Interim
"Skeleton Key" to some common species of INOCYBE[1]
in
the
By
Dr. Daniel Stuntz ca. 1978
Footnotes
(containing species descriptions) by Ian Gibson 2004
Copyright
Pacific Northwest Key Council 1978, 2004
1a Cap uniformly white or ivory or pale cream
color........................................................................... 2
1b Cap straw color, ochre, yellow, or some
shade of brown, at least at the center (margin may be pallid or cream color or
yellow)....................................................................................................................................... 11
2a Stipe pruinose (as if covered with fine
sand; use a hand lens) only at the top if at all............... 3
2b Stipe pruinose in its entire length........................................................................................... 5
3a Odor strong of green corn...............................................................................................
3b Odor not of green corn................................................................................................................. 4
4a
Cap and stipe white, becoming flushed or
stained with pink or red, especially when dried
...............................................................................................................................
4b Cap and stipe white, not developing any
pink or red stains, and not becoming pink when dried
..........................................................................................................................
5a (2b)
Odor sweet, like sweet pea or lily-of-the-valley, or both....................................
5b Odor not as in the above............................................................................................................... 6
6a Stipe pink at the apex only, or all over.................................................................................. 7
6b Stipe ivory, cream color, or pale yellow,
lacking pink colors................................................. 8
7a Pileus entirely white; stipe pink all over.......................................................................
7b Pileus cream color; stipe pink at the apex
only, elsewhere cream color or ivory...........
8a (6b)
Stipe discoloring dingy brown or gray or nearly black, from the base up,
in older specimens and when dried..................................................................................................................................... 9
8b Stipe not discoloring brown or gray,
remaining pale yellow in older specimens and when dried
............................................................................................................................................ 10
9a Odor sharp, penetrating, resinous with
component of acetic acid; stipe discoloring dull brown or vinaceous brown
rather than gray.............................................................................................................................
9b Odor merely spermatic or scarcely notable;
stipe discoloring definitely gray, frequently dark gray
.............................................................................................................................
10a (8b)
Pileus silky, soon becoming scaly at least at the center, not lubricous
when wet...............
......................................................................................................................
10b Pileus becoming rimose but not scaly;
lubricous when wet.....................................
11a (1b)
Odor strong of green corn.....................................................................................
11b Odor varies, but not of green corn............................................................................................... 12
12a Pileus white at the center, grayish
vinaceous or brownish vinaceous at the margin; stipe pink, entirely pruinate,
with a definite marginate bulb..................................................................................................
12b Not with all
three of the above features............................................................................. 13
13a Center of pileus either brown or slate gray
or nearly black, these colors shading to white or dingy ivory at the margin, and - base of the stipe the same color
as the center of the pileus, shading up to white at the apex.. 14
13b Neither cap nor stipe colored as in the
above............................................................................... 15
14a Center of pileus and base of stipe gray to
nearly black.....................................
14b Center of pileus and base of stipe red-brown
to umber, without any gray tones.......................
.....................................................................................................................
15a (13b)
Young gills orange (use unopened caps)......................................................
15b Young gills white, pale cream, greenish, or
some shade of lavender or purplish............................. 16
16a Young gills and apex of stipe lavender,
lilac, violet, or similar purplish color......................... 17
16b Young gills white, pale cream, yellow, or
tinged greenish..................................................... 18
17a Stipe lavender at the apex, pallid below and
with streaks of brown fibrils or tomentum......................
................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................
18a (16b)
Stipe entirely pruinose............................................................................................. 19
18b Stipe pruinose at the apex only, if at all,
elsewhere satiny, glabrous, fibrillose-streaked, fibrillose-scaly, squarrose,
or tomentose, but not pruinose
below the apex........................................................................................ 26
19a Stipe some shade of pink, at least at the
apex.............................................................................. 20
19b Stipe entirely without pink colors................................................................................................. 22
20a Stipe entirely pink; pileus uniformly bay or
umber, or red-brown at the center and yellow at the margin
..........................................................................................................................................
21
20b Stipe pink at the apex only, elsewhere cream
color or ivory: pileus at most dingy yellowish or straw color
......................................................................................................................
21a
Mature pileus red-brown (bay) at the center,
brassy yellow at the margin; stipe bright salmon pink
......................................................................................................................................
21b Mature pileus uniformly red-brown or umber;
stipe usually very pale pink.........................................
..............................................................................................................................
22a (19b)
Odor sweet, like sweet pea or lily-of-the-valley, or both.......................
22b Odor sharp and resinous-acetic, or
spermatic, or not notable.............................................. 23
23a Stipe discoloring dingy brown or gray or
nearly black from the base up, in older specimens and when dried
...................................................................................................................................................
24
23b Stipe not discoloring brown or gray,
remaining pale yellow in older specimens and when dried...... 25
24a Odor sharp, penetrating, resinous with
component of acetic acid; stipe discoloring dull brown or vinaceous brown
rather than gray...................................................................................................................
