Provisional key to COLLYBIOID SPECIES in the Pacific Northwest

Prepared for the Pacific Northwest Key Council
Original key by Helena Kirkwood 1992
Organizational Revision by Buck McAdoo 2003, 2010
Copyright © Pacific Northwest Key Council, 1992, 2003, 2010
Photo copyright held by each photographer
Do not copy photos without permission

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Overview

 Description of Genera

 Note on Organization of the Key

 Key to Genera

 Key to Collybia, Dendrocollybia, Gymnopus, & Rhodocollybia

 Dendrocollybia

 Beginning of Collybia

 Beginning of Gymnopus

 Beginning of Rhodocollybia

 Nomenclatural Bibliography

 List of Synonyms

 Glossary

 Index to the Species

OVERVIEW

The 1992 version of Helena Kirkwood’s trial key on Collybia has been altered due to modern name changes. A lot of the descriptions have been fleshed out. Sixteen species have been added and two dropped. 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 and 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.

This is by no means the final version of this key. Some of the concepts need finer tuning. Also, if your collection does not key out here, remember the words of Dr. Dennis Desjardin: there are numerous undescribed species from western North America in need of attention.(Personal communication.) And beyond this challenge, we also now have the DNA inclusions. These are a handful of species formerly in Marasmius, Marasmiellus, and Micromphale that DNA testing by Dr. Ron Petersen now show belong in Gymnopus. None of these have been added in this 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. There are two exceptions. One is Collybia bakerensis which needs more evaluation before its final resting place. The second is Collybia solidipes, which Dr. Halling believes is a true Rhodocollybia that just hasn’t been moved yet.

Gymnopus – Medium sized fruiting bodies with caps under 8 cm wide, marcescent, tough to membranous. Caps convex with inrolled margins when young becoming plane with age. Usually glabrous to lubricous. Gills white, often crowded, attached to nearly free. Stems usually tough and pliant, may be hollow or compressed. Veil absent. Growth pattern solitary to clustered or cespitose. Habitat on wood, mulch, or humus. Spores inamyloid and white to buff in deposit except for Gymnopus fusipes whose spores are rarely reported as pale pinkish. Edibility – most are too tough or small to be tempting. Gymnopus acervatus and Gymnopus dryophilus have caused poisonings in certain individuals.

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. (Rhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta will be keyed out among the Gymnopus species because of its white spore deposit.) 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 they are 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.

Another minor problem is that no spore deposit color was ever given for Rhodocollybia unakensis and Collybia solidipes. Due to reactions from reagents, we can only deduce that these species have spores darker than white to cream. Therefore, they are found in the Rhodocollybia section of this key.

The two species dropped from the key are Gymnopus clusilis, which experts believe is not a collybioid fungus, and Gymnopus alkalivirens, which lacks verification that it is found in the Pacific Northwest (so far).

Of the sixteen species added to the key, all have been identified by professional mycologists except for Gymnopus ocior which was identified by myself. The rest of the names were found in various scientific journals or in databases of national or university herbariums.

KEY TO GENERA

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

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

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

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2a Fruiting bodies with lateral branches off the stems

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

2b Without lateral branches off the stems

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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 adnate to emarginate. Spore print white

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

KEY TO COLLYBIA, DENDROCOLLYBIA, GYMNOPUS, & RHODOCOLLYBIA

1a Spore print white to cream

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

1b Spore print flesh colored to pinkish

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2a Fruiting bodies with lateral branches off the stems

................................................................................Dendrocollybia racemosa (Pers.: Fr.) R.H. Petersen & Redhead

CAP 3-10 mm wide, convex and then plane with a broad umbo, margins inrolled in both mature and immature specimens, color gray-brown, darker at disc. Surface silky, context thin, tough, pliant. GILLS somewhat paler than cap. STEM 3-5 cm long, concolorous with cap. Projections 1-1.5 mm in length, arising at right angles to stem over the lower half. The entire stem may be buried in the substrate. It arises from a black, shiny, round sclerotium 2.7 mm in diameter. HABIT gregarious. SPORES 4-5.5 x 2.5-3 um, ovate, thin-walled, faintly blue in Melzer’s.

Dendrocollybia racemosa Ben Woo

2b Fruiting bodies without lateral stem branches

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

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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

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

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

................................................................................Collybia cirrhata (Pers.) Quél.

CAP 2-10 mm wide, white at margin, warm tan at center, occasionally depressed slightly at maturity, but usually shallowly papillate or broadly umbonate. GILLS white or pallid, subdistant. STEM 12-25 mm long, concolorous with cap disc or darker, equal. Surface powdery pruinose to tomentose below. SPORES white, 5.5-7.5 x 2.5-3.5 um, ellipsoid to cylindrical, thin-walled, smooth, inamyloid.

