Cortinarius trivialis

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

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with quaking aspen and other hardwoods; growing scattered or gregariously; summer and fall (or over winter in coastal California); northern and western North America.

Cap: 3-11 cm; bell-shaped or convex, becoming broadly bell-shaped; thickly slimy; bald; orangish brown to yellowish brown.

Gills: Attached to the stem; close; pale clay or faintly lilac colored at first, becoming brownish or rusty brown.

Stem: 5-12 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; equal or tapering a little to the base; covered with clear or whitish slime when fresh; shaggy and "belted" or obscurely zoned with whitish to brownish scales, especially over the lower half; whitish above, orange-brown to brownish below; sometimes with a rusty ring zone.

Flesh: White, or brownish in base of stem; sometimes bruising brownish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative to slightly grayish on cap surface.

Spore Print: Rusty brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 10-15 x 5-8 ; amygdaliform or subellipsoid; moderately to weakly verrucose. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia basidiole-like. Marginal cells present. Pileipellis an ixocutis with conspicuously clamped elements.

Suillus cavipes

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

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with larch (species of Larix, especially Larix decidua); growing alone or gregariously; fall; originally described from (and neotypified from) Austria; distributed in northern and montane Eurasia, where the host trees occur. The illustrated and described collection is from Alpine Italy.

Cap: 4-9 cm; convex at first, becoming broadly convex; dry; densely hairy to sub-scaly with whitish to brown hairs and fibrils; yellowish brown, reddish brown, or brown; featuring white partial veil remnants on the margin.

Pore Surface: Yellow; not bruising; pores angular and radially arranged, about 1-2 mm across; tubes to 5 mm deep.

Stem: 3-6 cm long; 1.5-3 cm thick; equal or slightly club-shaped; yellow and bald toward the apex; brown and velvety below; with a fragile white ring; hollow; basal mycelium white.

Flesh: White; not staining on exposure.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Olive brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 3-3.5 m; boletoid-fusiform; smooth; yellowish in KOH. Basidia 25-28 x 4-5 m; clavate; 4-sterigmate. Cystidia 45-60 x 5-10; cylindric or subfusiform; thin-walled; smooth; hyaline to yellowish in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 5-20 m wide, smooth, hyaline to brownish in KOH, septate; with aggregations of upright hyphae; terminal cells cylindric to fusiform.

Leucocoprinus cretaceus

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

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone, in groups, or in loose clusters in potted plants, greenhouses, planters, and so on; appearing year-round; North American distribution uncertain, but apparently uncommon, and more likely to appear in tropical and subtropical areas. The illustrated and described collections are from California and Florida.

Cap: 2-8 cm; roundish or blocky and subcylindric when young, expanding to convex or nearly flat; dry; white; covered with small, wart-like scales.

Gills: Free from the stem; close or crowded; short-gills frequent; white.

Stem: 3-8 cm long; 5-10 mm thick; with a moderately swollen base; covered with soft scales like those on the cap; white; with a fragile, white ring; basal mycelium white; attached to white rhizomorphs.

Flesh: White; unchanging when sliced.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Reported as white to creamy.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-12 x 4-7 m; subamygdaliform to ellipsoid; smooth; with a small pore; thick-walled; hyaline to slightly yellowish in KOH; dextrinoid. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Pavement cells present. Cheilocystidia 35-75 x 7.5-15 m; widely cylindric to widely fusiform or subcapitate; smooth; occasionally with refractive apical encrustations; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH. Pleurocystidia not found. Pileipellis a densely interwoven cutis of hyaline to yellowish, smooth elements 5-7.5 m wide; terminal cells occasionally cylindric but more often with branches and outgrowths, often forming shapes suggestive of letters or letter pieces, these elements 4-10+ m wide, smooth, occasionally with walls up to 1 m thick, hyaline in KOH, fragmenting.

Such a beautiful mushroom, I wish I could be able to name it and recognize it

Rickenella fibula

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

Ecology: Probably saprobic but apparently involved in some sort of mutualism with moss; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously in moss beds; spring through fall, or over winter in warm climates; widely distributed in North America. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois.

Cap: 2-10 mm across; blocky or squarish at first, becoming convex, then broadly convex, with or without a shallow central depression; tacky when fresh but soon dry; bald or, with a hand lens, very finely hairy; the margin translucent-lined by maturity; orange with a whitish margin when fresh and young; soon fading to yellowish orange overall, with a darker orange center.