24b Odor merely spermatic or scarcely notable;
stipe discoloring definitely gray, frequently dark gray
..................................................................................................................
25a (23b)
Pileus silky, soon becoming scaly at least at the center, not lubricous
when wet......................
...............................................................................................................................
25b Pileus becoming rimose but not scaly:
lubricous when wet...............................................
26a (18b)
Stipe yellow ochre, frequently darkening to smoky brown at the base;
pileus either uniformly yellow ochre, or brown at the center and yellow ochre
at the margin
......................................................................................................................
26b Stipe white, ivory, cream color, pink, or
some shade of brown; pileus either uniformly brown, or in one case, bicolorous......................................................................................................................... 27
27a Pileus bicolorous, tawny or orange brown at
the center, shading to straw color or yellow at the margin, conic or at least
sharply umbonate; gills often with a distinct greenish cast; stipe satiny,
glabrous, dingy pallid; odor strong, spermatic....................................................................................................................... I. rimosa[28]
27b Pileus uniformly brown, or the center a
deeper shade of the same brown as the margin, not bicolorous, not conic or
sharply umbonate; lamellae never with a greenish cast; stipe varies in color
and surface................. 28
28a Stipe flesh-pink or rosy-pink, at least at
the apex..........................................
28b Stipe white or pallid or some shade of
brown, lacking any pink colors................................. 29
29a Stipe white or pallid, in age sometimes
flushed with vinaceous brown; odor complex, of green corn then becoming
sweet-aromatic with lingering green corn component........................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
29b Stipe brown; odor fishy, spermatic, or not
notable....................................................................... 30
30a Pileus silky-smooth, becoming rimose but not
scaly............................................................ 31
30b Pileus definitely scaly......................................................................................................... 32
31a Stipe glabrous, satiny, with a napiform
(turnip-shaped) bulb...........................................
31b Stipe fibrillose-streaked, lacking a bulb at
the base...........................................................
32a (30b)
Stipe merely fibrillose-streaked, not scaly or tomentose; pileus
lacerate-fibrillose-scaly, not squarrose..............................................................................................................
32b Pileus squarrose; stipe either squarrose, or
tomentose at least at the base or lower half........ 33
33a Stipe fibrillose-squarrose, dull green
inside and out at the base; odor like raw fish (sometimes with a resinous
component); growing on the ground............................................................................................................
33b Stipe tomentose at least in lower part, not
green at the base; odor spermatic or not notable; growing on rotten wood............................................................................................................
apedicellate - without a pedicel
or stalk
applanate - horizontally
expanded, plane, flat
avellaneous - dull grayish
brown, hazel-brown, or light gray yellow brown, or closer to drab, or gray
tinged with pink, in Ridgway 1912 closer to pinkish buff
bicolorous - of two colors
boletoid - of spores,
resembling spores of boletes, which are typically long and narrowly elliptic or
spindle-shaped in face view and inequilateral in profile
capitate - with a head
catenate - in chains or end to
end series
caulocystidium (pl.
caulocystidia) - cystidium on stipe (stem)
caulocystidioid - like a caulocystidium
cheilocystidium (pl.
cheilocystidia) - cystidium on edge of gill
cheilocystidioid - like a cheilocystidium
clavate - like a caveman's
club, same as club-shaped; when used of stems, implies base is thicker and stem
tapers upward; when used of cystidia, implies part that extends outward beyond
the hymenium is thicker
crystalliferous - bearing
crystals
cystidium (pl. cystidia) - a
sterile cell frequently of distinctive shape, at any surface of a fruiting body
equal - of a stem, the same
diameter throughout its length
farinaceous - of odor, with
the smell of fresh ground meal from whole grain
floccose - with easily removed
cottony or woolly tufts; woolly or cottony; dry and loosely arranged; having
the appearance of cotton flannel; with a soft cottony texture
flocculose - with fine, easily
removed cottony or woolly tufts; finely woolly or cottony
fuscous - color of a very dark
storm cloud: variously described as combinations of gray, brown, purple, or
black
fusiform - spindle-shaped,
fairly slender and narrowing from middle to both ends
glabrescent - becoming bald
glabrous - bald, without hairs
or raised fibers or scales or raised patches
hispid - covered with long
rough hairs or bristles
hygrophanous - surface
changing color markedly as it dries, usually having a water-soaked appearance
when wet and turning a lighter opaque color on drying
inflexed - bent inward,
incurved
lageniform - of cystidia,
swollen at the base with the middle and top part tapered into a long beak, like
a gourd, therefore gourd-like
lanceolate - of a cystidium,
slightly swollen at or below the middle and tapered to both ends, hence
lance-shaped
lubricous - greasy or slippery
or oily but not viscid (sticky) or slimy
marginate - of bulb at the
base of stem, having a circular ridge that forms the top of the bulb
nodulose - of spores, covered
with broad-based blunt bumps large enough to change the overall shape of the
spore
notched - refers to a gill
that appears as if a wedge of the gill
had been removed near the stem (includes sinuate and uncinate but not adnexed)
paracystidia - short
club-shaped sterile cells between and among other cystidia
pedicel - of cystidia, a
slender stalk
pleurocystidium (pl.
