Gomphus is a small genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of cantharelloid fungi in the family Gomphaceae

Gomphaceae

The Gomphaceae are a diverse family of fungi belonging in what is classically known as the Phallales or cladistically as the gomphoid-phalloid clade. The family has 13 genera and 287 species....

. The genus has a widespread distribution in temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 regions, and contains 10 species. Once presumed to be related to chanterelle

Chanterelle

Cantharellus cibarius, commonly known as the chanterelle, golden chanterelle or girolle, is a fungus. It is probably the best known species of the genus Cantharellus, if not the entire family of Cantharellaceae. It is orange or yellow, meaty and funnel-shaped...

s, molecular study has shown them to be allied with stinkhorns and fairy clubs

Clavariadelphus

Clavariadelphus is a genus of fungi in the Clavariadelphaceae family. The genus has a widespread distribution in temperate areas, and contains 19 species....

. The genus is polyphyletic which would possibly result in a new name for G. floccosus

Gomphus floccosus

Gomphus floccosus, sometimes known as the shaggy-, scaly-, or woolly chanterelle or woolly gomphus, is a cantharelloid mushroom. The genus has been determined to be polyphyletic, which will more than likely lead to this species being renamed in the future...

in the future. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 of the genus is the pig's ear (G. clavatus

Gomphus clavatus

Gomphus clavatus is an edible species of fungus in the genus Gomphus, family Gomphaceae. It is commonly known as pig's ears, alluding to the violet underside and yellowish cap of the fruit bodies. Other common names for this species include clustered chanterelle and violet chanterelle...

).

There are several undescribed species in the forests of Myrtle beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) in Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. Bruce Fuhrer

Bruce A. Fuhrer

Bruce Alexander Fuhrer is an Australian mycologist. He was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion in 1989 and is a Life Member of the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club. He has written many books on Australian fungi, including a Comprehensive Field Guide to Australian Fungi. He worked for 25...

 noticed in 1992 that the large and ornamented spores of these species resembled those of the genera Ramaria

Ramaria

The genus Ramaria comprises approximately 200 species of coral fungi. Several, such as Ramaria flava, are edible and picked in Europe, though they are easily confused with several mildly poisonous species capable of causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; these include R. formosa and R...

and Beenakia

Beenakia

Beenakia is a genus of fungi in the Clavariadelphaceae family. The genus has a widespread distribution, and contains seven species....

.

The generic name is derived from the Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

'γομφος' gomphos meaning 'plug' or 'large wedge-shaped nail'.