Gills: Running deeply down the stem; distant or nearly so; short-gills in several tiers; creamy or very pale orange.

Stem: 5-45 mm long; 0.5-1.5 mm thick; equal; dry; bald; colored like the cap; basal mycelium white.

Flesh: Insubstantial; pale.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 3-4 x 1.5-2.5 m; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline and 1- to 3-guttulate in KOH; inamyloid. Cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia 25-40 x 5-7.5 m; fusiform with tapered or subcapitate apices; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH; smooth. Pileipellis a tightly packed cutis with numerous pileocystidia 50-100 x 7.5-12.5 m, fusiform with wide bases and tapered, subcapitate, or capitate apices, thin-walled, smooth, hyaline in KOH.

Xylaria hypoxylon

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

Ecology: Saprobic on the deadwood of hardwoods; growing gregariously to densely gregariously; spring through fall; by strict definitions (see discussion above) distributed in Europe and the West Coast of the United States, but (mis)reported as widely distributed in North America from Canada through Mexico—and in Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The illustrated and described collections are from California.

Anamorphic Fruiting Body: 2-10 cm long; 2-15 mm thick; either narrowly cylindric, with a pointy apex—or cylindric below but branched and flattened above, appearing somewhat like moose antlers, with tapering points on most branches; surface black and slightly fuzzy below, but powdery and gray to nearly white above; extreme apex attenuated, whitish to yellowish, and bald; sometimes with a rooting, black, stem-like structure; interior flesh white and tough.

Teleomorphic Fruiting Body: Shaped like the anamorphic fruiting body; surface black, bald, and finely pimply.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Microscopic Features: Conidia 5-11 x 2-3 m; fusiform; smooth; hyaline in water and in KOH. Spores 13-16 x 5-6 m; subfusoid to subellipsoid; smooth; brown to dark brown in water, with a single, straight germ slit extending the length of the spore. Asci 8-spored.

Blumenavia rhacodes

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

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously--often near stumps or woody debris; originally described from Brazil; distributed, at a minimum, from Brazil through Mexico and into Texas, but precise distribution limits are uncertain due to confusion with other species. The illustrated and described collection is from Texas.

Fruiting Body: When young appearing like a whitish to brown or black "egg," but soon "hatching" and developing into a cage-like structure measuring up to 13 cm high and 5 cm wide; oval in shape, composed of 3-5 unbranched, pale yellow to creamy whitish arms that are joined at the top; arms about 1-1.5 cm wide, in cross-section more or less triangular or four-sided, with the outer surface fairly flat (but lacking a pronounced longitudinal groove) and the inner surfaces more rough, punctuated by membranous flaps of tissue ("glebifers"); the edges between outer and inner surfaces often appearing jagged or "toothed"; spore slime dark brown, produced on the glebifers on the inner surfaces of the arms, from the top of each arm nearly to the bottom; bases of arms free, but encased in a whitish to dark gray, dark brown, or nearly black volva; base attached to prominent white rhizoids.

Microscopic Features: Spores 3-4 x 1-1.5 m; cylindric; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Hyphae of the volva 2-7 m wide; smooth; hyaline in KOH; with clamp connections.

Aleuria cestrica

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

Ecology: Trophic role uncertain; possibly saprobic or mycorrhizal; growing gregariously on the ground under oaks and possibly other hardwoods, often in moss; late spring through fall; distributed in North America from the Great Plains eastward; also known from Central America and Europe. The illustrated and described collection is from Illinois.

Fruiting Body: Cup-shaped, becoming flattened with age; 2-5 mm across; without a stem.

Upper Surface: Bright orange when fresh, fading to brownish orange; bald.

Undersurface: Orange to pale orange; bald.

Flesh: Orangish; brittle.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-10 x 3.5-5 m (without ornamentation); ornamentation as a well-developed reticulum 1-2 m high; developing polar apiculi 1-2.5 m long; smooth and ellipsoid before maturity; hyaline in KOH; yellowish in Melzer's. Asci 100-125 m long; 8-spored; tips inamyloid. Paraphyses 90-125 x 2-4 m; filiform below subclavate, straight or slightly curved apices; septate; smooth; with orangish contents in KOH; hyaline in Melzer's.

