Tricholomataceae

The Tricholomataceae is a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. A classic "wastebasket taxon", the Tricholomataceae is inclusive of any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genus in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to the Amanitaceae, Lepiotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Pluteaceae, or Entolomataceae.

Arnolds (1986) and Bas (1990) also place the genera of the Hygrophoraceae within this family, however, this classification is not accepted by the majority of fungal taxonomists. (Young, 2003)

Genera within the Tricholomataceae include Tricholoma (the type genus), Clitocybe, Pleurotus, Armillaria, Mycena, and Marasmius, among others.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis has greatly aided in the demarcation of clear monophyletic groups among the Tricholmataceae. So far, most of these groups have been defined cladistically rather than being being defined as formal Linnean taxa, though there have been several cases in which older proposed segregates from the Tricholomataceae have been validated by evidence coming from molecular phylogenetics. As of 2006, validly published families segregated from the Tricholomataceae include the Hydnangiaceae, Marasmiaceae, Omphalotaceae, Physalacriaceae, and Pleurotaceae.

The name "Tricholomataceae" is nevertheless seen as having validity in describing Tricholoma and its close relatives, and whatever other genera can at some future point be described as part of a monophyletic family including Tricholoma. To that end, the International Botanical Congress has voted on two occasions (1988 and 2006) to conserve the name "Tricholomataceae" against competing names. (Redhead 2003, McNeill, et al. 2006) This decision does not invalidate the use of segregate families from the Tricholomataceae, but simply validates the continued use of Tricholomataceae. (Young, 2002)