OVERVIEW

The 1992 version of Helena Kirkwood’s trial key on Collybia has been altered due to modern name changes. There have been five or six adjustments to the descriptions, one species has been dropped and one added. The organization of the key has been changed due to changes published by Antonín and Noordeloos in A Monograph of Marasmius, Collybia, and Related Genera in Europe in 1997. In general, only three species remain in Collybia, one species has been shifted to Dendrocollybia, while the rest have gone to either Gymnopus or Rhodocollybia, by and large depending on spore deposit color. Specifically, one species formerly in Helena’s Collybia section is now to be found in Rhodocollybia. There is also the genus Megacollybia, a monotypic genus for North America that might possibly be included in the next revision.

DESCRIPTION OF GENERA

Collybia – Very small whitish to gray fruiting bodies arising from a sclerotium or from the blackened remains of fungi. Caps usually pallid to canescent. The one exception is Collybia bakerensis which needs to be moved to Gymnopus.

Dendrocollybia – Small gray to gray-brown fruiting bodies with short lateral branches off their stems.

Rhodocollybia – Often larger, putrescent to fleshy fruiting bodies arising from soil or litter. Spores flesh colored to pinkish-yellow, sometimes dextrinoid in Melzer’s, except for R. prolixa var. distorta and R. butyracea form asema which have white to cream colored spores. Fruiting bodies sometimes with rusty spotting and/or radicating stem bases. Stems usually fibrous.

A NOTE ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE KEY

Although an admirer of Helena’s original key, which is precise and well organized, I find I have to form a looser organization due to the vagaries surrounding spore deposit colors in the literature. Rhodocollybia butyracea, for example, enjoys a 50-50 split between those who say the spores are white and those who say it is pinkish. Another example is Gymnopus fusipes, a species that most authors claim has white spores while Pacioni, Lennox, and Moser hold out for pinkish. Antonín and Noordeloos (1997) also include three species in Rhodocollybia that can have white to cream colored spores. The result is that, from the standpoint of spore deposit color alone, the borders between Gymnopus and Rhodocollybia are now blurred. They are blurred even further with the inclusion of Gymnopus fusipes, a species with a fibrous, radicating stem typical of Rhodocollybia, in the genus Gymnopus. The temporary solution is to have double key leads for species with controversial spore colors and blend Gymnopus into Rhodocollybia without an isolated key for the latter genus.

KEY TO GENERA

1a Spores flesh colored to pinkish, except for Rhodocollybia butyracea f. asema (see 20a) which can have white to buff spores

................................................................................Rhodocollybia

1b Spores white to cream except for the one exception above now to be found in Rhodocollybia

................................................................................2

2a Fruiting bodies with lateral branches off the stems

................................................................................Dendrocollybia

2b Without lateral branches off the stems

................................................................................3

3a Small fruiting bodies arising from a sclerotium or from the blackened remains of fungi. Caps pallid

................................................................................Collybia

3b Medium sized fruiting bodies with caps up to 8 cm wide, caps usually glabrous to lubricous, marcescent and membranous with gills white at first

................................................................................Gymnopus

1a Spore print white to cream

................................................................................2

1b Spore print flesh colored to pinkish

................................................................................21

2a Fruiting bodies with lateral branches off the stems

2b Fruiting bodies without lateral stem branches

................................................................................3

3a Fruiting bodies tiny, with caps no larger than 0.5 cm wide, growing in colonies on much decayed mushrooms, wood, or humus

................................................................................4

3b Fruiting bodies small, but with caps at least 1 cm in width to 5-9 cm in width, solitary to cespitose, on wood, humus, sand or soil

................................................................................6

4a Fruiting bodies arise from sclerotia (seed-like tubers of hyphae)

................................................................................5

4b Fruiting bodies have no sclerotia at their stem bases, but do have prominent white rhizomorphs