Collybia cirrhata Michael Beug

5a With orange pumpkin seed-shaped sclerotia

................................................................................Collybia cookei (Bres.) Arnold

CAP 2-9 mm wide, uniformly colored white to pale pink or yellow, shallowly papillate when young becoming slightly depressed with age. GILLS white, drying pale pink, subdistant. STEM 0.6-6 cm in length, concolorous with cap at apex, slightly darker at base. Equal. Surface pruinose to pubescent with white, coarse, bristle-like rhizomorphs at base. Often buried for half its length. Emerging from an orange-yellow sclerotium 1-6 mm in diameter, often flattened and pumpkin seed shaped. HABIT gregarious. SPORES 4.5-5.5 x 2.5-3.5 um, ovate, thin-walled, smooth, inamyloid.

Collybia cookei John Plischke

5b Brown, apple seed-shaped sclerotia

................................................................................Collybia tuberosa (Bull.:Fr.) P. Kumm.

Very similar to Collybia cirrhata (see 4b) and Collybia cookei (see 5a) except that it arises from a prominent sclerotium that is dark mahogany brown to a light orange-brown, and resembles an apple seed. SPORES: 5-5.5 x 3-3.5 um, ovate, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid.

Collybia tuberosa Michael Beug

6a (3b) Fruiting bodies cespitose to subcespitose (This can be a bit of a gray area. I am going by the literature, but if your species does not key out here, try the 6b option.)

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6b Fruiting bodies solitary to gregarious. If clustered, not joined together at bases

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7a Strong odor and taste of garlic or rotten cabbage

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7b Faint fungoid odor and mild to peppery taste

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8a Strong odor of sewage or rotten cabbage

................................................................................Gymnopus hariolorum (Bull. ex Fr.) Antonín, Halling, & Noordeloos

CAP 2-5 cm wide, campanulate becoming convex to plane with straight margins in age. Smooth, greasy when moist with obtuse umbo or shallowly depressed discs. Pale pinkish-brown on the margins becoming darker ochre brown to rusty brown at the discs. Slightly hygrophanous, drying to sordid whtish. Context white. ODOR of rotten cabbage or sewage. TASTE equally unpleasant. GILLS Adnexed to almost free, fairly crowded, pale buff. Edges entire, sometimes uneven. STEM 4-8 cm long and 3-5 mm thick. White to cream becoming pale yellow brown near base. Slightly grooved longitudinally, solid at first, then hollow in age. Equal or expanded at base and apex. Upper half white pruinose, white tomentose below, then white strigose at base. SPORES white, ellipsoid to almost lacrymoid, 6.2-7.3 x 3-4.1 um. HABITAT Gregarious to subcespitose on humus and birch or beech litter in mixed forests. Prefers calcareous soils.

8b Strong odor of garlic

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

................................................................................Gymnopus polyphyllus (Peck) Halling

CAP 2.5-6 cm wide, convex with incurved margins at first becoming plane or with depressed discs in age, margins sometimes wavy. Surface smooth, dry. Dark vinaceous brown when young becoming reddish brown at disc and flesh colored to pale pinkish buff at the margins at maturity. Finally becoming whitish overall with a tawny or vinaceous brown disc. Context, thin, white, pliant. ODOR & TASTE of garlic. GILLS Adnate to abruptly sinuate to free, crowded, very thin, sometimes furcate and anastomosed.White, edges entire. STEM 3-5 cm long and 2-5 mm thick, equal or tapering at base or apex, pliant, hollow. Pale pinkish cinnamon to vinaceous brown beneath a light grayish vesture, pruinose at apex and densely tomentose towards base. SPORES Lacrymoid to subellipsoid, 5.6-7 x 2.8-3.4 um. Smooth, white, inamyloid. HABITAT gregarious to subcespitose on hardwood leaf litter, logs, and stumps.

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

................................................................................Gymnopus dysodes (Halling) Halling

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, fading in age to cinnamon brown. Context white, thin over the gills, but 5-8 mm 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 2-5 mm 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 um, ovoid to lacrymoid, smooth, inamyloid. HABITAT found gregarious and cespitose on wood chips.

10a (7b) Fruiting bodies in dense clusters with equal to tapering stem bases

................................................................................Gymnopus acervatus (Fr.) Murrill

CAP 1.3-5 cm wide, reddish-brown at disc becoming paler at margin. Hygrophanous, fading to pale flesh color. Firm, pliable, context thin. ODOR pleasant, mushroomy. TASTE mild, but bitter when cooked. GILLS Adnexed to sinuate to nearly free, close, narrow. White to buff to pinkish. STEM very long, 5-11 cm long , thin, reddish-brown with rather thick white tomentum at the base extending up to one half the length of the stem. SPORES 5-6 x 2.5-3.5 um, ovate to broadly ellipsoid, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid. HABITAT often found in huge clusters on much decayed wood with frequently buried stems arising from the crevice of a log or from a hole in the ground. EDIBILITY poisonous to some individuals. REMARK G. acervatus may be moved out of Gymnopus soon.

Gymnopus acervatus John Davis

10b Fruiting bodies solitary to cespitose, but not in dense clusters with equal stem bases

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11a Taste peppery

................................................................................Gymnopus peronatus (Bolt.:Fr.) Antonín, Noordeloos, et al.

