Laccaria fraterna

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Laccaria_fraterna.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with eucalyptus and other exotic ornamental trees (including acacia); growing scattered or gregariously; fall and winter; coastal California and other North American locations where eucalyptus has been introduced.

Cap: 1-4 cm; convex, becoming flat and sometimes depressed; faintly to moderately lined; bald or very finely hairy; red-brown, fading to orangish buff.

Gills: Attached to the stem; distant or nearly so; pinkish flesh color.

Stem: 2-7 cm long; 3-5 mm thick; more or less equal; finely hairy and often longitudinally lined; colored like the cap, or a little darker; with white basal mycelium.

Flesh: Pale brownish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8.5-11 ; subglobose to globose; ornamented with spines 1-2 long, with bases about 1 wide; inamyloid. Basidia 2-spored. Cheilocystidia absent. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 5-15 wide, with frequent bundles of upright elements; terminal cells clavate or merely cylindric.

Mosses and mushrooms and ferns, oh my
#mosstodon #mushtodon #ferns #EastSookePark

Russula virescens

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Russula_virescens.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods (but I have collected it under conifers with no hardwoods nearby); growing alone or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, and occasionally reported in western North America.

Cap: 5-15 cm; round to convex when young, becoming broadly convex to flat to uplifted with a shallow depression; dry; velvety; the surface soon cracking up into small patches; green to yellowish green; the margin not lined to very slightly lined; the skin peeling about halfway to the center.

Gills: Attached to the stem or nearly free from it at maturity; close or crowded; white to cream.

Stem: 3-9 cm long; 2-4 cm thick; brittle; dry; smooth; white; discoloring brownish with age.

Flesh: White; brittle; thick; not changing when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive; taste mild.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-9 x 5.5-7 ; elliptical to subglobose; warts extending to 0.5 high; connectors variable (nearly absent, scattered, or creating partially reticulated areas). Pleurocystidia scarce. Pileipellis a cutis overlaid with epithelium-like areas (the crustose patches) composed of elements of chained cells diminishing in width from base to tip, with the terminal cell projecting an extension that is frequently elongated and tapered; pileocystidia cylindric with capitate apices, positive in sulphovanillin.

Amanita arkansana

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Amanita_arkansana.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks; summer; distributed east of the Great Plains from roughly I-70 southward. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois and Indiana.

Cap: 8-16 cm across; oval at first, expanding to convex and, later, planoconvex; bald; sticky when fresh, but soon dry; when young yellowish orange with or without a yellow marginal area, becoming yellowish orange to yellow overall, with a brownish orange to brownish yellow center; without warts or patches; the margin grooved for several centimeters.

Gills: Free from the stem or slightly attached to it; whitish to pale yellow; close; not discoloring; short-gills present.

Stem: 10-20 cm long; 1-2.5 cm thick; tapering slightly to apex; base even, or with a slight bulb; dry; bald or finely silky; whitish to yellowish; with a white to pale yellow, skirtlike ring and a white, sacklike volva.

Flesh: White; not staining on exposure.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8-10 x 5-7 m; broadly ellipsoid to subamygdaliform; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Hymenial cystidia not found. Subhymenium cellular. Pileipellis an ixocutis of elements 2-4 m wide, hyaline to yellowish in KOH.

Gomphus clavatus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Gomphus_clavatus.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with conifers (especially spruces and firs); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall—or over winter on the West Coast; originally described from Bavaria; widespread in Europe; in North America distributed in northern and montane areas, and in the Pacific Northwest. The illustrated and described collections are from California and Oregon.

Fruiting Body: By maturity with one, two, or more caps arising from a shared stem and often fusing together at their edges; up to 15 cm high and 20 cm across.

Cap: Lobed and irregular in outline; broadly convex at first, becoming shallowly to deeply depressed; dry; bald or with a few scattered, tiny scales; pale brown with lilac shades when fresh, fading to creamy tan.

Undersurface: Running down the stem; deeply wrinkled and cross-veined; dark lilac or purple when young but usually fading to pale lilac.

Stem: Often difficult to define with precision, but usually about 2-4 cm high and 1-3 cm wide; whitish below; lilac near the undersurface; sometimes bruising reddish brown; bald above, but with a somewhat velvety base; basal mycelium white.

Flesh: Yellowish white to pale lilac.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Brownish.