5a With orange pumpkin seed-shaped sclerotia

5b Brown, apple seed-shaped sclerotia

6a (3b) Solitary growth in open, sandy soil

CAP 0.7-4 cm wide, rusty brown with occasionally 1-2 concentric rings of darker color, fading little when dried. Margins even to somewhat inrolled, or lobed to undulate. Surface dull, faintly powdery. Context thin, tough. ODOR variable. TASTE bitter. GILLS notched, distant, pallid. STEM 1.5-4 cm long and 0.1-0.2 cm thick, concolorous with cap margin, smooth, equal, surface undulate. Scant white tomentum at extreme base. SPORES 7-9.5 x 5-6 microns, broadly ovate and smooth. EDIBILITY unknown. REMARK According to Antonín and Noordeloos the name Collybia clusilis is now in the excluded taxa list. The type from Sweden is lost, leaving some experts to believe this is either a Tephrocybe or a species of Pseudoomphalina.

6b Not fruiting solitary in open, sandy soil

................................................................................7

7a Fruiting bodies grow densely clustered, joined together at bases in tufts of five or more

................................................................................8

7b Fruiting bodies, if clustered, are not joined together at base. May be solitary in other substrates or gregarious

................................................................................11

8a Strong odor and taste of garlic

................................................................................9

8b Faint fungoid odor and taste

................................................................................10

9a Found on logs, stumps, or soil. No reaction with KOH

CAP 2.5-4 cm wide, reddish-brown to flesh colored, surface lubricous. Context thin, whitish, pliant. ODOR & TASTE of garlic. GILLS white, very thin, crowded, abruptly and deeply sinuate. STEM reddish-brown beneath a dense, almost velvety whitish to pale gray tomentum. SPORES 5-6 x 3-4 microns, ovate to ellipsoid, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid. EDIBILITY unknown.

9b Found on wood chips. All parts react with KOH to give a green color

CAP 0.6-6 cm wide, convex with a decurved margin, soon plano-convex to plane, occasionally more or less campanulate with a straight or uplifted margin. Surface glabrous, moist, and somewhat translucent-striate at first, soon conspicuously plicate to sulcate-striate nearly to disc. Color dark reddish-brown when young. Context white, thin over the gills, but 0.5-0.8 cm thick at disc. ODOR pungent of old onions or garlic. TASTE onion-like. GILLS adnate to adnexed, distant, light brown when young, soon fading to a pale pinkish-buff. Edges even. STEM 1.5-4 cm long and 0.2-0.5 cm thick. Equal or somewhat enlarged towards base, round to compressed. Tough when young becoming brittle in age. Concolorous with cap when young fading to a light reddish-brown with age, eventually becoming vinaceous buff. Stuffed becoming hollow in age. Entire surface finely pruinose at first becoming subglabrous at apex in age. SPORES 7.8-8.4 x 3.5-4.2 microns, ovoid to lacrymoid, smooth, inamyloid. HABIT and HABITAT found gregarious and cespitose on wood chips. EDIBILITY unknown.

10a (8b) Smooth red-brown stem with tomentum at base

10b Bicolored stem without tomentum

CAP brown when fresh, hygrophanous, fading rapidly to pale brownish-buff. Convex to plane with uplifted margins in age. 0.4-5.5 cm wide, moist becoming dry and opaque. Densely white pubescent overall on young specimens, sometimes balding at margin. Smooth, pliant, margins inrolled at first, then plane to decurved. Context nearly white, 0.1-0.3 cm thick. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS adnexed, close to subdistant. Pallid to pale cream with age. Edges erode with age. 2-3 tiers of lamellulae. STEM 1.5-5 cm long and 0.1-0.8 cm thick, equal or slightly enlarged downwards, rounded to compressed. Bicolorous, upper fourth pallid and dark brown below. Brittle, smooth, shiny. Stuffed becoming hollow in age. SPORES 6-8.5 x 3.5-4 microns. Ovoid to ellipsoid, inamyloid, slightly greenish in alkali. HABIT and HABITAT scattered to cespitose on decaying hardwoods. EDIBILITY unknown. REMARK Surface cells on the stem contain a granular pigment that turns green but does not dissolve in KOH. (Can only be seen with a microscope).