(Gymnopus peronatus is triple keyed here because it can be cespitose. See description at 22a.)

11b Taste mild

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

12a Stems with spongy, thickened bases

................................................................................Gymnopus spongiosus (Berk. & Curt.) Halling

CAP 0.8-3 ½ cm wide, convex with inrolled margins when young becoming plane with uplifted margins in age. Glabrous, dry to sublubricous, margins rugulose to slightly tuberculate when aged. Reddish-brown fading hygrophanously to grayish-orange or pale orange with whitish margins. Context white, thin. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Adnexed to adnate or almost free. Crowded, thin, white. Edges entire. STEM 2-6 cm long and up to 4 mm thick. Pliant, tough, hollow, equal to subclavate. Pallid at apex, reddish brown below. Covered with a tawny orange to tawny reddish tomentum or strigosity often inconspicuous in wet weather. SPORES smooth, lacrymoid to ellipsoid, 6.2-8.4 x 3.5-4.2 um. HABITAT solitary to gregarious on leaf litter or needle duff in mixed woods. REMARK KOH applied to the stem turns the tissues green.

12b Stems not spongy at bases

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13a Stems distinctly clavate or bulbous at base

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13b Stems equal or tapered gradually towards base or apex

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14a Stems with pinkish to pale orange rhizoids

................................................................................Gymnopus subsulphureus (Peck) Murrill

CAP 1 ½ - 4 cm wide, convex with incurved margin when young, sometimes with distinct umbo, becoming plane in age with even or wavy margins. Smooth, lubricous when moist, silky when dry. Pale yellow buff darkening to ochre buff or tawny ochre at disc. Margins translucent striate when wet. Context thin, whitish to yellowish.ODOR mild to fragrant. TASTE mild to fungoid or bitter. GILLS Adnexed to almost free, crowded, edges entire or slightly fimbriate. Colors variable from white to straw yellow to orange buff to orange. STEM 1 ½ - 9 ½ cm long and 2-7 mm thick. Pliant, glabrous becoming longitudinally striate with larger specimens. Equal or flared at both ends. Pale yellow from apex to base when young, darkening uniformly to tawny ochre in age. SPORES 5.5-6.5 x 2.5-3.5 um. Smooth, thin-walled, ellipsoid. HABITAT gregarious to cespitose in small clusters on rotten wood or soil beneath conifers and hardwoods. REMARK Gymnopus subsulphureus is distinguished by its general yellow color of the entire fruiting body and the pinkish rhizomorphs.

14b Stem bases without pinkish rhizoids

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15a Caps red brown to violet brown at first

................................................................................Rhodocollybia butyracea var. butyracea (Bull.:Fr.) Lennox.(see 46b)

(Rhodocollybia butyracea is double keyed here because Rea, Dahncke, Svrcek, Cetto, Kubicka, and Grunert all list the spores as white. A.H. Smith claims the spores are yellowish in deposit. Lennox has them as ‘cream to pale orange’. Moser solves the problem by writing ‘ spores cream to pinkish’. One wonders whether the spores could be white at first and become pinkish as the carpophore matures or whether differences in substrate affect spore color. Furthermore, Halling writes that the fruiting habit can be subcespitose.)

15b Caps pale ochre orange tan to cinnamon buff at first

................................................................................Gymnopus striatipes (Peck) Halling

CAP 4-7 cm wide, convex with incurved margins becoming plane with recurved margins in age. Smooth, moist, pale ochre to cinnamon-buff, paler when dried. Context white, up to 1.5 mm thick at disc. ODOR earthy. TASTE mild to slightly unpleasant. GILLS Adnate, intervenose at times, crowded becoming subdistant. White to buff, clay color when dried. Edges entire. Occasionally with rusty spots. STEM 5-10 cm long and 4-6 mm thick at apex. Tan to cinnamon-buff, paler at apex. Tough, fibrous, longitudinally furrowed and twisted-striate. Hollow, compressed at times. Tomentose to strigose at base. Equal or subrooting at base. With white rhizomorphs. SPORES 5-6 x 1.5-2.5 um, cylindric to narrowly ellipsoid, smooth, thin-walled. HABITAT gregarious to scattered under alder and cottonwood. REMARK Western material under the former name Collybia cylindrospora has a larger stature than the New England specimens described by Dr. Halling in his online Gymnopus key. Otherwise, they are similar. The spore shape is unique in Gymnopus, and I have no problems with the synonymy. Found by Matheny in Redmond, Washington.

