Pyropyxis | |
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Genus: | Pyropyxis Egger (1984)
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Type species | |
Pyropyxis rubra (
Peck) Egger (1984)
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Pyropyxis is a genus of fungi in the family Pyronemataceae. It was circumscribed in 1984 by Keith Egger, to contain the single species Pyropyxis rubra. [1] This species was originally described by Charles Horton Peck in 1872 as a species of Peziza. [2] The genus name, said to be derived from the Greek word for "fire" (pyros) and the Latin word pyxis, refers to the segregation of this species from the genus Geopyxis. [1] The proper word in ancient Greek for "fire" is however pyr (πῦρ). [3]
Fruit bodies of the fungus are cup shaped, with a pink to reddish-orange color. Pyropyxis rubra has a Dichobotrys anamorph. The species is found in North America, where it grows as a saprophyte on burned forest litter in both mixed and deciduous forests. [1]