11a (7b) Caps white, gray, cream, or pinkish-buff

................................................................................12

11b Caps brown, purple-brown, ochre, pale cinnamon, or tawny-brown

................................................................................14

12a Cap context very thin, 0.1-0.2 cm thick, and stem not enlarged at base

12b Cap context greater than 0.3 cm at disc

................................................................................13

13a Stems 0.3-0.5 cm thick, enlarged at base

CAP 1.8-3.7 cm wide, broadly convex becoming plane, sometimes with broad umbo, white to cream colored, often flushed with pink, darkening to yellow with age. Smooth, moist, with a faint yellow staining reaction on handling. Margin downcurved to uplifted at maturity. Context firm, white. ODOR aromatic, sweet and pleasant. TASTE mild. GILLS concolorous with cap, staining faintly yellow. Thin, close. STEM short, 1-3 cm long and 0.3-0.5 cm thick, somewhat bulbous at base, slightly darker than cap. SPORES 6.5-8.5 x 3.5-4.5 microns, ovate, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid. HABIT and HABITAT scattered on fallen logs in moist areas, often inside of bark. REMARK This species might be transferred to Gymnopus, but could end up elsewhere. Compare with Rhodocollybia maculata var. fulva.

13b Stems 0.5-1.2 cm thick, tapering at base

................................................................................Rhodocollybia maculata var. maculata (see 26a)

14a (11b) Caps peppery to acrid in taste

14b Taste not peppery or acrid

................................................................................15

15a Stems longitudinally grooved

................................................................................16

15b Stems smooth

................................................................................17

16a Stems dark brown, velvety to unpolished

CAP 3-7 cm wide, convex with incurved margin when young becoming broadly convex to nearly plane with straight to uplifted margin in age; surface smooth and moist; pale brown to cinnamon-buff, paler when dried. Context thin and pliant. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS pallid, subdistant, occasionally marked with rusty spots. STEM 5-7 cm long and 0.3-0.7 cm thick at apex. Dark brown when moist, concolorous with cap when drying. Hollow, compressed, distinctly longitudinally grooved. Base with white rhizomorphs. SPORES 5-6 x 2.5-3.5 microns, narrowly ellipsoid, smooth, thin-walled. HABIT and HABITAT gregarious to scattered under alder. EDIBILITY unknown.

16b Stems fusiform, pallid becoming red-brown towards base

CAP 3-8 cm wide, broadly conical becoming convex to plane with low umbo. Dark red-brown to rusty-brown fading to cinnamon-flesh color when drying. Smooth to slightly rugulose, margins translucent striate when moist. Surface shiny, often with rusty to yellowish spots. ODOR mild, sometimes sweetish. TASTE mildly fungoid. GILLS adnate to emarginate, subdistant, edges entire. Pale gray-brown to tan becoming dark brown to red-brown in age, often with rusty spots. STEM 1-2 cm thick and 5-11 cm long, fusiform and longitudinally sulcate, often curved or twisted, fibrillose or glabrous. Pallid at apex becoming dark reddish-brown below. Base tapered and originating from a root-like black sclerotium. SPORES 5.4-6.6 x 3.2-3.8 microns, ellipsoid to amygdaliform. HABIT and HABITAT solitary or in compact clusters around roots and stumps of oak, beech, birch, or chestnut. EDIBILITY mediocre, can cause stomach upset. REMARK Widespread in Europe, rare here. Pacioni and Lennox believe the spore deposit is pinkish. Moser describes them as ‘cream to pinkish’.