Microscopic Features: Spores 11-16 x 4.5-6.5 m; long-ellipsoid to subamygdaliform; often flattened on the abaxial side; verrucose; hyaline to brownish in KOH, with numerous oil droplets. Basidia 50-65 x 10-12 m; subclavate; 4-sterigmate. Cystidia not found. Clamp connections present.

Xerocomellus rubellus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Xerocomellus_rubellus.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods (especially oaks); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously, in woods or, frequently, at their edges, in parks and gardens; summer and fall; North American distribution uncertain (see above). The illustrated and described collection was made in a botanical park in Illinois.

Cap: 2.5-5 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat in age; dry; bald or, when young, very finely velvety; bright, dark pinkish red, fading to pinkish red or pinkish; becoming finely cracked in maturity.

Pore Surface: Becoming depressed at the stem; yellow at first, becoming dull olive yellow; bruising promptly blue; 1-3 angular pores per mm; tubes to 7 mm deep.

Stem: 3-7 cm long; 4-10 mm thick; tapered to base and sometimes flared at the apex; yellow to bright yellow at apex, pinkish to red below; usually punctate with red points and dots, at least when fresh; not reticulate; basal mycelium pastel yellow when fresh, becoming ivory.

Flesh: Whitish in cap; yellow to red in stem; staining slowly and slightly blue when sliced; flesh in stem base with numerous tiny, bright red to carrot orange dots.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: Ammonia negative on cap surface; negative on flesh. KOH dull orange on cap surface; dull orange on flesh. Iron salts gray on cap surface; negative on flesh.

Spore Print: Olive brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 10-13 x 4-5 ; subfusoid; smooth; golden in KOH; dull brown in Melzer's. Hymenial cystidia more or less lageniform; to about 60 x 12.5 . Pileipellis a palisadoderm of septate, encrusted elements 10-15 wide; terminal cells obnapiform to subglobose; hyaline to faintly ochraceous in KOH; dull brown in Melzer's.

Leucocoprinus fragilissimus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Leucocoprinus_fragilissimus.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or scattered, in humus; summer; distributed in the southeastern United States, from Texas to the southern Appalachians; also reported from Costa Rica. The illustrated and described collection is from Ohio.

Cap: 1.5-4.5 cm across; planoconvex, becoming nearly flat, with a small central bump; very fragile, and soon collapsing; deeply grooved from the margin to the center; dry or moist; pale greenish yellow, with a slightly darker center; fading to nearly white, with a yellowish center.

Gills: Free from the stem; distant; pale yellow; often dissolving in hot weather.

Stem: 4-9 cm long; 1-2 mm thick; equal above a small basal bulb; exceedingly fragile; bald; pale yellow, fading to nearly white; with a thin, fragile, yellow ring that sometimes disappears.

Flesh: Insubstantial; yellowish.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 9-12 x 7-8 ; broadly ellipsoid; with a large (2 ) pore at one end, creating a sublimoniform impression; smooth; hyaline in KOH; dextrinoid. Brachybasidioles abundant in young caps. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia clavate; soon collapsing. Pileipellis cellular/hymeniform; terminal elements subglobose, 15-25 wide, hyaline in KOH.

Hygrocybe insipida

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Hygrocybe_insipida.html

Ecology: Precise ecological role uncertain (see Lodge and collaborators, 2013). The illustrated collection was growing gregariously under hardwoods, in summer, in Illinois. Largent (1985) reports this species under coast redwood in fall and winter.

Cap: 5-20 mm; convex, becoming broadly convex; thinly sticky when fresh; bald; bright yellowish orange; darker over the center; the margin becoming thinly lined.

Gills: Beginning to run down the stem, or broadly attached to it; distant; thick; dull yellow.

Stem: 25-30 mm long; 1-2 mm thick; equal, with a slightly tapered base; thinly sticky when fresh; reddish orange, with a whitish base.

Flesh: Thin; yellowish to orangish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5-6.5 x 2.5-3.5 ; smooth; more or less ellipsoid, but occasionally constricted at the apicular end; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia 4-sterigmate; up to 45 long. Hymenial cystidia absent. Lamellar trama parallel. Pileipellis an ixocutis or ixotrichoderm.

