Atheniella Redhead, Moncalvo, Vilgalys, Desjardin & B.A. Perry

Ge, Yupeng, Liu, Zewei, Zeng, Hui, Cheng, Xianhao & Na, Qin, 2021, Updated description of Atheniella (Mycenaceae, Agaricales), including three new species with brightly coloured pilei from Yunnan Province, southwest China, MycoKeys 81, pp. 139-164 : 139

Atheniella Redhead, Moncalvo, Vilgalys, Desjardin & B.A. Perry

Diagnosis.

Basidiomata small, mycenoid. Pileus conical, campanulate, to hemispherical, often with a small papilla when young, flattening or concave at centre with age; brightly coloured, white, creamy, yellow, orange, pinkish, reddish, sometimes yellow or deep brown at centre when old, the margin frequently fading to white, creamy, yellowish-white or yellow in the mature period; delicately pubescent, pruninose, glabrescent with age, translucent-striate, barely or shallowly sulcate, margin flattened and waved. Context thin and fragile, white. Lamellae ascending, adnate, adnexed, decurrent with tooth, faces concolorous with the sides. Stipe cylindrical, hollow, fragile, pruinose, almost smooth when old, base with coarse fibrils; white, yellow, orange, pink, sometimes base tinged deeper yellow with age. Odour and taste inconspicuous. Basidiospores globose, subglobose, ellipsoid, narrowly ellipsoid to cylindrical, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, guttulate, inamyloid, white in prints. Basidia clavate, hyaline, thin-walled, 2- or 4-spored. Cheilocystidia fusiform, clavate, subutriform, long-stalked, hyaline, thin-walled. Pleurocystidia similar to cheilocystidia. Pileipellis hyphae covered with simple to branched excrescences, hyaline. Hyphae of the stipitipellis smooth or with simple cylindrical excrescences, hyaline; caulocystidia cylindrical, lageniform, subglobose, if present, hyaline, thin-walled. All tissues non-reactive in iodine. Clamps present or absent.

Habit and habitat.

Saprophytic on grass, moss, rotten wood or plant debris (leaves, pine needles and twigs).

Type species.

Atheniella adonis (Bull.) Redhead, Moncalvo, Vilgalys, Desjardin & B.A. Perry

Etymology.

Intentionally spelled to achieve phonetic harmony and uniqueness, the epithet alludes to the mythical goddess Athena (the combination of beautiful colouration, spear-like stature and shield-like pileus) and her ancient Mycenaean origin. Gender: feminine.