17a (15b) Gills brown to nearly black. A green color reaction to KOH

CAP 0.8-2.7 cm wide, convex with the margin inrolled at first, then expanding to obtusely conic to broadly convex to plane, and finally plane with a low, broad umbo. Margin obscurely rugose-striate or nearly sulcate. Surface dull, glabrous, hygrophanous, dark pinkish-brown when moist, fading either at the disc only or at the margin first to a cinnamon-buff with a rufous cast. Fully dried caps can be buff or brown to black. Context thin to very thin at cap margin, whitish with a rufous flush. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS narrowly adnate to nearly free, close, narrow with edges entire, straight to slightly undulate; brown becoming black to chocolate brown when dried. STEM 3-8 cm long and 0.1-0.3 cm thick, equal or slightly enlarged at base, hollow. Dark pinkish-brown to black, somewhat paler at apex. SPORES 5.4-6.5 x 2.2-3.2 microns, lacrymoid, narrowly ellipsoid in profile. White in deposit, slightly wrinkled in water mounts, but smooth and pale greenish in KOH. All parts turn green in KOH and NH4OH. HABIT and HABITAT solitary to scattered to even cespitose on soil, moss, leaf litter, old fern hummocks, or decaying woody debris. EDIBILITY unknown. REMARK According to Halling, west coast Gymnopus alkalivirens is most likely Gymnopus fuscopurpureus, a distinct species. Arora describes G. fuscopurpureus under the former genus Collybia, but claims there are numerous variants in the group. Very possibly both species occur out here.

CAP 1-6 cm wide, convex to plane, sometimes with umbo, sometimes with depressed discs. Surface smooth, slightly viscid when moist. Orange-brown to ochre-brown fading hygrophanously to pale ochre or ochre-pink at margins first. Margins striate halfway to disc when moist, undulate in age. Context thin, white, rather pliant. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS sinuate to adnate, crowded, thin, white to buff, sometimes yellowing in age. STEM 3.5-7 cm long and 0.2-0.6 cm thick. Glabrous with inlay of finely twisted fibrils. Yellow-ochre becoming paler at apex, sometimes darkening to ochre-brown towards base. Equal or slightly expanded towards base. Abundant white rhizomorphs at base. SPORES 5.6-6.4 x 2.8-3.5 microns, lacrymoid to ovoid, smooth. HABIT and HABITAT scattered to gregarious on humus, wood chip mulch, or well rotted wood. EDIBILITY use caution, has caused poisoning to some individuals.

19b Gill edges crenulate to serrulate

................................................................................20

20a Caps pale brown, brown, gray-brown or tan with darker disc

20b Caps red-brown to dark ochre-brown

21a (1b) Stems radicating, i.e. have pseudorhiza

................................................................................22

21b Stems not radicating

................................................................................31

22a Rust colored spots on some part of fruiting body

................................................................................23

22b No rust colored spots

................................................................................29

23a Gills yellow

................................................................................R. maculata var. scorzonerea (Fr.) Lennox

CAP 3.5-12 cm wide, plane at maturity and frequently straight or slightly recurved, either depressed or umbonate. Surface smooth, color pale buff to yellowish, darkening somewhat with age. Scattered watery spots and rust stains. Context thick, pale buff to yellowish. ODOR faint and somewhat fragrant. TASTE bitter. GILLS adnate to emarginate, yellowish, narrow, thin, and crowded. Sometimes rusty spotted. STEM 3.5-17 cm long and 0.6-4.0cm thick. Pallid at the apex, darkening slightly below, or becoming the color of the cap or more yellow with age. Rusty stains especially at the base. Markedly longitudinally sulcate-striate at maturity, subradicate. SPORES 7-8.5 x 4.5-5 microns, ovate to ellipsoid, smooth, dextrinoid. HABIT and HABITAT scattered on decayed coniferous wood. EDIBILITY inedible.

