Amethicium
| Amethicium | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Polyporales |
| Family: | Phanerochaetaceae |
| Genus: | Amethicium Hjortstam (1983) |
| Type species | |
| Amethicium rimosum Hjortstam (1983)
| |
Amethicium is a fungal genus in the family Phanerochaetaceae. A monotypic genus, it contains the single species Amethicium rimosum, a crust fungus first reported from Tanzania in 1983. Amethicium is primarily characterized by its purple fruit body and a dimitic hyphal system (two types of hyphae: generative and skeletal). The felt-like tissue layer covering the substrate (the subiculum) comprises a thin layer of densely intertwined skeletal hyphae.