Atheniella

Atheniella
Atheniella adonis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Porotheleaceae
Genus:	Atheniella Redhead, Moncalvo, Vilgalys, Desjardin, B.A.Perry (2012)
Type species
Atheniella adonis (Bull.) Redhead, Moncalvo, Vilgalys, Desjardin, B.A.Perry (2012)
Species
Atheniella adonis Atheniella amabillissima Atheniella aurantiidisca Atheniella flavoalba

Atheniella is an agaric fungal genus that produces brightly colored (yellow, pink, orange, or red) mycenoid fruit bodies on small plant debris on forest floors, in fields and bogs. It is not a member of the Mycenaceae,^[1] and unlike most Mycenaceae, its basidiospores and tissues do not react with iodine. Atheniella species were most recently classified in Mycena because of their stature. However, they lack amyloid spores and tissues bewildering taxonomists, leading to temporary placements in Hemimycena and Marasmiellus before being phylogenetically excluded from both genera and the Mycenaceae.

Etymology

The name Atheniella is an allusion to Athena because of the combination of beautiful coloration armed with the shield or spear-like stature of the mycenoid fruit bodies and also a play on the etymological link between Mycenaean culture and the ancient origins of the generic name Mycena, and of Athena^[2] alluding to the older classification of Atheniella species in the genus Mycena.^[2]

References

1. Moncalvo JM, Vilgalys R, Redhead SA, Johnson JE, James TY, Catherine Aime M, Hofstetter V, Verduin SJ, Larsson E, Baroni TJ, Greg Thorn R, Jacobsson S, Clémençon H, Miller OK. (2002). "One hundred and seventeen clades of euagarics" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 23 (3): 357–400. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00027-1. PMID 12099793.
2. Redhead SA. (2012). "Nomenclatural novelties" (PDF). Index Fungorum 14: 1. ISSN 2049-2375.