16a (13b) Gills pale lemon yellow drying darker yellow

................................................................................Gymnopus ocior (Pers.) Antonín & Noordeloos sensu lato

CAP 1 ¼ - 3 ½ cm wide, convex to plane with incurved margins at first, then with wavy, irregular margins in age. Dry, glabrous, burgundy to shiny mauve-brown or chestnut brown fading to flesh-tan from the margins first. Margins not striated. Context thin, white. ODOR mild. TASTE mild, nutty, nice. GILLS Adnate to adnexed, often uncinate. Shallow, very crowded, often furcate. Edges subentire, unevenly serrulate with a hand lens. Pale lemon yellow with whitish edges becoming ochre yellow when dried. Ascending lamellullae. STEM 2 ¼ - 4 ½ cm long and 3-7 mm thick. Glabrous, hollow, always tapering towards apex. Buff at apex, then pale yellow below darkening to yellow-orange near base. Terete or cylindrical. Copious tan to buff rhizoids. SPORES ellipsoid to lacrymoid in profile, 5.6-7.3 x 2.9-3.6 um, smooth, thin-walled. HABITAT scattered to cespitose in conifer debris. REMARKS This is a truly beautiful collybioid fungus. Formerly it was known as Collybia dryophila var. luteifolia or Collybia luteifolia. This and all the yellow-gilled taxa related to Gymnopus dryophilus have been sunk in Europe under the name G. ocior. This is a prime example of DNA findings at work. While the burgundy capped specimens here bear scant resemblance to Gymnopus ocior sensu stricto, which has an orange-brown cap with a distinct yellow band at the margin, they are virtually the same phylogenetically.

16b Gills buff, pale tan, yellow orange, or pinkish buff

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17a Stems smooth, shiny, without hairs at base

................................................................................Gymnopus erythropus (Pers.: Fr.) Antonín, Noordel. et al.

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, 1-3 mm 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 1-8 mm thick and 1.5-5 cm long, equal or slightly enlarged downwards, rounded to compressed. Bicolorous, upper fourth pallid and dark brown to dark reddish brown below. Brittle, smooth, shiny. Stuffed becoming hollow in age. SPORES 6-8.5 x 3.5-4 um. ovoid to ellipsoid, inamyloid, slightly greenish in alkali. HABITAT scattered to cespitose on decaying hardwoods. 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).

Gymnopus erythropus Steve Trudell

17b Stems covered with fine pubescence or longitudinally sulcate-striate or with hairs at base

................................................................................18

18a Stem base with cottony white mycelium

................................................................................Gymnopus luxurians (Peck) Murrill

CAP 1-6 cm wide, convex with inrolled margin at first, then plano-convex with wavy, uplifted margins in age. Smooth, not hygrophanous but reddish-brown when fresh, drying to light brown at margin first. Context up to 4 mm thick at disc, whitish to pale pinkish cinnamon. ODOR mild. TASTE slightly acrid to unpleasant. GILLS Adnate to emarginate, sometimes anastomosed, close to crowded. Pallid buff to pinkish buff. Edges even at first, then fimbriate at maturity. STEM 4-10 cm long and 5-9 mm thick. Tough, flexuous and fibrous, splitting longitudinally in age. Often twisted-striate. Pale buff at apex becoming pale brown below. Equal or tapering downward, sometimes with enlarged base. Covered with a fine pubescence easily rubbed off. Base with cottony mycelium, rhizoids often present. SPORES smooth, lacrymoid in profile, 6.4-9 x 3.2-4.4 um. SPORES smooth, lacrymoid in profile, 6.4-9 x 3.2-4.4 um. HABITAT gregarious to cespitose on rotten wood, wood chips, and even on lawns, presumably on buried wood. REMARK found by Dr. Ammirati on the University of Washington campus.

Gymnopus luxurians Steve Trudell

18b Stems splitting longitudinally or with orange to tawny hairs at base

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19a Large species with stem base tending to split longitudinally

................................................................................Rhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Noordel. et al.

CAP 3-13 ½ cm wide, conical to convex at first, then convex with blunt umbo, finally with wavy, reflexed margins in age. Smooth to innately radially fibrillose when dry. Orange brown to red brown, not hygrophanous but fading to yellow brown when dried. Context thin, pallid. ODOR mild. TASTE mild to nutty flavored, sometimes bitter to astringent. GILLS Sinuate to uncinate, very crowded. Edges coarsely serrate, eroded in age. White to cream becoming brown in age with darker rusty brown spots. STEM 5-16 cm long and 5-14 mm thick. Finely sulcate longitudinally, sometimes splitting into separate strands at base. Sometimes compressed or twisted striate. Whitish to pale tan when young, soon reddish brown with darker spots. Equal or expanding towards base, then rooting. SPORES dextrinoid and cyanophilous in cresyl blue, globose to subglobose, 4.2-4.7 X 3-4.3 um. HABITAT solitary, gregarious or cespitose in leaf mold or rotten wood. REMARK This is keyed out in the Gymnopus area only because of its cream colored spores. It’s a typical Rhodocollybia in all other respects.

