Help with fungi ID [2]

[NickWood]

Hi again,

A second fungi I’m having problems identifying, and hoping you can help.

Cap approx. 4cm, height 10cm; convex brown cap with striated edges, becoming upturned with smooth white patches spreading from centre; smooth white stem. Found on track in mixed woodland. 01 November 2017, Hay Wood, Warwickshire.

Initial ID: Rootlet Brittlestem – Psathyrella microrhiza

Nick

[adampembs]

One of the key features of P. microrhiza is the presence of its rootlets. Did you check for these?

I think you need microscopy with Psathyrella generally.

[NickWood]

Cheers, Adam.

I’m afraid I didn’t check the rootlets. I’m still learning the key features to look for, and I’m very hesitant about pulling up any fungi – though I guess it must be done to examine the bowl/rootlets, and to get spore prints.

Oh well, live and learn : )

[roy betts]

95% of the species of many genera cannot be identified without resort to microscopy: eg: Psathyrella, Coprinus, Conocybe, Galerina, Inocybe, Russula, Entoloma.

With Psathyrella you can get to recognise some in the field, but usually only after checking several/many collections microscopically over a period of time: eg: P. candolleana, P. piluliformis, P. leucotephra, P. spadicea.

Your collection has red edges to the gills which is an important feature and narrows the field considerably. As Adam says, you then need to assess whether the stem was rooting. After that a microscope is needed….. referring to Kits van Waveren:

In the UK there are two common species with rooting stems P. microrhiza and P. corrugis: both have ‘large’ spores (>10µ long) and can only be told apart reliably by the number/density of ‘true’ cystidia on the gill edge. There is also P. pseudogracilis which has differently shaped pleurocystidia. Species without a rooting stem (and sometimes with a small basal bulb) include P. prona which has large spores and P. pseudocorrugis with small spores (<8.5µ long).

[Chris Yeates]

NickWood wrote:

Cheers, Adam.

I’m afraid I didn’t check the rootlets. I’m still learning the key features to look for, and I’m very hesitant about pulling up any fungi – though I guess it must be done to examine the bowl/rootlets, and to get spore prints.

Oh well, live and learn : )

If you make a spore print overnight from a mature fruitbody like these just look at how many spores there are. This is why it is OK to pick (carefully) specimens – they will already have shed countless spores. Plus of course when you do collect you are not removing the hidden “business end” of the fungus.

Ideally two or three specimens of a small toadstool should be taken (at different stages of development if possible) as one may well be dismembered during microscopical examination and it may well be worth drying the others as voucher specimens. For this reason I habitually ignore solitary fruit-bodies, unless they seem rather distinctive. Perhaps it’s just me but solitary Mycenas in leaf litter form the majority of these cases . . .

[NickWood]

Many thanks, Roy and Chris, for taking the time to provide very detailed and informative responses to my query. It seems clear that if I’m going to get serious about identifying fungi, I’m going to have to invest in a microscope. I’ll check other threads on the site to see if there are recommended instruments – hopefully not too expensive!

Cheers… Nick

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