Question

Agaricus (mushroom)genus ?

Answer 1

The mushrooms in Agaricus are terrestrial saprobes, and have caps that are not brightly colored. At maturity the gills are free or almost free from the stem, and are dark brown. The stem breaks away cleanly from the cap—a fact known to anyone who has cleaned commercial "button mushrooms" from the store (Agaricus bisporus). Agaricus species have a partial veil which often forms a ring on the stem. The spore print, like the mature gills, is dark brown.

In 2016 North American Agaricus expert Richard Kerrigan published his life's work (so far) on our continent's members of the genus, providing some much needed clarity. Kerrigan's book, Agaricus of North America is a must for anyone seriously interested in the genus; it represents decades spent collecting across North America (especially in California, Colorado, and Pennsylvania), studying herbarium specimens, and studying collections sent to him by others. Even with so much experience informing the work, however, it is not the "final word" on North America's Agaricus species. (If it were, it would represent fundamentalism, not science.) Kerrigan is a very careful taxonomist, leaving dozens of potential new species described but unnamed, preferring to apply names when he has data from multiple collections. And, Kerrigan points out, new Agaricus species are continually being discovered!

Thus, you should not expect to be able to identify every Agaricus collection you make. As Kerrigan says, "[t]here may be cases where the very best solution presently available will be to say that 'this specimen is very close to . . .' and if you learn to live with that, I expect that you will be happier while studying Agaricus." That said, identification of Agaricus species ranges from fairly easy to very difficult. Robust collections with mushrooms in immature and mature stages of development are sometimes essential. Not infrequently, microscopic features must be consulted. Below I have listed some identification characters especially important in Agaricus

Answer 2

Answer:

agaricus genus represents the most important cultivated edible mushroom. A. bisporus (J.E. Lange) Emil J. Imbach, a “common button mushroom,” has the leading position among edible cultivated mushrooms, whereas A. brasiliensis Waser is cultivated all around the world for its medicinal properties (Llarena-Hernández et al., 2013). These species have been demonstrated to express diverse and valuable medicinal properties including antitumor, antiaromatase, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, anti-QS antiinflammatory, as well as antioxidant, activities (Ferreira et al., 2010; Jeong et al., 2010; Kozarski et al., 2011; Moro et al., 2012; Sokovic et al., 2014). A. brasiliensis is an edible fungus belonging to the Brazilian biota, and has traditionally been used to treat cancer and other diseases (Wang et al., 2013). This species is also known as A. blazei Murill (ABM) and is a relative newcomer that was first found in 1960 in Piedade (Brazil) (Fig. 5.1).