pleurocystidia) - cystidium on sides of gills
pruinate - same as pruinose
pruinose - looking finely
powdered or finely granular, on the stem generally reflecting the presence of
caulocystidia
pyriform - pear-shaped
recurved - curved back: when
used of cap margin or scales on cap or stem means curved back upward
rimose - cracked, referring to
surface of cap or stem, often revealing paler flesh underneath
saccate - of a cystidium,
shaped like a sac
spermatic - resembling the
odor of male flowers of Castanea (chestnut
catkins)
squamulose - with small scales
squarra (pl. squarrae) - upright or
curved-up pointed scale
squarrose - covered with
upright or curved-up pointed scales
sub- - prefix meaning nearly,
more or less, somewhat, slightly
tomentose - covered with soft
hairs, often soft densely matted hairs, like a woollen blanket
tomentum - a covering of
densely matted woolly hairs
umber - a deep dull dark
brown, smoky brown; earth brown sometimes with a very slight reddish tinge
ventricose - wider in the
middle
Arora, David. 1986 Mushrooms Demystified Second Edition. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley.
Breitenbach, J.,
Kränzlin, F. 2000. Fungi
of
Cripps, Cathy
L. 1997.
"The genus Inocybe in
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1968. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. I."
Mycologia 60:406-425.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1970. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. II."
Mycologia 62:925-939.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1975. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. III."
Mycologia 67:19-31.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1977. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. IV."
Mycologia 69:392-408.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1980. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. V."
Mycologia 72:670-688.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1981. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. VI."
Mycologia 73:655-674.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1983. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. VII."
Mycologia 75:257-270.
Grund,
D.W., D.E. Stuntz. 1984. "Nova Scotian Inocybes. VIII."
Mycologia 76:733-740.
Kauffman,
C.H. 1924. "Inocybe."
North American Flora 10:
248ff.
Kuhner,
R. 1933. "Notes sur le genre Inocybe". Bull.
Soc. Mycol. Fr. 49: 81-121.
Kuyper, Thomas
W. 1986.
A Revision of the Genus Inocybe in
Malloch,
David. 1973. "Inocybe dulcamara." Fungi Canadenses No. 3. Agriculture
Matheny, P.
Brandon, Bradley R. Kropp. 2001. "A revision of the Inocybe lanuginosa group and allied species in
Matheny, P.
Brandon, Yajuan J. Liu, Joseph F. Ammirati, and Benjamin D. Hall. 2002.
"Using RPB1 sequences to improve phylogenetic inference among
mushrooms (Inocybe,
Agaricales)." American Journal of Botany 89(4):
688-698.
Nishida,
Nishida,
Smith, Alexander
H. 1941.
"New and Unusual Agarics from
Smith, Alexander
H., Daniel E. Stuntz. 1950. "New or Noteworthy Fungi from
Smith, Alexander
H., Smith Helen V., Weber, Nancy S.
1979. How to Know the Gilled Mushrooms.
Wm. C. Brown Company,
Stuntz,
Daniel. 1947. "Studies in the Genus Inocybe. I. New and Noteworthy Species
from
(Note some of these
Species Key lead
INOCYBE (Fr.) Fr.
=
=
=
I.
cincinnatula Kühner - see
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
I. leiocephala D.E.
Stuntz - see
=
=
=
=
I. obscuroides
sensu D.E. Stuntz - see
I. phaeocomis (Pers.)
Kuyper var. major S. Peterson sensu Kuyper & Stangl -
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
[1] This key is presented as originally written
about 1978. Footnotes are added to describe the species briefly, to mention
some other similar species, and to note a few nomenclatural problems.
Thanks are due to Dr. P. B. Matheny for reviewing the footnotes and Dennis Oliver for finding some references.
Some names (on the
left) replace others (on the right).
Inocybe catalaunica Singer = Inocybe leiocephala D.E. Stuntz
Inocybe fraudans (Britz.)
Sacc. = Inocybe pyriodora (Pers.: Fr.) P. Kumm. sensu Kauffman, D.E.
Stuntz
Inocybe glabrodisca P.D. Orton = Inocybe oblectabilis (Britzelm.) Sacc. forma decemgibbosa Kühner
Inocybe grammata Quél. =
Inocybe albodisca Peck
Inocybe pusio P. Karst. = Inocybe obscuroides sensu D.E. Stuntz
Inocybe cincinnata (Fr.: Fr.) Quél. = Inocybe cincinnatula Kühner
Inocybe rimosa (Bull.: Fr.) P. Kumm. = Inocybe fastigiata (Schaeff.) Quél.