19b Small species with orange to rusty hairs at base

................................................................................Gymnopus earleae Murrill

CAP 1-3 ½ cm wide, convex with incurved margin at first, then convex to plane with decurved margins that are sometimes wavy or lobed. Sometimes umbonate. Smooth, hygrophanous, dark brown when fresh, then pale ochre buff to pale orange buff in age. Sometimes pale mouse brown or brown with a pinkish tinge with ochre ‘spot’ at disc. Margins not striate. Context thin, pale ochre buff. ODOR mild to slightly unpleasant. TASTE mild or metallic. GILLS Adnexed to sinuate-emarginate, very crowded, edges entire or slightly wavy. Pale yellow orange becoming ochre buff to tan or dingy buff in age. STEM 2 ¼ - 4 cm long and 1-2 mm thick. Glabrous, hollow, wiry, equal. Ochre-orange to yellow orange at apex becoming tawny to rusty brick below. Sometimes terete at base. Hairs at base bright orange, usually binding together a small ball of soil. SPORES lacrymoid to narrowly ellipsoid in profile. 5.6-7.2 x 2.6-3.6 um. HABITAT scattered to cespitose under hemlock and cedar duff. REMARK The type was found in a dry stream bed near Auburn, Alabama in 1900. It was published by Murrill in 1916. He described rather fleshy dark brown caps with white tomentose margins when young. The gills were rosy-isabelline. Stems were dark brown with white tomentum. Murrill reported spore sizes of 4.5-6.5 x 2-3 um in Mycologia 8, 1916 and then spore sizes of 7-9 x 5-6 um in Mycologia 30 in 1938. Dr. Juancho Mata furthermore reports that west coast specimens are different phylogenetically from east coast ones. Expect changes. Found by McAdoo in the Fort Flagler State Park in August. Also by Mata in the University of Washington Pack Forest.

20a (6b) Caps white, pale gray, cream, or pinkish buff

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20b Caps with other colors

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21a Stems 3-5 mm thick, enlarged at base

................................................................................Collybia bakerensis A.H.Smith

CAP 1.8-3.7 cm wide, white to cream colored, often flushed with pink, darkening to yellow with age. Smooth, moist, with a faint yellow staining reaction on handling. Margin even and generally uplifted at maturity. Context firm. ODOR aromatic, sweet and pleasant. TASTE mild. GILLS Concolorous with cap, staining faintly yellow. Thin, close. STEM short, 1-3 cm long and 3-5 mm thick, somewhat bulbous at base, slightly darker than cap. SPORES 6.5-8.5 x 3.5-4.5 um, ovate, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid. HABITAT scattered on fallen logs in moist areas, often inside of bark. REMARKS This species might be transferred to Gymnopus, but could end up elsewhere. Compare with Rhodocollybia maculata var. fulva. (See 48a). The type is from Anderson Creek Rd. east of Glacier in the Mt. Baker National Forest.

21b Stems 5-12 mm thick, tapering at base

................................................................................R. maculata var. maculata (see 39a)

(This Rhodocollybia is double keyed here because Kauffman, Rea, Wakefield & Dennis all claim the spores are white. Moser, McKnight, Antonín & Noordeloos claim they can be ‘cream to pinkish’.)

22a (20b) Caps peppery to acrid in taste

................................................................................Gymnopus peronatus (Bolt.:Fr.) Antonín, Noordeloos, et al.

CAP 2.5-6 cm wide, convex to plane, often with broad umbo and irregularly lobed margins. Smooth to innately fibrillose, sometimes grooved above gills. Ochre-cinnamon, ochre, to pinkish-brown with paler margin. Hygrophanous. Context white to lemon yellow. ODOR mild. TASTE peppery to acrid. GILLS Almost free, distant, sometimes forked near stem. Ochre to yellow or pinkish-brown, sometimes with lilac tints. Edges entire or finely whitish granulose fringed. STEM 3-8 cm long and 3-10 mm thick. Smooth or floccose at apex becoming fibrillose-striate below, usually expanded towards base. Ochre-brown to yellowish, often more orange-brown towards the base which is covered with buff to yellowish hairs. Context yellow. SPORES 8.5-10 x 3-4 um, smooth, ellipsoid to subcylindrical. HABITAT solitary to cespitose, but usually found in dense groups in forest litter, saprophytic on conifer and hardwood debris. EDIBILITY Considered too acrid to eat. However, a restaurant near Bellingham dries them, re-constitutes them, and serves them up. REMARK This species is not indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. In fact it was not found here until the 1990’s. Now it is our most common Gymnopus, one of the most successful invasions in history.

Gymnopus peronatus Steve Trudell

22b Taste not peppery or acrid

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23a Stems with tawny hairs at base

................................................................................Gymnopus biformis (Peck) Halling

CAP 1-2 ½ cm wide, convex with incurved margin when young, then plane to umbilicate in age. Margins rugulose sulcate. Dry, not hygrophanous, reddish-brown at first, fading to leather brown, cinnamon-brown, or flesh color in age. Glabrous to innately fibrillose, sometimes subzonate. Context thin, whitish. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Adnate, often forming a collar around stem apex. White to grayish, pale pinkish buff in age. Edges entire, powdery with a hand lens. STEM 1 ½ - 5 cm long and 1-4 mm thick. Dry, terete, tough, equal, occasionally flattened. White at apex, then orange-cinnamon to tawny or deep vinaceous brown below becoming deep livid brown at base. Hollow. Covered with a dense whitish pubescence above which becomes ochre to tawny or tawny only at the base. SPORES lacrymoid to slightly ellipsoid in profile. 6.4-8.6 x 3.2-4.4 um. HABITAT gregarious on soil in mixed woods, often on sides of trails or roadbanks. REMARK found by Mata and Ammirati in Redmond, Wash.

