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Collybioid

Expert links: Gymnopus/Collybiopsis Rhodocollybia Collybia/Asterophora
  Melanoleuca Lyophyllum Strobilurus/Baeospora
  Calocybe Tephrocybe etc. Other

These are usually found on the ground but are saprophytic (often growing on debris or cones) and belong to the Marasmioid clade unless otherwise specified. This is a pretty big catch-all page for many miscellaneous white spored mushrooms, and will unfortunately require a lot of browsing.

A few species with normally decurrent gills may sometimes have adnexed gills, such as Clitocybe sclerotoidea, growing conspicuously from a white mass, and Leucopaxillus gentianeus.

 

Collybia - When Collybias were found to not be all related to each other and the larger ones were split into Gymnopus and Rhodocollybia, it was unfortunately the atypically small Collybias that got to keep the name, simply because they had the name first, creating confusion. So "collybioid stature" really means big like things Collybia used to be, not small things like Collybia is now. On behalf of mycologists everywhere, I apologize. They are not related to Marasmius and Gymnopus, but to the Tricholomatoid clade. In fact they are very closely related to Clitocybe. (Very. Unfortunately, they may actually be Clitocybes, which doesn't help the confusion any).

These can be recognized by their small size (<1cm), preference for growing on old rotting mushrooms (often an old Russula turned into an unrecognizable black pile of goo), closely spaced gills and by often having sclerotia at the base of the stem - a tight little pill ball of nutrients. The caps and stems are pale and not tough nor wiry, so they are most likely to be confused with Strobilurus/Baeospora and Asterophora. Hygrophanous. There is usually no odor (although my collection of C. cookei below smelled mysteriously of black licorice, perhaps the host mushroom did).

C. tuberosa - sclerotia are dark and brown, small and seed shaped.

C. cookei - sclerotia are brighter, larger, round and wrinkled.

C. cirrhata - no sclerotia, resembles Asterophora and Strobilurus.

Dendrocollybia racemosa - <1cm, you can't miss the branches all over the stem of this rare little gem, where asexual spores are produced. It has round, black sclerotia and also grows on old rotting Russulas. Sometimes it is capless.

D. pycnoramella n.p. - shorter, denser branches.

Asterophora - growing on decaying Russula/Lactarius remains, these are related to Lyophyllum in the Tricholomatoid clade. Not hygrophanous. One species may be almost lacking in gills and not recognizable as a gilled mushroom and mistaken for an earth tongue, but the brown powdery cap will hopefully give it away. Due to their warty spores and parastic ecology, they are probably most closely related to Tephrocybe.

A. lycoperdoides - cap is dusted with brown asexual spores, gills almost absent.

A. parasitica - true gills, not dusty, wider spaced gills than Collybia, which it is most likely to be confused with.

 

Strobilurus/Baeospora - these mushrooms have been squeezed out of larger habitats and forced to feed on conifer cones, while the larger bully mushrooms have taken the larger pieces of wood for themselves. Somewhat hygrophanous. Most likely to be confused with Collybia which grow on rotting mushrooms. Strobilurus is closely related to Armillaria (the honey mushroom) and Flammulina (Enoki), and the bi-coloured stems of Strobilurus are reminiscent of many marasmioids with fewer gills. <2.5cm in diamater, but usually smaller than that. The three species of Strobilurus look practically the same, so are best told apart microscopically.

S. trullisatus (kemptonae) (left) - orange two-toned stem. Pale cap perhaps grey or tan. Gills close but not crowded. Doug fir cones. Fall. Thick walled capitate pleurocystidia.

B. myosura (right) - uniform pinkish stem. Crowded gills.

S. albipilatus (lignitilis) - sometimes tan cap but also pale or grey, on various conifer cones or the ground on unrecognizably decayed cones. Often at high elevations. Thin walled capitate pleurocystidia.

S. occidentalis - sometimes grey capped but also pale or tan. Well-known on spruce cones, but it can grow on any conifer cone or even on the ground. Coastal. Pleurocystidia not capitate.

S. wyomingensis - subalpine in the Rockies, same micro characters.

 

Gymnopus/Collybiopsis - the bulk of the genus Collybia were moved into Gymnopus, but then a genetic study showed that they belonged in two genetic groups, Gymnopus and Marasmiellus. Finally, it was discovered that Collybiopsis was an older name for Marasmiellus, so that genus name is being abandoned by some. The two genera only differ microscopically with the kind of cells on the top layer of the cap. The species in Gymnopus section Vestipedes (such as G. confluens, G. luxurians, G. peronatus, G. subpruinosus and G. villosipes) are the ones that have or need to be moved to Collybiopsis.