Most amateurs can learn to recognize a
handful of common Inocybe species
with practice and by consulting with knowledgeable people. This key is
presented as an aid to that process. Inocybe
species are sometimes called fiberheads, in reference to the silky, fibrillose,
or minutely scaly cap that often has a detectable radial pattern. Few species
are brightly colored. The caps are often conical or umbonate, and are usually
less than 8cm across. Stipes are typically whitish to cap-colored, and may be
fibrillose or pruinose. The partial veil when present is fibrillose or
cobwebby. Odor is often "spermatic" like male flowers of Castanea (chestnut catkins), or
otherwise distinctive (fresh green corn, sweet pea flowers, geranium leaves,
etc.). Spore deposit is dull brown, (in contrast to the rusty or cinnamon color
of Cortinarius species). Most grow on
the ground.
It is not possible to identify the full
range of known Inocybe species in the
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
Inocybe suaveolens is characterized by its white silky cap tinged with buff
or cream color, its entirely pruinose white to pale yellow stem with a
marginate bulb, and especially the persistent sweet odor, resembling that of
the common sweet pea (Lathyrus). CAP 2-4.5cm, white, toward margin
becoming yellowish or buff-tinged, silky-smooth and almost shining, soon
becoming scaly. GILLS adnexed,
rather close, pallid at first. STEM
3.5-8.5cm x 0.25-0.7cm, with distinct marginate bulb, whitish, everywhere
densely white-pruinose. ODOR
spermatic for an instant when flesh first cut, then immediately becoming and
long remaining fragrant, like a mixture of the odors of sweet pea and lily-of-the-valley
(Convallaria majalis). MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7-9(10) x
5.5-6.5(7) um, merely angular to decidedly nodulose; pleurocystidia 43-58(60) x
10-16.5 um, subfusiform to sublanceolate, apedicellate, very thick-walled,
cheilocystidia of two kinds, one like the pleurocystidia in size and shape, the
other smaller, clavate, thin-walled, 15-22.5 x 9-11 um, in dense clusters.
[6]
[7]
Inocybe kauffmanii. CAP 3-6cm, cream to pale yellow brown,
fibrillose-scaly at center, becoming cracked toward margin. GILLS adnexed, close, narrow, broader
near margin, pale gray brown, the edges white-fringed. STEM 4-8cm x 0.4-1.0cm, widened toward base, same color as cap or
paler, may be pink at top; becoming bald, finely striate, entirely pruinose. MICROSTRUCTURES 8-10 x 5-6 um,
elliptic-almond-shaped, cystidia moderately abundant, 45-50 x 12-16 um,
thick-walled.
[8]
Inocybe picrosma is characterized especially by its unique odor, described as a
mixture of radish-like and resinous with a vinegar component. CAP 1.5-4cm, pale creamy yellow to pale buff,
sometimes flushed darker especially on disc, appressed silky-fibrillose, smooth
and shiny at first, usually becoming scaly. GILLS adnexed to narrowly adnate, close, moderately broad, pallid
in color when young. STEM 2.5-8.5cm
x 0.3-0.7cm, equal with a flat bulb which may be abrupt, pale yellow becoming
flushed dull vinaceous brown or fuscous brown, the margin of the bulb usually
with a flush of salmon, satiny-shining, longitudinally hygrophanous-lined,
white-pruinose at first, remaining so at top. ODOR sharp, penetrating (though not strong), spermatic for an
instant when flesh first exposed, immediately becoming complex, a mixture of
radish-like and resinous with component of vinegar. TASTE a little astringent and peppery at first, soon becoming mild
and almost sweet, but leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7-10(11) x 5-6 um, almond-shaped;
pleurocystidia 36-60(63) x 16.5-21 um, fusiform-clavate, with obtuse apex and
slender pedicel, very thick-walled above, cheilocystidia of two kinds, some
similar to pleurocystidia in size and shape, others clavate, thin-walled, 22-56
x 8-11.5 um.
[9]
Inocybe leucomelaena . It is not clear what
species concept is being used here, though I.
xanthomelas Boursier & Kühner would
key out here and appears to occur in the Pacific Northwest (P. B. Matheny, pers.
comm.) The name does not appear in Index Fungorum online as accessed November
18, 2004. It could be a provisional name.
[10]
See footnote 7 above
[11]
Inocybe mixtilisis common on the west coast. It has a conspicuously
flat-marginate bulb on the stem, yellowish brown cap that is greasy when moist,
and prominently nodulose spores. CAP
1.5-4cm, light brownish orange, honey, ocher, darker brown when young; smooth,
or smooth in center and outwards indistinctly radially fibrous, lubricous
(greasy) when moist. ODOR none or
faintly spermatic. GILLS narrowly
attached, notched, broad, cream or light gray at first, edges colored as faces.
STEM 4-6cm x 0.4-0.7cm, equal down
to distinct cuplike marginate base (to 1.0cm), white or with yellow-ocher hues;
smooth and pruinose for entire length.