#NewSpecies!
A newly discovered fungus from #china for #FungiFriday:

Clavaria orientalis

Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C72319-8183-55D9-8A84-7886304EEAF3
Publication: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.115.145774
#MycoKeys #ClavariaOrientalis

#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #fungi #mushrooms #mycology

Helvella sulcata

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

Ecology: Probably mycorrhizal; growing scattered or gregariously on and around well decayed hardwood stumps in upland woods; spring through fall; distribution uncertain but potentially widely distributed in eastern North America.

Cap: 1-5 cm across; saddle-shaped, three-lobed, or loosely and irregularly lobed or folded (especially when young); pale to dark gray--or sometimes nearly black or nearly white; bald; undersurface bald, pale gray to whitish, exposed when young or in irregular caps; margin ingrown with the stem in places when mature.

Stem: 1-6 cm long; to 2 cm wide; more or less equal; extensively ribbed, but the ribs not generally forming holes or pockets, and not extending onto the undersurface of the cap; whitish to grayish; basal mycelium white.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on surfaces negative.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores: 14-18 x 10-12.5 ; elliptical; smooth; with one large oil droplet. Paraphyses hyaline to brownish in KOH and water; cylindric, becoming clavate with maturity; 4-11 wide. Excipular surface elements hyaline to brown; often arranged in bundles; frequently septate; terminal cells clavate.

Hypomyces lactifluorum

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

Ecology: Parasitic on species of Russula, Lactarius, and Lactifluus—especially Russula brevipes, Lactarius deceptivus, and other members of the Lactarius piperatus group; summer and fall, or over winter in warm climates; originally described from North Carolina (von Schweinitz 1822); widely distributed in North America throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The illustrated and described collections are from Georgia and Michigan.

Fruiting Body: A hard, pimply, orange coating that attacks the host rapidly and soon covers all surfaces, disfiguring the mushroom; with old age the orange often darkens to purplish red.

Perithecia: Reddish brown to nearly black; usually visible to the naked eye.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on surface instantly dark purple, even in dried specimens.

Microscopic Features: Spores 30-40 x 5-7 m; fusiform; verrucose; apiculi about 5 m long, narrowing to a point; hyaline to ochraceous in water and KOH; septate once. Asci 200-275 x 6-10 ml cylindric; 8-spored. Subicular hyphae 3-10 m wide, septate, smooth, sometimes gelatinized, purple-walled in KOH.

My greatest aspiration is to one day become as intelligent as slime mold

Trichaptum biforme

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

Ecology: Saprobic; growing in overlapping clusters on hardwood logs and stumps; late spring, summer and fall; found in all 50 of the United States and all the Canadian provinces; in eastern North America it is one of the most commonly encountered fungi. Trichaptum biforme is a voracious decomposer of dead wood. It causes a straw colored sapwood rot in standing trees.

Cap: Up to 6 cm across and 3 mm thick; more or less semicircular, irregularly bracket-shaped, or kidney-shaped; flattened-convex; hairy, finely hairy or fairly smooth; with zones of whitish to grayish white colors; the margin sometimes pale lilac.

Pore Surface: Purple to lilac, with the strongest shades near the margin; fading to buff or brownish in age; with 3-5 angular pores per mm; usually eroding and developing spines or teeth with maturity (sometimes appearing more like a toothed mushroom than a polypore); not bruising.

Stem: Absent.

Flesh: Whitish; tough and leathery.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative to pale yellowish on flesh and cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-8 x 2-2.5 ; smooth; cylindric to slightly allantoid; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Cystidia abundant; up to 35 x 5 ; more or less fusoid; apically encrusted. Hyphal system dimitic.

Hericium erinaceus

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

Ecology: Saprobic and parasitic; usually growing alone or in pairs; fruiting from the wounds of living hardwoods (especially oaks); late summer and fall, or over winter and spring in warmer climates; originally described from France; widespread in Europe; in North America widely distributed from Canada to Mexico; also found in Central America and Asia. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois and Missouri.

Fruiting Body: 8-24 cm across; consisting of one, unbranched clump of 1-4 cm long, soft spines hanging from a tough, hidden base that is attached to the tree; top of mature fruiting body often with shortened spines that appear hairy; spines white, or in age discoloring brownish to yellowish.

