# Decurrent

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Term used in botany and mycology

Look up ***[decurrent](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/decurrent)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Decurrent leaves in common mullein (*[Verbascum thapsus](/source/Verbascum_thapsus)*)

The mushroom *[Clitopilus prunulus](/source/Clitopilus_prunulus)* has strongly decurrent gills.
And it is upside down.
"Decurrent" means the gills form close to the stalk, away from the cap.

***Decurrent*** (sometimes **decurring**) is a term used in [botany](/source/Botany) and [mycology](/source/Mycology) to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward.

**In botany**, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petiole and extend down along the stem. A "decurrent branching habit" is a plant form common for [shrubs](/source/Shrub) and most [angiosperm](/source/Angiosperm) trees, contrasted with the [excurrent](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Excurrent&action=edit&redlink=1) or "cone-shaped crown" common among many [gymnosperms](/source/Gymnosperm).[1] The decurrent habit is characterized by having weak [apical dominance](/source/Apical_dominance) that eventually produces a rounded or spreading [tree crown](/source/Tree_crown). Examples of trees with decurrent habit are most [hardwood](/source/Hardwood) trees: [oak](/source/Oak), [hickory](/source/Hickory), [maple](/source/Maple), etc.[2]

**In mycology**, the term is most often applied to the [hymenophore](/source/Hymenophore) of a [basidiocarp](/source/Basidiocarp) (such as the [lamellae](/source/Lamella_(mycology)) or "gills" of a mushroom or the "pores" of a [bracket fungus](/source/Bracket_fungus)) when it is broadly attached to and extends down the [stipe](/source/Stipe_(mycology)).[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Harris1980_1-0)** Harris RW. (April 1980). "Structural Development of Trees". *Journal of Arboriculture*. **6** (4). International Society of Arboriculture: 105–107.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Brown1967_2-0)** Claud L. Brown, Robert G. McAlpine, Paul P. Kormanik, "Apical Dominance and Form in Woody Plants: A Reappraisal", *American Journal of Botany*, Vol. 54, No. 2 (February 1967), pp. 153–162, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/2440793](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2440793)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ammirati2009_3-0)** Ammirati J, Trudell S. (2009). *Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest: Timber Press Field Guide (Timber Press Field Guides)*. Portland, Oregon: [Timber Press](/source/Timber_Press). p. 316. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-88192-935-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-88192-935-5).

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