CORTINA not observed. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7.5-9.5 x
5.5-6.5 um, nodulose with about 8 protruding knobs and apiculus; pleurocystidia
common, 40-58 x 14-19 um, fusiform to subfusiform, crystals at apex, walls pale
yellow, thick-walled, cheilocystidia similar to pleurocystidia, paracystidia 13
x 9 um, thin-walled, clavate; clamp connections present in most tissues. REMARKS Inocybe napipes is similar in having a marginate bulb and nodulose
spores but has a dry dark brown to chestnut cap, a turnip-shaped bulb, and a
stem that is not obviously pruinose. Inocybe glabrodisca
is similar in having a marginate bulb and nodulose spores but has a reddish brown to dark brown dry cap. Inocybe grammata also
has a stem with marginate bulb, but has spores less distinctly nodulose, and
has a bicolorous cap that is whitish at the center and light grayish brown or pinkish brown toward the
margin. Inocybe xanthomelas Boursier & Kühner has a pruinose stem with
a marginate bulb and nodulose spores, but the stem is pale yellow and darkens
to gray or black with age and especially on drying, and the odor is
oily-radish-like. Inocybe praetervisa Quél. has a stem with marginate bulb and
somewhat larger nodulose spores (9-12(13) x 5-7(9) um): it has pale yellowish
brown cap 2-6cm across with a greasy feel when moist and strong tendency to
crack, crowded gills, and a whitish to straw-yellow stem that is pruinose at
top and bald or slightly fibrillose.
[12]
See footnote 2 above. This key lead is designated "
[13]
See footnote 6 above
[14]
Inocybe fuscodisca is easily characterized by the dark brown fibrillose
disc against a pallid ground color. CAP
1-2.5cm, umbo dark brown, cap covered with dark brown to dull brown, radially
flattened fibrils over a pale buff to whitish ground color; smooth and
subviscid over disc, otherwise moist to dry. ODOR spermatic. GILLS
attached, close, broad, whitish at first. STEM
4-7.5cm x 0.15-0.3cm, equal, somewhat bulbous at base; sheathed from base to
ring zone with dark brown to olive-brown fibrils over a whitish ground color,
pruinose at top. CORTINA fleeting. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7-10 x 4.5-6 um,
elliptic, (occasional ones up to 12-13 um long from 2-spored basidia);
pleurocystidia 45-65(77) x (12)14-22(30) um, mostly 50-55 x 16-20 um,
ventricose above a slender pedicel, with cylindric or slightly tapering neck,
moderately thick-walled, cheilocystidia of 2 kinds, some resembling
pleurocystidia, others thin-walled, clavate, 18-33 x 10-13 um; apex of stem
with abundant dense clusters of caulocystidia, some like the pleurocystidia in
wall thickness, but clavate to fusoid, and up to 85 um long, others
thin-walled, varying greatly in size and shape, mostly clavate, about 20-50 x
14-20 um, base with abundant tangled superficial hyphae bearing numerous
cylindric or clavate terminal cells, no caulocystidia; clamp connections
present on almost all septa.
[15]
Per P. B. Matheny (pers. comm.), I. agglutinata is a later name for
CAP 1-3cm,
reddish brown to orange brown or darker brown with no gray tones, the umbo
usually darker, shading to whitish at margin; dry, fibrillose, streaked with
appressed-agglutinate fibrils. GILLS
adnexed, close, broad, at first whitish, the edges white-fringed. STEM 3-5cm x 0.2-0.4cm, equal, white or
whitish, reddish brown or orange-brown to darker brown below, shading to
whitish at top, pruinose at top, may be fibrillose below. MICROSTRUCTURES 9-11(12) x 5-5.5(6) um, elliptic or wedge-shaped,
smooth; cystidia rather abundant on the sides of gills, more on the edges,
50-60(70) x 12-18 um, thick-walled, tapering below or with an abruptly slender
pedicel, variable in shape, ovoid to ventricose-elliptic or subcylindric.
[16]
Inocybe cinnamomea
resembles Chroogomphus tomentosus in
color and stature. CAP 1.0-2.5cm, obtusely conic, sometimes becoming
broadly conic to broadly bellshaped; dark avellaneous to dull reddish brown on
disc with margin pale cinnamon colored; densely appressed fibrillose, not
cracked. ODOR mild. TASTE disagreeable. GILLS adnate, moderately close, fairly
broad, variable in color, at first tinged orange or orange cinnamon. STEM 4-6(8)cm x 0.4-0.6cm, equal or
slightly club-shaped; covered by a soft coating of cinnamon fibrils which when
old tend to become arranged in patches, becoming smooth. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7-9 x 4-5.5 um, more or less oval, smooth; cheilocystidia of 2
types, 1) 25-33 x 10-20 um, fusoid-ventricose, with apices slightly incrusted
and the walls above the inflated portion only slightly thickened, 2) saccate to
subclavate, thin-walled, colorless.