They typically grow up to 5cm across, unless otherwise specified. They can sometimes be found on wood and can therefore be confused with the mushrooms found here. Some are somewhat hygrophanous. They do have cartilaginous stems and tough fruiting bodies that are not very fleshy and don't rot quickly. They are sometimes confused with Rhodocollybia, which are usually a bit larger and fleshier. They haven't been studied much so we're still learning which species are here.

Connopus 'acervatus' - big clusters, reddish stems and young caps.

Collybiopsis peronatus - one of the most common mushrooms of all, recently introduced! Yellowish, hairy stem base. Taste hot (but not always? Sometimes lemony.)

C. confluens - pale (sometimes darker when fresh), finely hairy stem, more crowded gills than C. peronatus.

'Gymnopus' striatipes - clustered, more distant gills and grooved stem.

G. dryophilus - brighter orange, bald stem, usually smaller than R. butyracea.

G. aquosus - similar, with a bit of a stem bulb and pink rhizomorphs.

G. ocior - cold, dark, wine coloured cap, possibly with yellowish gills, in urban disturbed places.

G. earleae - chestnut brown, often in spring.

G. erythropus - two toned stem, a different shade of reddish than C. acervatus. More distant gills. Similar to Marasmius cohaerens.

G. spongiosus grp ('fuscopurpureus') - dark even in the gills, with hairy stem base. KOH turns green!

G. impudicus/dysodes - smells strongly of garlic/onion. KOH (may not/may) turn green

C. villosipes - similarly dark cap and young gills, umbilicate cap?, entirely pubescent stem, KOH negative.

G. polyphyllus - cap and stem dark or pale, crowded gills, smells strongly of garlic, bigger than Marasmius.

C. luxurians - our largest one. The size of Rhodocollybia.

C. subpruinosus - slightly pubescent stem, entirely striate cap.

C. 'hasanskyensis' - reddish brown cap fades but stem retains colour. Very distant gills?

C. eneficola almost white, subdistant gills, hairy stem.

'Collybia' bakerensis - <4cm. Mostly white with a pinkish brown stem base, usually growing on wood. Less crowded gills than Ossicaulis. Not hygrophanous. Also resembles the wood-inhabiting Clitocybe truncicola and americana. Needs to be moved to Collybiopsis.

Rhodocollybia - usually just a bit bigger and stockier than Gymnopus (whose stems are more cartilaginous), they are best defined by a slight tinge of yellow, orange or pink to the spores, but not at all deep and dark enough to qualify as pink-spored mushrooms. It's too subtle to notice unless you take a spore print, so you may just have to learn to recognize them. Somewhat hygrophanous. Most often with serrated gill edges, and slightly rooting stems.

Collybiopsis luxurians, above, is the size of a Rhodocollybia, but doesn't have the same greasy look that Rhodocollybia often does.

R. butyracea - dark orange brown, stockier than G. dryophilus with serrated gill edges.

R. butyracea forma 'asema' - pale cap.

R. badiialba - medium brown (in between).

R. maculata group - many varieties, whitish to yellow to dark brown, may spot red, may smell like candy!

R. oregonensis - dark two-toned cap, with the longest rooting stem. Also spotting red and definitely smells like marzipan!

R. subsulcatipes - paler brown cap, but darker brown stem. Not staining but sweet odor.

Caulorhiza hygrophoroides - not closely related, but similar white spored, red-orange, conical cap and deeply rooting stem.

Melanoleuca - They are best recognized by often having a very elegant Amanita/Pluteus like stature (they are related to Pluteus), with a wide flat cap, close to crowded gills and a (usually narrow) straight stem. The gill attachment is never reliably the same, so unfortunately, they might be notched, adnate or slightly decurrent (which makes them easily confused with clitocyboid mushrooms). The caps are not usually viscid but slightly greasy or hygrophanous. There is no partial veil. But they are often hard to recognize because they only come in boring shades of white, grey or brown. Normally 5-10cm, except for the larger, stockier ones, which do not quite have the elegant Melanoleuca "look" and are easily confused with Lyophyllum. Megacollybia is similar, but on wood, usually large, and with more distant gills.

Distinctively, they have amyloid warty spores (that turn dark in iodine) and often have cystidia of the "stinging hair" type - narrow and encrusted (except for some in the first box). Some species are still unnamed and not yet mentioned below, as they have never been thoroughly studied in North America.

M. angelesiana - modest sized dark grey cap, spring snowbank mushroom, without stinging cystidia.

M. 'melaleuca' - fall, modest dark grey capped species without cystidia.

M. sp. - a relative of M. communis, M. polioleuca and M. friesii that looks the same but does have the stinging cystidia.