23b Gills white, pale orange, pale gray-brown to red-brown

................................................................................24

24a Distinctive odor of almonds

24b No distinctive odor

................................................................................25

25a Bitter taste

................................................................................26

25b No bitter taste

................................................................................27

26a Caps white to pale buff

26b Caps vinaceous brown to dark chestnut

CAP 2.4-11 cm wide (usually 5-7 cm wide), convex to plane with a broad, shallow umbo. Vinaceous brown to nearly black drying somewhat lighter. Margins frequently fraying with age, sometimes revolute. Surface smooth and slippery but not viscid. Matte on drying. Context white, soft. ODOR faint to pungent. TASTE slowly becoming unpleasant and bitter. GILLS sinuate and crowded, white becoming yellowish when drying. Edges serrated when young becoming eroded in age. STEM 5-11 cm long and 0.5-0.9 cm thick. Fibrous, flesh colored at apex darkening downwards to vinaceous tan, staining reddish-brown. Abundant white rhizomorphs at base. SPORES 3.5-5.5 x 3-4.5 microns, globose, smooth, hyaline with a dextrinoid endosporium. Walls variable in thickness. HABIT and HABITAT gregarious to loosely cespitose on much decayed logs or thick duff in dense conifer woods. EDIBILITY inedible. REMARK Closely related to Rhodocollybia extuberans but does not react to PDAB and is bitter to taste.

27a (25b) Caps white tinged with pink

CAP 2.6-11 cm wide, convex to nearly plane at maturity, sometimes shallowly undulate. Whitish tinged with pale pinkish-buff, but darkening with age, especially at disc. Rusty red spots usually present. Surface moist, dull, and faintly powdery. Context concolorous, thick over disc and tapering abruptly at margin. Sometimes frayed at margin. ODOR faint, pleasant. TASTE bitter. GILLS sinuate to emarginate, rather waxy, thin, crowded, whitish to pale orange. Edges even at first, eroded with age. STEM 4.3-15 cm long and 0.8-2.1 cm thick. Whitish staining rusty red in lower half. Often compressed and sulcate-striate to shallowly furrowed at maturity. Surface faintly powdery at first. Solid becoming hollow in upper half in age. Base tapering abruptly into short pseudorhiza. SPORES 6.5-11 x 4-6 microns, narrowly ovate to ellipsoid, thin-walled, dextrinoid. HABIT and HABITAT gregarious to cespitose in thick duff or on much decayed coniferous wood. EDIBILITY unknown.

CAP 2-5.5 cm wide, conical-campanulate becoming plane with a low or prominent umbo. Dark vinaceous brown shading to rusty-brown towards the margin, and fading overall on drying. Surface slippery to lubricous when moist, drying smooth and dull. Context reddish-brown, firm, tough. ODOR faint, sweet. TASTE mild. GILLS sinuate, white to very pale yellow becoming yellower upon drying. Often spotted dark brown. Edges finely serrate when immature becoming eroded in age. STEM 3.5-8 cm long and 0.3-2.0 cm thick, concolorous with cap margin sometimes becoming flesh colored at apex and darkening towards base. Fibrous, grooved, and twisted striate tending to split longitudinally. Powdery at apex and matted tomentose below substrate at base. With short pseudorhiza and with or without rhizomorphs. SPORES 7-10 x 3-4.5 microns, ovate with dextrinoid endosporium. Wall thickness variable. HABIT and HABITAT gregarious to cespitose on well decayed conifer wood. EDIBILITY unknown. REMARK Closely related to Rhodocollybia badiialba, but reacts with PDAB to produce a bright magenta color in the solution. Also worthy of note is that, according to Halling, some western collections of Rhodocollybia unakensis (Murrill) Halling have been called Rhodocollybia extuberans before. Meanwhile, Collybia extuberans (Fr.) Quél. in Europe has become a synonym of Gymnopus ocior (Pers.) Antonín & Noordel., a completely different species.