[17]
Inocybe cincinnata usually has a lilac-tinted stem particularly at the top. The scattered brown fibrils on the
stem and often brown gill edges are diagnostic. Stuntz used the name
[18]
Inocybe pusio has a violet to lilac stem, at least on the upper
half. Stuntz used the name
[19]
See footnote 7 above
[20]
Inocybe laetior is recognized easily by red-brown cap with brassy yellowish
margin and salmon-pink stem. CAP
2-3.5cm, at first uniformly brown then becoming brassy yellowish at margin,
smooth, appressed silky, marginal area often radially streaked with fibrils of
the center. ODOR slight, spermatic
or somewhat radish-like. GILLS
adnexed to narrowly adnate or notched, not close, rather broad, pallid at
first, edges usually finely saw-edged. STEM
2.5-7cm x 0.25-0.55cm, equal but the base usually slightly bulbous, bright
salmon pink, base persistently white, stem satiny, longitudinally lined and
entirely white-pruinose. MICROSTRUCTURES
spores 9-11(13.5) x 5.5-6(6.5) um, inequilaterally almond-shaped, smooth;
pleurocystidia (53)60-80 x 20-30 um, ventricose, with very short pedicel and
obtuse apex, thick-walled, cheilocystidia mostly like the pleurocystidia in
size and shape but a few small clavate thin-walled cells also present.
[21]
Inocybe glabrodisca has
a smooth red-brown to dark brown cap, a stem with pinkish flush that is entirely
pruinose and that has a conspicuous flat-margined bulb, and prominently
nodulose spores. Stuntz used the
name
[22] See footnote 5 above
[23]
See footnote 8 above
[24]
See footnote 9 above
[25]
See footnote 7 above
[26] See footnote 11 above
[27]
Inocybe olympiana CAP (2)3-7cm,
yellow-brown to dull cinnamon, (either uniformly yellow-ocher or brown at
center and yellow ocher at margin); innately fibrillose or when old finely
scaly. TASTE more or less
farinaceous. GILLS adnate or with
slight decurrent tooth, close, broad, whitish when young, edge white-fringed. STEM 6-12cm x 0.8-1.2cm, equal above a
somewhat marginate bulb, pallid soon becoming cap-colored or dingy brown,
frequently darkening to smoky brown at base; sparsely fibrillose in lower part
and coarsely pruinose in upper part. MICROSTRUCTURES
spores 7-9 x 4-5 um; pleurocystidia very abundant, 60-90 x 10-16 um, thick-walled, apex
incrusted, cheilocystidia similar but shorter.
[28]
Inocybe rimosa has a large radially silky straw-yellow cap that is often darker at
the center, and often strongly spermatic odor. Stuntz and many field guides
used the name
[29]
Inocybe subdestricta Kauffman is possibly a synonym of
Inocybe subdestricta has a dark-brown to rufous-brown cap, the umbo
dark-chestnut or umber, a stem that
is pallid, tinged rufous, and pruinose in upper part, and spores that are
somewhat almond-shaped. CAP 2-4cm,
subconic, conic-bellshaped, then expanded-umbonate, at length depressed around
the darker abrupt umbo; dark-brown to rufous-brown, the umbo dark-chestnut or
umber; dry, innately fibrillose at first, at length lacerate-scaly or rimose or
both; flesh whitish. GILLS
sinuate-adnexed, or deeply emarginate, with a slight decurrent tooth, close,
medium-broad, ventricose; whitish, then pale-brownish-ashy, the edges
white-fimbriate. STEM 2.5-5cm x
0.25-0.5cm, equal, scarcely subbulbous, solid; pallid, tinged rufous; varying
flocculose-fibrillose to glabrescent, pruinose at apex. ODOR slightly nauseous. HABITAT
on ground in mixed woods. MICROSCOPIC
spores 8-10 x 5-5.5 um, almond-shaped, subelliptic, subinequilateral, smooth;
pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia abundant, 50-65 x 15-18(20) um, rather
thick-walled, varying thin-walled, subcylindric to ventricose, subovoid to
subflaskshaped, obtuse at apex, tapering to a short pedicel.