Xanthoconium purpureum

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Xanthoconium_purpureum.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; early summer through fall; probably widely distributed east of the Great Plains. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Cap: 4-13 cm across; convex to broadly convex in age; soft; dry; very minutely velvety when young, but soon bald; purplish red to maroon, reddish brown, or (less frequently) merely brown; occasionally developing numerous whitish to yellowish spots; usually fading to cinnamon or tan.

Pore Surface: Creamy white at first, becoming bright brownish yellow and, eventually, yellowish brown (but never developing olive shades); not bruising, or bruising yellowish to brownish, especially when young; with 2-3 circular pores per mm; tubes 1-2 cm deep.

Stem: 4-7 cm long; 1-3 cm thick; more or less equal, or tapered somewhat at the base; bald; pale at apex, but colored like the cap, or streaked with the cap color, below; often also streaked with yellowish and/or pinkish areas; not reticulate; basal mycelium white.

Flesh: Whitish; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Taste not distinctive. Odor not distinctive at first, but often becoming foul (like bad meat) as the spores mature.

Contorted Forms: Often encountered alongside normal forms; pore surface partially to completely fused with stem and cap margin; cap and stem becoming whitish and somewhat inflated; odor foul, like rotting meat.

Chemical Reactions: Ammonia flashing dark green, then resolving to negative, with a blackish ring, or reddish, on cap surface; negative on flesh. KOH negative, red, or orangish on cap surface; negative on flesh. Iron salts negative on cap surface; negative on flesh.

Spore Print: Bright yellow-brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 9-12 x 3-4 ; narrowly fusiform; smooth; yellow in KOH. Hymenial cystidia lageniform; 35-50 x 7.5-10 . Pileipellis a tightly packed trichoderm with clavate, subclavate, or cystidioid terminal elements (an "epithelium" or hymeniform turf); hyaline to ochraceous in KOH.

Laccaria proxima

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Laccaria_proxima.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with pines (Pinus species), especially in young plantations; growing scattered or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America.

Cap: 1.5-7 cm; convex, becoming flat and sometimes uplifted; the margin inrolled at first, later straight and not lined; at first finely roughened, later more prominently roughened or scaly; reddish brown to orange-brown.

Gills: Attached to the stem; distant or nearly so; pinkish flesh color.

Stem: 2.5-8 cm long; up to 1 cm thick; equal or with an enlarged base; finely or prominently hairy and fibrous-shaggy; colored like the cap (sometimes with a darker base); with white basal mycelium.

Flesh: Thin; colored like the cap or paler.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8-11 x 7-9 ; elliptical; spines mostly 0.5-1 long. Basidia 4-spored. Cheilocystidia filamentous to subclavate or subcapitate; to about 70 x 10 . Pileipellis a cutis of elements 5-10 wide, with occasional or frequent bundles of upright elements; terminal cells subclavate to capitate.

Lactarius paradoxus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Lactarius_paradoxus.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with pines (especially loblolly pine and long-leaf pine); growing alone or gregariously, often in grassy areas near the host trees; summer and fall; originally described from Florida (Beardslee & Birmingham 1940); fairly widely distributed in eastern North America, but more common in the lower Appalachians and the southeastern states; also recorded from the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The illustrated and described collections are from Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, and Texas.

Cap: 4-13 cm; broadly convex with a slightly tucked-under margin when young; becoming centrally depressed, with an uplifted margin, or shallowly vase-shaped; slimy when fresh; bald; dark blue to bluish, with a silvery sheen when young, becoming dirty grayish to purplish tan; often with faint to moderate concentric zones of color; with old age staining dirty green and eventually becoming sordid bluish green overall.

Gills: Broadly attached to the stem or just beginning to run down it; close; short-gills present; purplish pink when young, becoming dirty buff to orangish with maturity; staining and bruising dirty green.

Stem: 2-5 cm long; 1-1.5 cm thick; usually tapered to the base; bald; without potholes; dry; colored like the cap, but with purplish pink flushes—or purplish pink overall; staining dirty green with age; hollowing.

Flesh: Whitish to bluish, greenish, or purplish (or brownish in the mature, hollowing stem); firm; staining purplish red in places when sliced.

Milk: Very scant; dark purplish red; staining surfaces purplish red.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Pale yellowish.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 5.5-6.5 m; ellipsoid; ornamentation consisting of amyloid warts and ridges extending 0.5-0.75 m high, forming partial reticula. Hymenial macrocystidia rare; to about 60 m long; mucronate; scarcely projecting. Pileipellis a thick ixocutis.

Chonk.

