Mythicomyces

Mythicomyces is a fungal genus in the family Mythicomycetaceae. A monotypic genus, it contains the single species Mythicomyces corneipes, first described by Elias Fries in 1861. The fungus produces fruit bodies with shiny yellowish-orange to tawny caps that are in diameter. These are supported by stems measuring long and 1–2 mm thick. A rare to uncommon species, it is found in northern temperate regions of North America and Europe, where it typically fruits in groups, in wet areas of coniferous forests. There are several species with which M. corneipes might be confused due to a comparable appearance or similar range and habitat, but microscopic characteristics can be used to reliably distinguish between them.

==Taxonomy== The genus Mythicomyces was circumscribed in 1986 by mycologists Scott Redhead and Alexander H. Smith to contain the species originally named Agaricus corneipes by Elias Magnus Fries in 1861. Fries described the species from collections made in a fir forest near Alsike, Sweden; it was subsequently recorded in North America (northwestern USA) by Andrew Price Morgan in 1907, and several times by Smith. When listing the synonyms of the species, Redhead and Smith cited the publication year of Fries's work as 1863 instead of the correct 1861, which rendered their new combination invalid according to the rules of International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, although the generic name was valid. The binomial was subsequently published validly in 2011.