A cross-section of the type speciesWeraroa novae-zelandiae (Psilocybe weraroa).
Weraroa was agenus ofmushrooms from the familiesHymenogastraceae andStrophariaceae. The genus was initially described by mycologistRolf Singer in 1958 to accommodate the single speciesSecotium novae-zelandiae reported byGordon Herriott Cunningham in 1924.[1] It was thought that the genus represented an intermediary evolutionary stage between ahypogeous (underground) ancestor and the relatedepigeous (above ground) genusStropharia.[2][3]Advances inphylogenetics andtaxonomic changes since 1958 found it contained unrelated species from multiple genera. It is now considered a synonym of the genusPsilocybe.[4]
Weraroa containedsecotioid fungi, meaning that the margin of thepileus rarely breaks free of thestipe, making them resemble somewhat a pouch on the end of a stem, or stalked-puffball. The peridium (outer wall), which at maturity isglutinous, may range in shape fromfusoid to spherical toovoid or ellipsoid.
Thegleba consists of elongatedloculi that are various shades of brown. Thestipe may also be glutinous, and is continuous with acolumella reaching and merging with the upper peridium, often with a thin veil-like structure that joins the edge of the peridium with the top of the stipe. Thecontext is fleshy and may be gelatinous in the outer portion of the peridium.[5]
Cunningham was first to report that the mushroom takes a long time to mature, and specimens can also persist for long times.[1]
Spores are typically from 10 to 20 μm in diameter, ellipsoid in shape, smooth, and pigmented ochre to brownish. Thebasidia (usually 4-spored) often envelop theirsterigmata in gastroid-like fashion (i.e., enclosed), and may be narrower in the middle with a broader base.Chrysocystidium are present on thehymenium, on the sterile surfaces of young specimens, and as endocystidia.[5]
Species are usually found in rainforests or wet grasslands, growing on the ground or on wood; species ofWeraroa have been found inNew Zealand and theUnited States.
Weraroa cucullata (Shope & Seaver) Thiers & Watling (1971) was transferred out of this genus intoLeratiomyces asLeratiomyces cucullatus (Shoppe & Seaver) Beever & D.-C. Park (2008).[14][15]
Weraroa erythrocephala (Tul. & C. Tul.) Singer & A.H. Sm. (1958) was also transferred intoLeratiomyces asLeratiomyces erythrocephalus (Tul. & C. Tul.) Beever & D.-C. Park (2008).[16][15]
Weraroa novae-zelandiae (G. Cunn.) Singer (1958), thetype species of the genus, was transferred intoPsilocybe asPsilocybe weraroa Borov., Oborník & Noordel (2011).[17]Phylogenetic research conducted from 2008 on demonstrated a close relationship betweenW. novae-zelandiae and the blue-stainingPsilocybe in the phylogeneticCyanescens clade, includingPsilocybe cyanescens andPsilocybe subaeruginosa. Around this time research was also demonstrating that the genusPsilocybe was polyphyletic, and that the blueing and non - blueing species belonged in separate genera. As the blueing group did not contain the type species, and becauseW. novae-zelandiae was the type species forWeraroa, all of the blue-staining Psilocybe species could at that point have been transferred intoWeraroa. However, the generic namePsilocybe was conserved for the blueing group with the type species decided asPsilocybe semilanceata (Fr.) P. Kumm (1871).[18]W. novae-zelandiae was, therefore, classified asPsilocybe under the new name (nomen novum)Psilocybe weraroa.[19] The nameWeraroa novae-zelandiae was already in use by what is nowDeconica novae-zelandiae (Guzmán & E. Horak) J.A. Cooper (2012).[20][21]
Weraroa virescens (Massee) Singer & A.H. Sm. (1958) becameClavogaster virescens (Massee) J.A. Cooper (2015), restoring the 1896 genusClavogaster with a type species.[22] The former type,Clavogaster novozelandicus Henn (1896) had become a later synonym ofC. virescens.[23]
^abCunningham GH. (1924). "A critical revision of the Australian and New Zealand species of the genusSecotium".Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales49(2): 97–119.
^Singer R. (1958). "New genera of fungi, IX. The probable ancestor of the Strophariaceae:Weraroa gen. nov".Lloydia21(1): 45–47.
^Theirs HD. (1984). "The secotioid syndrome".Mycologia76(1): 1–8.
^abBridge PD, Spooner BM, Beever RE, Park DC. (2008). "Taxonomy of the fungus commonly known asStropharia aurantiacea, with new combinations inLeratiomyces".Mycotaxon103:109–121.
^Redhead, S.A.; Moncalvo, J.M.; Vilgalys, R.; Matheny, P.B.; Guzmán-Dávalos, L.; Guzmán, G. (2007). ""Proposal to conserve the namePsilocybe (Basidiomycota) with a conserved type"".Taxon.56:255–257.