Clavulinopsis corniculata

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Clavulinopsis_corniculata.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously under hardwoods or conifers in woods, or in grassy areas; often in disturbed ground; summer and fall, or over winter in warmer climates; widely distributed in North America.

Fruiting Body: 2-9 cm high; sparingly to moderately branched; delicate.

Branches: Smooth; yellow; tips colored like the sides.

Base: 1-4 cm long; 1-5 mm thick; often tapering to base; yellow above, covered with white mycelium below; sometimes absent or rudimentary.

Flesh: Pale yellow.

Odor and Taste: Odor mealy; taste mealy or bitter.

Chemical Reactions: Iron salts olive on branches. KOH orange on branches.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 4.5-7 ; globose or subglobose; smooth; with a prominent apiculus 1-1.5 long. Basidia 4-spored; up to 80 long. Clamp connections present, but often not particularly conspicuous.

Lentinellus ursinus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Lentinellus_ursinus.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing in groups or in shelf-like clusters on the wood of hardwoods (and, very rarely, the wood of conifers); summer and fall; widely distributed in North America.

Cap: Up to 10 cm across; kidney-shaped to roughly semicircular; broadly convex, becoming flat or depressed; minutely hairy or velvety, at least over the inner 1/3; brown, cinnamon brown, or pale; the margin inrolled.

Gills: Close or nearly distant; the edges distinctively saw-toothed; whitish to pinkish.

Stem: Absent.

Flesh: Pale.

Taste: Strongly acrid or peppery; odor not distinctive or a little spicy.

Spore Print: Creamy white.

Microscopic Features: Spores 4-4.5 x 3-3.5 ; elliptical; amyloid; very finely ornamented with warts and spines. Pleurocystidia rare; fusoid to sharply pointed. Gloeocystidia present; clavate.

Some cute mushrooms I saw today at Lynn Canyon Park
#mushrooms #mushtodon

Volvariella nigrodisca

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Volvariella_nigrodisca.html

Ecology: Apparently saprobic; growing alone or gregariously; usually reported from hardwood forests but occasionally reported in urban settings; summer; distribution uncertain (originally recorded from Michigan; since reported from West Virginia and, here, from Illinois). The illustrated and described collection is from Illinois.

Cap: 2-3 cm across; broadly convex or nearly flat; dry; bald; medium gray overall, with a darker gray center; the margin finely lined for about 2 mm.

Gills: Free from the stem; close; short-gills frequent; brownish pink at maturity.

Stem: 4-6 cm long; 2-3 mm thick; fragile; more or less equal, above a very slight basal bulb; dry; bald; white; without a ring; the base encased in a small, white, flaring volva that discolors brownish.

Flesh: Thin; white; not changing when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Slightly foul.

Spore Print: Brownish pink.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5-7 (-8) x 4-5 m; ellipsoid; thick-walled; smooth; hyaline in KOH. Cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia to about 60 x 15 m; lageniform; smooth; hyaline in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 10-25 m wide, smooth, brownish in KOH, septate; terminal cells cylindric with rounded apices, clavate, or inflated-fusiform, up to 35 m wide. Clamp connections not found.

Helvella costifera

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Helvella_costifera.html

Ecology: Probably mycorrhizal; growing alone or gregariously, under hardwoods or conifers, often in disturbed ground settings; spring through fall; widely distributed in northern and eastern North America.

Cap: 1.5-4.5 cm across; cup-shaped, sometimes becoming more or less flat in age; the margin initially somewhat inrolled; upper surface medium to dark gray-brown or gray, bald, and smooth; undersurface grayish, or sometimes whitish near the stem, finely fuzzy, with forked whitish, blunt, round-edged ribs that extend from the stem, sometimes almost to the margin.

Stem: 1-2 cm long; up to 1 cm thick; becoming broader near the cap; deeply ribbed with blunt-edged ribs that extend onto the undersurface of the cap; occasionally developing pockets; white; bald or finely hairy.

Microscopic Features: Spores 14.5-20 x 9.5-12.5 ; elliptical; smooth; with one central oil droplet. Asci 8-spored. Paraphyses cylindric with subclavate to clavate apices; 4-6 wide; hyaline to brownish. Excipular surface elements hyaline to brownish (but when brownish, the pigment resides in the cell walls rather than being intracellular); often arranged in bundles; frequently septate; terminal cells clavate to pyriform.