FRUIT BODIES small to medium in size. CAP convex to plane (1 to 10 cm. in diam.), surface dry to greasy/ sticky, glabrous, sometimes areolate, context white or brown, odor and taste sometimes farinaceous. GILLS adnate to sinuate, +/- decurrent, broad, close. SPORE COLOR medium brown to dark brown. STEM central, thin or moderately thick (2 to 10 cm long x 0.1 to 1.5 cm thick), smooth or roughly fibrillose. VEIL present or absent, sometimes well developed and leaving an annulus on mature stem, or forming an annulus, ring and/or zone. HABIT scattered to gregarious. HABITAT decaying hardwoods, debris, leaf litter, humus, chip dirt, bare soil, lawns, fields, roadsides, grasslands, open woods, and sand dunes. MICROSTRUCTURES cap cuticle cellular or with some cellular elements. Spores usually with an apical (germ) pore, surface smooth.
1a Forming partial veil, present or zone on the stem and/or leaving patches on the cap edge.
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1b Partial veil absent or very rudimentary, i.e. no ring or zone on the stem and the cap edge typically naked.
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2a Fruiting on decaying conifer or hardwood logs, chip debris, or leaf litter
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2b Fruiting on humus, lawns, fields, or roadsides
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[Editor’s note 2017 – Agrocybe praecox (see below) and Agrocybe putaminum (not included here but likely in the Pacific Northwest) can also occur on wood chips.]
3a (2a) Cap dark yellow brown when young becoming yellowish brown.
................................................................................Agrocybe acericola (Pk.) Sing.
CAP 3-7 cm broad, obtuse expanding to plane, with or without a low umbo; color when young dark yellow brown becoming yellowish brown in age; surface glabrous, moist, hygrophanous; margin even, opaque. ODOR & TASTE farinaceous. GILLS adnate with a decurrent tooth; crowded; color pallid to buff becoming brown. SPORE COLOR brown. STEM central, 5-10 cm long x 0.4- 1.5 cm thick, equal, hollow, fibrous, whitish becoming light blackish brown from base upwards, apex pallid and striate. VEIL membranous, cream color, well formed. HABIT solitary to scattered. HABITAT on decaying hardwood logs and debris, summer and fall. EDIBILITY unknown. MICROSTRUCTURES: Spores 8-10.5 x 5-6.5 um, apex snout-like with no apical (germ) pore, truncate. Pleurocystidia 40-50 x 12-22 um, clavate-mucronate to +/- utriform or with 1-3 apical projections. Cheilocystidia clavate.
3b Cap dark brown to dark reddish brown.
..................................................................Cyclocybe erebia (Fr.) Vizzini & Matheny (= A. erebia (Fr.) Kühner
4a (2b) Cap color cream at first, yellowish brown in age, odor and taste farinaceous; stem with white rhizomorphs. [see also habitat criteria in EDITOR’S NOTE below]
................................................................................Agrocybe praecox (Fr.) Fayod
4b Cap white becoming buff tinted, at least on disc. [see also habitat criteria in EDITOR’S NOTE below]
.......................................Agrocybe molesta (Lasch) Singer or Agrocybe dura (Fr.) Singer
EDITOR’S NOTE 2017 Agrocybe molesta (Lasch) Singer may be a better name for this species in the Pacific Northwest than the name Agrocybe dura used in the original key. Kuo has addressed the place of Agrocybe molesta in the Agrocybe praecox group (drawing on Flynn 1990), maintaining that it is the only one in the group that is a devoted decomposer of grass litter, and the only one with spores as long as 10-14 microns. While acknowledging that a microscope may be needed for definitive identification, Kuo says, "To separate Agrocybe molesta (also known as Agrocybe dura) from Agrocybe praecox, field guides emphasize a suite of frustrating minor differences in physical features like the toughness of the stem, the tendency of the cap to crack in old age, the color of the cap, and the precise shade of brown displayed in the mature gills. But recent research has simplified things substantially for this species, allowing us to more or less ignore these differences and focus on the ecology: Agrocybe molesta is the only grass decomposer in the group, though it is variable in many of its physical features."
5a (1b) Rhizomorphs, if any, not well developed. Stem pale buff above, yellow-brown near base.
................................................................................Agrocybe pediades (Pers.: Fr.)
5b White rhizomorphs at base. Stem grading to orange-brown or dull greenish light brown on lower portion.
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6a (5a) Cap 4-7 cm, stem apex off-white grading to orange-brown on lower stem.