CAP 2.7-4 cm wide, convex to plane, dark brownish-black, shiny, unchanging when drying. Context context quite thick, firm, white to faintly yellowish. ODOR sweet. TASTE pleasant at first, becoming bitter. GILLS emarginate, rather thick, shallow, subdistant. Cream colored to peach, unchanging, not staining. Edges even. STEM 7-7.5 cm long and 1.2-1.4 cm thick. White near apex becoming yellow below. No rusty staining. Thickest at base and tapering above and below this point. Striate grooved in age, at least near base. Buried for half its length in much decayed wood. SPORES 7-8 x 4.5-5 microns, ellipsoid, dextrinoid. HABIT and HABITAT cespitose on much decayed wood. EDIBILITY inedible.

................................................................................Rhodocollybia subnigra Lennox

30b Odor faintly to heavily aromatic

CAP 5-8 cm wide, convex to plane with inrolled margin at first, then margin uplifting and tending to split in age. Deep vinaceous-brown to rusty vinaceous fading hygrophanously to pale vinaceous. Surface polished and margins translucent striate when moist, opaque when faded. Context thin, firm, concolorous with cap surface. ODOR aromatic, somewhat like benzaldehyde. TASTE mild. GILLS nearly free, subdistant, slightly ventricose. Pale grayish-vinaceous becoming dull vinaceous in age. STEM 6-10 cm long and 1.0-1.6 cm thick, concolorous with cap at apex but darker at base. Solid, surface smooth or longitudinally grooved. Tapering at base to a long pseudorhiza. SPORES 5-5.5 x 4.5-5 microns, globose, hyaline, smooth, inamyloid. HABIT and HABITAT gregarious on humus. EDIBILITY unknown. REMARK Rare. The only reported collection is from Storm King Mountain in the Olympic National Park.

CAP 1.7-2.7 cm wide, conical to broadly conical expanding to convex, sharply umbonate with margins remaining slightly inrolled and even. Dark vinaceous red, drying lighter. Surface moist, smooth. Context thick at the disc and tapering rapidly at the margins, brittle, firm, flesh color. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS narrowly adnexed to sinuate, thin, crowded, narrow. White with conspicuous rusty-red spots. Edges even. STEM 3.5-6.5 cm long and 0.3-0.5 cm thick. Solid, equal, pallid to flesh colored, staining rusty-red. Striate-grooved at maturity, base non-radicating with yellow and white rhizomorphs. SPORES 5.5-6.5 x 3.5-4 microns, ovate, smooth, thin-walled, dextrinoid. HABIT and HABITAT cespitose on wood. EDIBILITY unknown.

33a Caps tan, brown, gray-brown usually with darker disc

................................................................................Rhodocollybia butyracea form asema (see 20a)

The form asema is an interesting case. Breitenbach & Kränzlin (1991) show a photo (pg. 172) of a specimen with a glabrous stem and white to cream spores. However, they also write that Collybia butyracea var. asema can have a stem that is longitudinally grooved. It is this grooved stemmed version that has been collected at Deception Pass Park in Washington, and it has pale pinkish spores. It also has a pale brick colored stem that contrasts with the tan to pale brown cap. A photo of the grooved stemmed version can be seen in Moser and Jülich’s Farbatlas der Basidiomyceten (1985), Collybia photo #11. This complex needs further review.

33b Caps red-brown, rusty-brown, dark ochre, sometimes with olive tinge

................................................................................Rhodocollybia butyracea (see 20b)

NOMENCLATURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

GLOSSARY

acrid – sharp tasting, worse than peppery.

amygdaliform – almond-shaped.

benzaldehyde – aroma of peach kernels.

campanulate – bell-shaped.

canescent – becoming densely covered with whitish or grayish down or becoming gray or hoary.

carpophore – the whole fruiting body, sometimes means the stem of the fruiting body.

cespitose – growing in tufts or close clusters from a common base.

clavate – thick towards the base, club-like.

compressed – of a stem, elliptical to flattened in cross section.