M. eccentrica - yellow-brown cap, white to cream gills (unlike M. cognata). Unlike the description, it is actually large (<=12cm), with a central stem, and a few unencrusted cystidia.

M. exscissa - small dull brown species, with especially small encrusted cystidia, in lawns, spring and fall. Pale-ish stem and stem flesh.

M. griseobrunnea - similar, but darker stem and stem flesh.

M. verrucipes - This confused us a while ago when it was first introduced from Europe. White, with black scabered stem.

M. 'strictipes' ('evenosa') - often stocky and usually a very pale cap. Mid to high elevations.

M. cognata - yellow spores and therefore gills in age. Variable stature, colour and elevation.

Lyophyllum - part of a separate family in the Tricholomatoid clade, these miscellaneous mushrooms can be tricky to identify, as they mostly have non-viscid greasy looking grey-brown caps and no partial veil without anything very distinctive, but they will either grow in large clusters or blacken slowly in age or where handled.

Lyophyllum decastes/shimeji - grey-brown clustered choice edible species. Easily confused with poisonous Entoloma, which usually don't cluster as much..

Lyophyllum sp. "pale spring" - almost white capped spring clustered species. Very easily confused with the fall species Leucocybe connata (='Clitocybe dilatata').

Lyophyllum semitale grp - commonly smell farinaceous and eventually turn black wherever handled. May or may not cluster, come in all sizes. There are up to 17 species in this group!

Calocybe - known as the colourful Lyophyllums. Their pretty colours make them distinctive. Not usually hygrophanous. Usually <5cm. Attempts to move some species into Rugosomyces are unnecessary, as they all properly belong in Calocybe.

C. carnea - pink w/contrasting white gills, but the pink fades, often in grass

C. onychina - a gorgeous purple-red cap and golden gills, larger.

C. fallax (naucoria) - bright orange, cap sometimes roughened, making it hard to ID.

Tephrocybe, etc. - difficult to ID small (usually <2.5cm) mushrooms also related to Lyophyllum. The caps are hygrophanous. They are sometimes parasitic with mosses and may have spiny spores and may or may not have strong farinaceous-like odors. They can be mistaken for Mycena, Rhodocybe or a host of other things.

Tephrocybe rancida - grey with a whitish bloom, strongly rancid, notched, long rooting stem. <5cm.

Sphagnurus paluster - parasitic on moss, gills variably attached but possibly decurrent, farinaceous.

Sagaranella tylicolor - notched, on the ground, rotting flesh or feces. Mushroom without strong odor.

Other miscellaneous collybioid mushrooms:

Marasmius oreades - found in grass in the spring. <5cm. Tough but not wiry stem. Often wavy cap, sometimes uplifted margin. Famous for sometimes growing in fairy rings.

Callistosporium graminicolor ('luteoolivaceum') - <5cm. Greasy olive-yellow cap and stem. Usually growing from wood, but sometimes buried. Tricholomatineae. Turns red in KOH! Not hygrophanous.

Macrocystidia cucumis group - <5cm. I call this the sushi mushroom, because it actually smells like fish and cucumber, with a hint of rice. OK, I'm joking about the rice. The spores are pinkish, so you might look for it in pink spored attached gilled Entoloma, but it is in the Tricholomatineae. Hygrophanous. In gardens. Four species/varieties so far.

Pseudobaeospora - tiny (.5 - 2.5cm) silky opaque caps with slightly inrolled cap margins, thick, wide spaced gills, scurfy stem apices and hairy stem bases. The most distinctive species are purple, but others may be more plain. Tricholomatoid clade.

Omphaliaster asterosporus is a similar darker grey-brown mushroom found in moss, resembling the more common Arrhenia. They have a hygrophanous, striate, umbilicate cap without waviness and short decurrent gills. However, Omphaliaster is farinaceous and it is most confidently identified by its startlingly nodulose spores. It is also a member of the Tricholomatoid clade.

Some Mycenas can be unusually large or not conical. Make sure you don't have one of those.

M. pura - quite large (M), cap flattens in age, purple fading to grey, smells of radish. I've seen blue and albino versions.

M. pearsoniana - very similar. 

M. rutilantiformis/pelianthina - (M) purple gill edges. M. rutilantiformis may have a yellow stem top.

M. maculata etc. - on wood, developing reddish spotting. Other large brownish-grey species exist too.

 

Collybia, Gymnopus and Rhodocollybia are covered online at http://www.nybg.org/bsci/res/col/colintro.html, although the focus is on the Northeast not the Northwest.

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