................................................................................Agrocybe smithii H.E. Bigelow & Watling
CAP 4-7 (10) cm, convex expanding to plano-convex or plane at maturity, occasionally with a broad low umbo; color yellow brown to orange brown at first becoming yellow brown to medium brown in age; surface smooth, slightly greasy when moist, often becoming dry and breaking into little patches separated by deep cracks or crevices; context firm, white, 5-10 mm thick. ODOR & TASTE farinaceous and slightly bitter. GILLS adnexed, 4-8 mm broad, equal; dull grayish yellow to a pale orange brown becoming dull pinkish-orange brown in age. SPORE COLOR dull gray brown. STEM central, 4-7 cm long x 1-3 cm thick; base slightly enlarged to subclavate, apex off-white, grading to orange brown on lower stem; apex to mid-stem pruinose; lower surface innately fibrillose, often grooved, surface occasionally splitting into recurved scales; context white, firm, fibrous, with soft pithy center. VEIL None. RHIZOMORPHS white at stem base. HABIT gregarious in rings or troops. HABITAT mulch beds; spring to summer. EDIBILITY unknown. MICROSTRUCTURES: Spores 11.1-13.3 x 5.2-7 um, elliptical, smooth, apex truncated with apical germ pore. Pleurocystidia subcylindric, clavate to ventricose with obtuse apices and a narrow base, 27-45 x 12.6 um. Cheilocystidia similar to pleurocystidia.
6b Cap 0.8-1.5 (3.0) cm, stem apex white to off-white and dull greenish brown from midstipe to base.
................................................................................Agrocybe columbiana nom. prov. Rehner
CAP 0.8-1.4 (3) cm broad, convex to plano-convex when young, frequently plane to broadly wavy at maturity; margin incurved to decurved, edge somewhat rimose, eroded at maturity; surface moist to dry, smooth; color uniformly dull greenish brown; context firm, fleshy, white. ODOR farinaceous. TASTE strongly farinaceous. GILLS adnate to adnexed, close, ventricose; color rich orange brown. SPORE COLOR dull brown. STEM central, 1.0-1.5(2) cm long x 0.2-0.45 cm thick, round cross section; color white to off white at apex, dull greenish light brown from midstipe to base. Context fibrous, firm, solid, white. VEIL None. RHIZOMORPHS white, usually 1-3, thin. HABIT terrestrial, scattered to gregarious. HABITAT on native soils in grassy areas; spring and fall. EDIBILITY unknown. MICROSTRUCTURES: Spores 7.4-8.9 x 5.2-5.9 um, elliptical, thin walled, smooth, pale yellow, with inconspicuous germ pore. Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia ventricose, rostrate.
areolate - marked with cracks or crevices
caulocystidia - cystidium-like cell on the stem
cheilocystidium - cystidium-like cell on the edge of a gill
cystidium - a large sterile cell
evanescent - only slightly developed or soon disappearing
farinaceous - texture or odor like fresh meal (flour)
fibrillose - hairy filaments, thin, threadlike
furfuraceous - texture like fine meal
glabrous - smooth, no scales or hairs
intervenose - gills having veins on surface extending various distances into the interspace, or crossing it to the next gill
pleurocystidia - cystidium-like cell on face of gill
pruinose - surface finely powdered or frosted
rhizomorph - strand or cord of compacted mycelium
rostrate - beaked
striate - minute radiating furrows or lines
ventricose - swelling out in the middle or at one side; inflated
Sincere appreciation is hereby expressed to: The late Dr. Daniel E. Stuntz for his guidance, Kit Scates for her encouragement, slides, and copies of data, and to Dr. Joe Ammirati and Steve Rehner for their consultation.
GENUS AND SPECIES | KEY ENTRIES |
AGROCYBE Fayod | |
A. acericola (Pk.) Singer | 3a |
A. columbiana nom. prov. Rehner | 6b |
A. dura (Fr.) Singer | 4b |
A. erebia (Fr.) Kühner | 3b |
A. molesta (Lasch) Singer | 4b |
A. pediades (Pers.: Fr.) | 5a |
A. praecox (Fr.) Fayod | 4a |
A. semiorbicularis (Bull.:Fr.) Fayod | 5a |
A. smithii H.E. Bigelow & Watling | 6a |
A. stepposa Scorcek | 5a |
A. subpediades (Murrill) Watling | 5a |
CYCLOCYBE Velen. | |
C. erebia (Fr.) Vizzini & Matheny | 3b |
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