23b Stems without tawny hairs at base

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

24a Stems fusiform, swollen at the middled

................................................................................Gymnopus fusipes (Bull.: Fr.) S.F.Gray

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, glabrous or fibrillose. 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 um, ellipsoid to amygdaliform. HABITAT solitary or in compact clusters around roots and stumps of chestnut, oak, beech, or birch. REMARK Widespread in Europe, rare here. Pacioni and Lennox believe the spore deposit is pinkish. Moser describes them as ‘cream to pinkish’.

24b Stems not fusiform

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

25a Gill edges entire or subentire

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

25b Gill edges crenulate to serrulate

................................................................................33

26a Caps shiny, pallid, translucent striate at margins

................................................................................Gymnopus subpruinosus (Murrill) Desjardin, Halling, & Hemmes

CAP 1 ½ -3 cm wide, campanulate becoming plano-convex, usually with small papillate umbo or obtusely umbonate in age. Smooth to subpruinose. Dry, shiny, hygrophanous, buff-brown fading to pale gray brown or grayish orange. Margins incurved at first, rugulose-striate and translucent. Context thin. ODOR slightly earthy. TASTE not reported. GILLS Adnate to sinuate, sometimes with decurrent tooth. Subdistant, cream to pale grayish orange. Three tiers of lamellullae. STEM 1 ½ - 4 cm long and 1 ½ -3 mm thick. Equal or tapering towards base. Tough, hollow, pubescent to tomentose overall. Grayish orange near apex and dark brown to vinaceous-fawn below. SPORES ellipsoid, hyaline, thin-walled. 6-8 x 3.5-4 um. HABITAT Large troops on twigs and fallen logs. Also on wood chip mulch. REMARK This is a tropical, non-native species common in parts of Hawaii that showed up unexpectedly on wood chips on the University of Washington campus. It reaches a much larger stature in the Antilles with caps up to 10 cm wide and stems up to 12 cm long.

26b Caps not translucent striate

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

27a Stems 1-1 ½ mm thick

................................................................................Gymnopus contrarius (Peck) Halling

CAP 0.6-2.6 cm wide, convex with inrolled margin when young, then plane to depressed at disc, umbonate to papillate or even umbilicate. Margins wavy or even, sometimes crenulate, rugose striate to sulcate. Dry, smooth or pruinose to subtomentose. Dingy brown fading to ochre buff on the disc and yellowish buff towards the margin in age. Context thin, whitish to cinereous. ODOR strongly of garlic or rotten cabbage. TASTE subastringent, strongly of garlic. GILLS Adnate to subdecurrent, crowded to subdistant, buff to dingy brown, Edges entire, often intervenose and forked. STEM 2-4 cm long and 1 – 1 ½ mm thick. Tough, pliant, terete, filiform. Ochre buff at the apex, brown to chestnut brown towards the base. Smooth becoming pubescent to strigose towards the base. SPORES ellipsoid to lacrymoid in profile, smooth, 8.6-9.8 x 3.2-4.4 um. HABITAT gregarious on needle duff of spruce and balsam fir.

27b Stems 2 mm thick or more

................................................................................28

28a Gills white to buff or grayish flesh color

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

28b Gills brown, pale brown to ochre brown, pinkish brown to cinnamon

................................................................................30

29a Stem bases with white rhizomorphs

................................................................................Gymnopus dryophilus (Bull.: Fr.) Murrill

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 2-6 mm 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 um, lacrymoid to ovoid, smooth. HABITAT scattered to gregarious on humus, wood chip mulch, or well rotted wood. EDIBILITY use caution, has caused poisoning to some individuals.

Gymnopus dryophilus Steve Trudell

29b Stem bases without white rhizomorphs

................................................................................Gymnopus confluens (Pers.: Fr.) Antonín, Noordel., et al.

CAP 1 ½ - 5 cm wide, convex to almost plane, dark grayish-flesh color to pinkish-cinnamon, often with grayish margins. Surface smooth, dull even when moist. Context tough and pliant. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS whitish to concolorous, almost free, thin, fimbriate (powdery) and very crowded. STEM 2-5 mm thick and 4-9 cm long, dark reddish-brown at base and generally appearing reddish under a dense white tomentum. Hollow, frequently compressed, tough and pliant (like Marasmius). SPORES smooth, ellipsoid to slightly lacrymoid with prominent suprahilar depression. 7.2-8.6 um x 3.4-4.3 um. HABITAT gregarious in small tufts in partial rings in mixed woods. EDIBILITY inedible. REMARK common.

