About Protoxerula flavo-olivacea (R.H.Petersen & Halling) R.H.Petersen
Protoxerula is a fungal genus belonging to the family Physalacriaceae. This genus was described in 2010 by American mycologist Ron Petersen, and it is monotypic, meaning it contains only one single species: Protoxerula flavo-olivacea. This species was first formally described as a member of the genus Xerula in 2008. One year later, in 2009, it was transferred to the genus Oudemansiella. The new genus Protoxerula was later circumscribed specifically to accommodate this species. P. flavo-olivacea has only been recorded from northeastern Australia. In this region, the fungus fruits singly or in scattered groups in undisturbed rainforest, most often growing near plants from the genera Acacia, Agathis, and Corymbia. A variety of this species, P. flavo-olivacea var. kimberleyana, is named for its type locality in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This variety has several distinct characteristics: a greenish-cream coloured cap, gills that turn white and crumble easily when dry, a long cordlike root-resembling structure called a pseudorhiza with a hairy surface, ellipsoid-shaped basidiospores, thick-walled cap surface hairs known as setae, and unique head-like (capitulate) pleurocystidia.