Flesh: White; not changing when sliced; soft; spongy.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5-6 x 5.5-6 m; globose to subglobose or subellipsoid; smooth or minutely roughened; hyaline and uniguttulate in KOH; amyloid. Gloeoplerous hyphae present, sometimes extending into hymenium to become cystidia (up to 50 x 6 m, cylindric with knobbed apices, smooth, thin-walled).

Morchella prava

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

Ecology: Possibly saprobic and mycorrhizal at different points in its life cycle; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously under various hardwoods and conifers, often (but not always) in sandy soil near bodies of water (lakes, rivers); April, May, and June; apparently widely distributed in northern North America (DNA verified from Montana to Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Michigan, and Ontario).

Cap: 3-6 cm tall and 2-5 cm wide; irregularly shaped but often more or less egg-shaped with a slightly narrowed or widely conical apex; pitted and ridged, with the pits randomly arranged and oriented and irregular in outline; when young with bald or finely velvety, flattened or widely rounded, pale yellowish to whitish ridges and medium to dark gray or black pits; when mature with bluntly rounded to sharp or eroded, brownish yellow to yellowish brown ridges and similarly colored pits (but often remaining in the "gray stage" for a prolonged period and apparently never maturing); attached to the stem directly, without a groove; hollow.

Stem: 2.5-4 cm high and 1-3 cm wide; equal above a slightly swollen base; whitish to yellowish; often discoloring reddish brown; bald or nearly so; hollow.

Microscopic Features: Spores (16-) 17-21 (-24) x (8-) 10-12 <NOBR>(-13) ;</NOBR> smooth; elliptical; without oil droplets; contents homogeneous. Asci 8-spored. Paraphyses cylindric with variable apices; septate; hyaline to brownish or brown in KOH. Elements on sterile ridges scattered and infrequent (often difficult to locate or distinguish from paraphyses); 75-125 x 7.5-37.5 ; septate; hyaline to ochraceous, brownish, or brown in KOH; terminal cell widely cylindrical with a rounded, subcapitate, capitate, subclavate, clavate, or widely subfusiform apex.

Now for another #gardening question: does anyone know what kind of #mushroom this is..?

Urnula craterium

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

Ecology: Saprobic on sticks and small logs (often buried) of hardwoods; growing alone, scattered, or in dense clusters; spring; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois, Virginia, and Qu&#233;bec.

Fruiting Body: 5-9 cm high; 3-9 cm across; at first shaped like a deep cup or an urn with a vaguely defined stem portion; often expanding to goblet-shaped or cup-shaped with age.

Fertile (upper, or inner) surface: Dark brown to gray or nearly black; smooth and bald.

Sterile (lower, or outer) surface: Brown to gray or nearly black; bald, roughened, or scaly; often becoming finely cracked with age&mdash;or with pigments breaking up to form chevron-like or nearly reticulate patterns; the margin becoming lacerated and tattered.

Pseudostem: Poorly defined at apex; 3-6 cm high; 0.5-1.5 cm wide; tapering to base; black; fuzzy toward the base.

Flesh: White; tough; unchanging when sliced.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on fertile surface greenish black.

Microscopic Features: Spores 21-35 x 9-13 m; ellipsoid to elongated-ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH. Asci 8-spored; 150-300 x 10-15 m; cylindric; hyaline in KOH. Paraphyses 125-325 x 2-4 m; filiform with rounded, subacute, or subclavate apices; smooth; septate; either hyaline, solitary, and projecting beyond the asci&mdash;or with agglutinated brown apices, bundled, and not projecting. Excipular surface elements cylindric; 2.5-6 m wide; septate; walls black to dark brown in KOH; smooth or a little encrusted; occasionally branching and/or developing lobes or nodules.

Two strange, melted-looking mushrooms popped up overnight in a flower pot on our front porch. I haven't seen these before in Texas. Anyone know what they are?
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#photooftheday #mushrooms #mycology

#NewSpecies
A newly discovered fungus from #china for #FungiFriday:

Mycena fulvomarginata

Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/7DAF3517-1E75-583A-ACF3-829A9CE36650
Publication: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.115.144137
#MycoKeys #MycenaFulvomarginata

#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #fungi #mushrooms #mycology