Gymnopus confluens Boleslaw Kuznik

30a (28b) Stems with red brown hairs at base. A green color reaction on cap tissues to KOH

................................................................................Gymnopus fuscopurpureus (Pers.: Fr.) Antonín, Hallng, & Noordeloos

CAP 1 ½ - 3 cm wide, convex to plane with reflexed margins in age. Dark red brown, purple-brown to dark rusty ochre fading hygrophanously from disc first to pale red brown or pinkish cinnamon. Margins striate, sometimes grooved-striate. Glabrous. Context thin, same color as cap. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Adnexed to adnate, subdistant, edges entire. Dark brown with pinkish tinge to pinkish-brown with pallid edges. STEM 2-4 mm thick and 3-8 cm long. Red brown to dark brown, sometimes blackening towards base. Minutely pruinose at apex becoming densely tomentose or scurfy below, with red-brown hairs or tomentum. Sometimes with longitudinal groove or compressed near apex. SPORES white, 6.5-8.7 x 3.1-4.7 um, ellipsoid to lacrymoid, smooth with prominent apiculus. HABITAT scattered in needle duff in mixed woods or saprotrophic in humus and coarse litter.REMARK While most sources describe dark red brown to purple brown caps for fresh specimens, most photos ironically depict rusty ochre caps, so both color forms should be looked for here. KOH applied to a squash mount of the pileipellis will turn olive.

Gymnopus fuscopurpureus group Kit Scates Barnhart

30b Stems without red brown hairs at base

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

31a Densely white pubescent over lower stem

................................................................................Gymnopus putillus (Fr.) Antonín, Noordeloos, et al.

CAP 1-2 cm wide, convex with inrolled margin when young becoming plano-convex with decurved margin in age. Glabrous, lubricous, margins striate to almost sulcate in age. Dark vinaceous brown at first, fading to cinnamon brown. Context whitish to pale brownish, pliant. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Adnexed, close, thin, brown. Edges entire or slightly wavy. STEM 2-6 cm long and 2-3 mm thick. Tough, pliant, equal or slightly enlarged at base. Hollow, subglabrous to matted tomentose in wet weather. Brown becoming grayish-white towards base. Generally pruinose becoming densely white pubescent towards base. SPORES ellipsoid to sublacrymoid, 9-9.8 x 3.4-4.2 um. HABITAT scattered to gregarious on needle litter under pine.

31b Stem bases strigose

................................................................................32

32a Caps red brown when fresh

................................................................................Gymnopus nivalis (Luthi & Plomb) Antonín & Noordeloos

CAP 2-5 cm wide, convex to plane, centers sometimes depressed, margins straight, not striate. Red brown becoming pale brown to beige pink when dried. Glabrous, slightly greasy to the touch, margin indistinctly zonate. ODOR slightly fungoid. TASTE mild. GILLS Free, distant, pale brown. Edges entire. STEM 2 ½ -7 cm long and 4-6 mm thick. Clavate when young, often significantly broadened at base. Reddish brown but paler than cap. Smooth to slightly fibrillose. Strigose at base with buff colored hairs. Yellowish rhizomorphs indistinctly present. Cartilaginous, tough. SPORES 6.3-8.3 x 3.8-5.1 um, broadly ellipsoid. HABITAT found in groups on leaves and branches of elm, beech, and Corylus. REMARK Found by Halling and Mata near Benton, Oregon. Rare.

32b Caps ochre to pinkish brown

................................................................................Gymnopus peronatus (Bolt.:Fr.) Antonín, Halling, & Noordeloos

(This is the mild tasting form. See 22a for description.)

33a (25b) Caps brown to gray brown with darker disc, or ochre-brown

................................................................................R. butyracea form asema (Fr.: Fr.) Antonín, Noordel., et al. (see 46a)

(R. butyracea form asema is double keyed here because Breitenbach & Kränzlin, Michael, Hennig, & Kreisel, Hvass, Jordan, and Kubicka all write that form asema has white spores.)

33b Caps red-brown to dark ochre-brown

................................................................................R. butyracea var. butyracea (Bull.:Fr.) Lennox (see 46b)

34a (1b) Stems radicating or subradicating (part of stem below substrate)

................................................................................35

34b Stems not radicating

................................................................................48

35a Rust colored spots on some part of fruiting body

................................................................................36

35b No rust colored spots

................................................................................41

36a Distinctive odor of almonds or maraschino cherry

................................................................................Rhodocollybia oregonensis (A.H. Sm.) Lennox

CAP 4-10.5 cm wide (usually at least 7 cm), dark vinaceous brown, fading towards margin, colors becoming uneven and spotty with age. Margins never truly straight. Subviscid when moist. ODOR strong of almonds. TASTE faint and unpleasant. GILLS Sinuate, crowded, edges serrated when young, later frayed and eroded. White to pale orange becoming yellowish when drying. Frequently stained with rusty brown spots. STEM 5-30 mm thick and 6.5-20 cm long, white but stained with rusty brown especially near the base. Fibrous and tending to split longitudinally. Buried for about half its length and covered there with pieces of rotten wood. Without rhizomorphs. SPORES 6-8 x 3.5-4 um, ovate, hyaline, smooth. Wall thickness variable, endosporium dextrinoid. HABITAT on rotten conifer logs and debris. EDIBILITY inedible.

