endoptychum at Index Fungorum
  Index Fungorum
  Index Fungorum, an international project to index all formal names in the Fungi Kingdom. Somewhat comparable to the IPNI, but with more contributing institutions....