Inocybe nitidiuscula has a shiny cap that is brown to copper-tinted, a stem that
is whitish (typically watery orange), floccose-pruinose in upper part, and
covered with longitudinal white hairs in lower half, and somewhat almond-shaped
spores. CAP 1-4cm,
conic-convex when young with inflexed margin, then expanded conic-convex,
margin inflexed or straight, umbonate or not, occasionally applanate; medium
brown, dark brown, gray brown, with or without copper tints, infrequently with
whitish bloom, shiny or becoming shiny on drying, smooth or minutely woolly at
very center, outward becoming radially fibrous from fibrils which darken and sometimes
diverge to reveal white flesh. ODOR
spermatic. GILLS sinuate or adnate,
occasionally broad, white or cream at first, edges white, tan, or colored as
faces. STEM 2.5-6(8)cm x 0.3-0.7cm,
club-shaped, white, typically watery orange to pinkish in upper half, heavily
floccose-pruinose in upper third, covered with longitudinal white hairs on
lower stem (watery orange if hairs removed on handling). CORTINA fleeting, white. MICROSTRUCTURES
spores 10-12(13.5) x 5.5-6.5(7.5) um, subamygdaliform (somewhat almond-shaped),
with or without conical apex which is occasionally large; pleurocystidia
frequent, 50-63 x 13-22 um, variable, subfusiform, crystals at apex (or broadly
fusiform without crystals), thick-walled, cheilocystidia similar to
pleurocystidia, paracystidia 6-8 x 16-18 um, clavate, thin-walled;
caulocystidia rare, similar to pleurocystidia, or long and narrow (up to 60
um), crystals at apex, paracystidia and caulocystidioid hairs also present;
clamp connections present in all tissues. REMARKS
I. catalaunica
Singer (the correct name for I.
leiocephala D.E. Stuntz), lacks a cortina and the entire stem is pruinose. I. fuscidula Velen. or a close species
occurs in the Pacific Northwest, lacking pink or orange tints on stem and with
smaller spores 8-10.8 x 4.6-6 um.
[30]
Inocybe lanatodisca has yellow brown to copper brown cap often with patches of
whitish fibrils at center, and green corn odor which fades and becomes more
sweet and aromatic. CAP 2.5-9cm,
yellow-orange to tawny; dry, or lubricous when moist, silky-smooth, often with
a thin webby pallid coating of surface fibrils persisting as pallid patches at
center. ODOR with three main
components: green-corn, spermatic, and fragrant (sweet-aromatic), usually the
green-corn component is strongest when the specimen is collected, but fades
subsequently, and the fragrant component becomes more evident. GILLS adnexed, close, moderately broad;
white becoming grayish olive, the edges white-fringed. STEM 3-12cm x 0.4-1.3cm, with club-shaped or abrupt bulb, stem
white becoming pallid yellow, when old flushed with darker yellowish brown or a
winy cast; satiny, bald to slightly fibrillose-streaked, sometimes pruinose at
top. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7-11 x
5-6.5 um, elliptic; basidia mostly 4-spored, but occasional 2-spored or
3-spored ones seen; pleurocystidia none, cheilocystidia abundant, in dense
cluster along the gill edge, 33-65 x 14-25 um, clavate to subventricose to
cylindric; stem apex with clusters of cells much like the cheilocystidia,
mostly clavate and 28-50 x 9-25 um, with occasional elongated septate ones
50-90 um long; most septa with clamps. REMARKS
Inocybe maculata Boud. differs in
having dark brown to chestnut brown cap (with a silky layer in patches), and
non-spermatic odor described as pungent aromatic or similar to Lycoperdon, Amanita phalloides, Tuber, or raw potatoes.
[31]
Inocybe napipes has a dark grayish brown to chestnut brown silky-fibrillose
cap, fibrillose-satiny stem with turnip-like bulb, stem pallid at top and more
brown below, strong fruity or rancid or unpleasant odor, and nodulose spores. CAP 1.5-5cm, grayish brown, dull brown,
dark brown, or chestnut brown, silky-fibrillose, shining, soapy-feeling when
wet. ODOR strong, fruity, rancid, or
spermatic. GILLS adnexed, when young
whitish. STEM 4-7cm x 0.4-0.8cm,
base with a distinct bulb, stem pallid at top, more brown below, fibrillose,
satiny. CORTINA present when cap
opens. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 7-10 x
5-7.5 um, angular-nodulose, irregularly polyhedral, with 6-10 prominent rather
large nodules; pleurocystidia 38-55 x 13-19 um, mostly 45-50 x 18 um,
ventricose above a rather slender pedicel, with obtusely rounded apex, the wall
thin to moderately and uniformly thickened (1.0-1.6 um), mostly crested,
cheilocystidia of two kinds, one like pleurocystidia but shorter and with less
of a pedicel, the other of short thin-walled clavate cells like the basidia in
size and shape; apex of stem with rare, widely scattered caulocystidia
resembling the pleurocystidia, occasional clusters of elongated, thin-walled
caulocystidia that are sometimes septate, and some tangled superficial hyphae
with abundant clavate to cylindric terminal cells, base with sparse tangled
superficial hyphae but no caulocystidia; most septa with clamps. REMARKS I. mixtilis is similar but has a marginate bulb and lacks a
cortina, is more lubricous on the honey-colored cap, has a sharper edge to the
bulb, and is pruinose the entire length of the stem. For other species with
marginate bulb and nodulose spores, see remarks under I. mixtilis.
