Panaeolus

Panaeolus is a genus of small, black-spored, saprotrophic agarics. The word Panaeolus is Greek for "all variegated", alluding to the spotted gills of the mushrooms produced.

Panaeolus
Panaeolus cinctulus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Bolbitiaceae
Genus: Panaeolus
(Fries) Quél.
Type species
Panaeolus papilionaceus
(Bull.) Quél. 1872
Species
About 98[1]
List of Panaeolus species
Synonyms[2]
List
  • Campanularius Roussel (1806)
  • Agaricus trF. Coprinarius Fr. (1821)
  • Coprinarius (Fr.) P.Kumm. (1871)
  • Anellaria P.Karst. (1879)
  • Chalymmota P.Karst. (1879)
  • Copelandia Bres. (1912)

Characteristics

These fungi are mostly dung and grassland species, some of which are quite common in Europe and North America. The gills of Panaeolus do not deliquesce as do the members of the related genera Coprinellus and Coprinopsis. Members of Panaeolus can also be mistaken for Psathyrella, however the latter genus is usually found growing on wood or lignin-enriched soils and has brittle stipes.

The gills of these mushrooms are black or grey and have a spotty, speckled or cloudy appearance, caused by the way that the dark spores ripen together in tiny patches on the gill surface; different patches darken at different times. The spores are smooth.[3]

The closely related genus Panaeolina shares the spotted gills but they are dark brown (not black) and the spores are ornamented. This genus is sometimes treated as part of Panaeolus.[4]

The spores are smooth or roughened, with a germ pore, and all species except for Panaeolus foenisecii have a jet black spore print.

Edibility

No members of Panaeolus are used for food, though some are used as a psychedelic drug. Thirteen species of Panaeolus contain the hallucinogen psilocybin[5] including Panaeolus cyanescens and Panaeolus cinctulus. The bluing hallucinogenic members of this genus were sometimes previously segregated into a separate (but now deprecated) genus, Copelandia, but are now universally classified in Panaeolus.

All members of this genus contain serotonin derivatives.[6]

Notable species
Main article: List of Panaeolus species

References
  1. Panaeolus (Genus), zipcodezoo.com, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, retrieved 2010-01-03
  2. Panaeolus (Fr.) Quél. 1872, MycoBank. International Mycological Association, retrieved 2012-03-25
  3. Meinhard Moser, translated by Simon Plant: Keys to Agarics and Boleti (Roger Phillips 1983) ISBN 0-9508486-0-3
  4. Mushroom expert page on Panaeolus foenisecii gives further references using both naming choices.
  5. Guzmán G., Allen J.W. and Garrtz J. (2000), A Worldwide Geographical Distribution of the Neurotropic Fungi, An Analysis and Discussion (PDF), vol. 14, Museo Civico di Rovereto, pp. 189–280, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-26, retrieved 2007-01-25
  6. Paul Stamets (1996), "8", Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, Ten Speed Press, p. 245
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