context – flesh of cap or stem (excluding the surface layer).

corticate – possessing a rind-like outer layer.

crenulate – finely scalloped.

decurved – when referring to a cap margin or scales means curved downward.

dextrinoid – staining yellowish-brown or reddish-brown in Melzer’s reagent.

emarginate – a kind of gill attachment where the gills are abruptly adnexed or sinuate with a notch near the stem.

endosporium – the innermost layer of the spore wall.

equal – of a stem, the same diameter throughout its length, cylindric.

even – of cap margin, means not wavy or lobed; of gill edges, means not toothed, eroded, fringed, etc.; of cap surface, stem, or spores, means without striations, elevations or depressions.

fibrillose – composed of delicate fibers which are long and evenly arranged on the surface.

fibrous – composed of tough, string-like tissue.

floccose – loose, cottony tufts on stem or cap.

frondose – pertaining to broad-leafed trees.

fusiform – spindle-shaped, narrowing from a thicker middle at both ends.

glabrous – bald, without hairs or raised fibrils, scales, warts, or patches.

granulose – covered with a granule-like substance.

gymnopusoid – resembling in general form a mushroom of the genus Gymnopus in its historical wide sense that includes the genera Collybia, Gymnopus, and Rhodocollybia.

hyaline – colorless.

hygrophanous – cap surface changing color markedly as it dries, usually having a water soaked appearance when wet and turning a lighter, opaque color when drying.

inamyloid – remaining clear or becoming yellow in Melzer’s reagent, not amyloid or dextrinoid, same as non-amyloid.

KOH – potassium hydroxide, an agent commonly used to revive dried mushroom mater- ial or show chemical reactions on the surface of the mushroom and microscopic features.

lacrymoid – tear-shaped.

lamellulae – shorter gills that do not span the entire distance from cap margin to stem.

lobed - having rather large, rounded divisions of the cap margin.

lubricous – greasy, slippery, or oily, but not viscid (sticky) or slimy.

marcescent – able to revive when moistened after having been dried.

membranous – like a membrane, skin-like or somewhat like Kleenex.

mycelium – a mass of hyphae or fungus filaments at the base of a stem.

nomen dubium – dubious name, one of uncertain sense.

papillate – with sharp, nipple-like protuberance on the cap surface.

PDAB – a solution of p-diaminobenzaldehyde in 70% ethanol.

plicate – pleated, folded like a fan.

pruinose – looking finely powdered or finely granular.

pseudorhiza – a long, root-like extension of the lower stem.

pubescent – covered with short, soft, downy hairs.

radicating – forming a root.

raphanoid – odor of radishes.

recurved – curved back; when pertaining to cap margin or scales, means curved back upwards.

revolute – pertaining to cap margin, rolled back or upwards.

rhizomorphs – cord-like strands of twisted hyphae present around stem base.

rugose – coarsely wrinkled.

rugulose – finely wrinkled.

sclerotium – a knot of firm, frequently rounded mass of hyphae, usually underground and giving rise to a fruiting body or a mycelium.

serrate – saw-toothed to almost ragged.

serrulate – minutely serrate.

strigose – long, coarse, thickish hairs usually found on a stem.

sub- - a prefix denoting ‘nearly, more or less, somewhat like, etc.’

substrate – the material that a fungus is growing on

sulcate – grooved.

taxon (plural is ‘taxa’) – a named form, variety, species, etc.

tomentose – covered with soft hairs, often soft, densely matted hairs like a woolen blanket.

tomentum – a covering of densely matted woolly hairs.

umbilicate – refers to a cap a narrow, moderate, or deep depression in the center which may or may not have a small umbo in the bottom.

umbo – a raised knob or mound at the center of the cap.

umbonate – a cap with an umbo.

undulate – wavy, usually referring to a cap margin.

vinaceous – the color of wine-stained cloth.

INDEX TO THE SPECIES

- END -