[32]
Inocybe lacera is common in the Pacific Northwest. It has a dark brown
dry cap that is densely fibrillose to fibrillose-scaly and splits readily, stem
often dark brown at base, elongate spores, and pleurocystidia often with
subacute apices. CAP 1-4cm, dark
brown (lighter when weathered), densely fibrillose to fibrillose-scaly,
splitting when old. ODOR mild to
fungoid or slightly spermatic. GILLS
adnate, crowded (when young), moderately broad, whitish at first, may bruise
darker brown, edges whitish. STEM 1-4.5cm
x 0.2-0.6cm, base may be a little swollen, whitish to brown and colored like
cap, darker toward base, rough fibrous, smooth above cortina. CORTINA fibrous, tan, fleeting. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 12-14 x 4.5-5
um, cylindric, long elliptic, smooth, slightly angular, with thick walls;
basidia (2-)4-spored; pleurocystidia common, 54-68 x 10-19 um, subfusiform,
with fine crystals or none at apex, thick-walled, cheilocystidia similar to
pleurocystidia or broader, some subcapitate, paracystidia 25-30 x 10-15 um,
thin-walled, typically clavate, but variable; clamp connections present in all
tissues, (all for var. lacera),
spores extremely variable in size and shape, total range in size 5.5-17 x 4-6.5
um, occurring in approximately four size categories, 5.5-6 x 4-4.5 um, 8-9 x 5
um, 10-11 x 4.5 um and 12-15.5 x 4.5-6.5 um, varying in shape from round to
ovate, oval, kidney-shaped, inequilaterally almond-shaped, nearly cylindric, to
the usual boletoid outline of the normal spore of I. lacera, (for var. heterosperma)
[33]
See footnote 32 above.
[34]
[35] Inocybe lanuginosa group. Three species in the I. lanuginosa group key out here. Inocybe lanuginosa (described below) is indistinguishable in the field from I. leptophylla. I. leptophylla is less restricted to woody substrates than I. lanuginosa but identification must be made microscopically: Inocybe leptophylla has larger spores (8)9-12(12.5) x (6)7-9(9.5) um, with more nodules (9)10-16(18), lacks pleurocystidia, and has somewhat larger basidia (22)24-35(38) um long. The third species, Inocybe stellatospora, is subtly different in the field, with a shaggy-squamulose cap (rather than squarrose to squamulose), is infrequent in the Pacific Northwest, and typically grows on the ground. The thin-walled elongated pleurocystidia of I. stellatospora easily separate it from I. lanuginosa and I. leptophylla. The latter lacks pleurocystdia altogether.
The taxonomy of this group was worked out by Matheny & Kropp (2001). Distinguishing features of the I. lanuginosa group are the brown squarrose to squamulose cap, young gills that are pallid and become brown with age, brown squamulose, floccose to woolly-fibrillose stem, occurrence on soil, among Sphagnum or on rotten wood under members of Pinaceae in the northern hemisphere, and nodulose spores. The following conforms to their description for I. lanuginosa in the strict sense. (Inocybe lanuginosa sensu M.M. Moser, Stangl is not this species, but rather represents I. stellatospora (Peck) Massee.) CAP 1.0-3.5cm, brown with darker center, disc with small crowded hispid squarrae (bristle-like upright to curved-up pointed scales), squamulose (finely scaly) or recurved-squamulose toward the margin, tearing with age but not rimose (not cracking), neither shaggy nor revealing a pallid ground color. ODOR not remarkable. GILLS adnate to notched, close, pallid at first, edges pallid and fringed. STEM 2.0-4.5cm x 0.3-0.7cm, equal to slightly enlarged at base, extreme apex pallid, lower half colored as cap; extreme apex pruinose, lower half woolly-fibrillose or floccose to appressed-(sub)squamulose, less so towards top. CORTINA fleeting. HABITAT In North America I. lanuginosa appears restricted to rotten woody substrates, where conifers are present, but in Europe, it is cited more frequently on the ground and at times under hardwoods. MICROSTRUCTURES spores 8-10.5(11) x (5)5.5-7.5(8) um, distinctly nodulose, outline often subelliptic, typically with (8)9-13(14) nodules; basidia 4-spored, (14)19-30(34) um; pleurocystidia frequent to infrequent, (26)29-46(48) um long, obovate, pyriform to broadly clavate, less often elliptic or utriform, walls thin to slightly thickened, apices crystalliferous, basal pedicel short, cheilocystidia abundant, (17)22-43(56) x (10)11-20(22) um, similar to pleurocystidia though somewhat shorter, also some ventricose to utriform, paracystidia broadly clavate, pyriform to subelliptic, thin-walled, colorless; caulocystidia present at (extreme) apex, generally utriform, obovate to subcylindric, colorless to pale brown, usually thin-walled, apices crystalliferous or not, well-rounded to subcapitate, in dense clusters; clamps frequent. REMARKS Growth on wood is in general unusual behaviour for Inocybe, but has been observed for instance with the similar species I. leptophylla, I. stellatospora, and I. subcarpta. Inocybe subcarpta Kühner & Boursier lacks the squamulose stem, but weathered specimens can be confused.