The
Pluteaceae are a
family of small to medium-sized
mushrooms which have free
gill attachment and pink
spores. Members of Pluteaceae can be mistaken for members of
Entolomataceae, but can be distinguished by the angled spores and attached gills of the Entolomataceae. The four genera in the Pluteaceae comprise the widely distributed
Volvariella and
Pluteus, the rare
Chamaeota, and
Volvopluteus, which was newly described in 2011 as a result of
molecular analysis. The
Dictionary of the Fungi (10th edition, 2008) estimates there are 364 species in the family.