Rhodocollybia oregonensis Kit Scates Barnhart

36b No odor of almonds

................................................................................37

37a Caps vinaceous brown to dark red brown

................................................................................38

37b Caps with other colors

................................................................................39

38a Gills white to pale yellow

................................................................................Rhodocollybia extuberans (Fr.) Lennox sensu Lennox non Fries, non A.H.Smith

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 3-20 mm thick and 3.5-8 cm long, Rusty brown, sometimes becoming flesh color at apex and darkening towards base. Fibrous, grooved, and twisted striate tending to split longitudinally. Powdery at apex . Matted tomentose below the substrate at base with short pseudorhiza. With or without rhizomorphs. SPORES 7-10 x 3-4.5 um, ovate with dextrinoid endosporium. Wall thickness variable. HABITAT gregarious to cespitose on well decayed conifer wood. REMARKS Closely related to Rhodocollybia badiialba, but reacts with PDAB to produce a bright magenta color in the solution. Also worthy of note, according to Halling, is that some western collections of Rhodocollybia unakensis (Murrill) Halling have been called Rhodocollybia extuberans before. This is because Collybia extuberans ss Smith is a misapplied name for Rhodocollybia unakensis. Meanwhile in Europe, Collybia extuberans (Fr.) Quél. has become a synonym of Gymnopus ocior (Pers.) Antonín & Noordeloos, a completely different species. I feel that the above Lennox description has very little in common with the original Friesian concept best grasped by Moser, and that it is a possible candidate for new species status.

38b Gills pinkish buff

................................................................................Rhodocollybia unakensis (Murrill) Halling

CAP 2-5 cm wide, conic to obscurely umbonate when young becoming campanulate to plane when aged. Smooth, lubricous, violet brown fading to fawn brown or reddish gray with darker margins. Context thin, whitish or pinkish beneath pellicle. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Sinuate to emarginate with decurrent tooth. Crowded, thin, narrow, edges entire becoming eroded in age. Pale pinkish buff and sometimes spotted. STEM 4-7 cm long and up to 6 mm thick. Equal or enlarged towards base, fibrous, a bit fragile, and longitudinally striate. Whitish at apex becoming sordid below. Base partially buried in substrate, with rhizomorphs. SPORES lacrymoid to ellipsoid in profile, 5.5-7 x 3-4.5 um. HABITAT gregarious to cespitose on rotten wood. REMARK Even though Murrill didn’t give us a spore deposit color, dextrinoid reactions to Melzer’s and a cyanophilous reaction to cotton blue suggest colored spores and an affinity with other species of Rhodocollybia. All this according to Halling.

39a (37b) Caps cream to pale tan

................................................................................R. maculata var. maculata (Alb.& Schw.: Fr.) Singer

CAP 4-9 cm wide, convex to nearly plane in age, surface smooth, felt-like. White to pale buff, often with dingy reddish stains. Context white, firm. ODOR mild. TASTE bitter. GILLS notched, thin, crowded. Edges serrated to eroded. White to pale pinkish-buff, soon with reddish stains. STEM 5-12 mm thick and 4-20 cm long. White developing rusty stains towards base. Equal, tough, fibrous, hollow, tapering abruptly at substrate. Base with dense white mycelium. SPORES 5-7 x 4.5-6 um, subglobose with a prominent apiculus and a shallow suprahilar depression. HABITAT gregarious in litter, humus, and conifer duff in mixed woods. EDIBILITY inedible.

R. maculata var. maculata Bryce Kendrick

39b Caps yellowish or white to pinkish with tawny red discs

................................................................................40

40a Gills yellowish

................................................................................Rhodocollybia 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 6-40 mm thick and 3.5-17 cm long. 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 um, ovate to ellipsoid, smooth, dextrinoid. HABITAT scattered on decayed coniferous wood. EDIBILITY inedible.

R. maculata var. scorzonerea Drew Parker

40b Gills whitish to pale orange

................................................................................Rhodocollybia maculata var. occidentalis (A.H. Smith) Lennox

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. 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 8-21 mm thick and 4.3-15 cm long. Whitish staining rusty red on 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 um, narrowly ovate to ellipsoid, thin-walled, dextrinoid. HABITAT Gregarious to cespitose in thick duff or on much decayed coniferous wood.

41a (35b) Strong odor of moldy cinnamon or Vick’s vapor rub

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

CAP 4.5-6 cm wide, convex to nearly plane with a shallow umbo, margins even and almost straight. Dark reddish-brown and subhygrophanous, drying lighter. Surface lubricous when wet, later dry, matte to almost fibrillose. Context rather thick and soft, pinkish-cream. ODOR strong like Vick’s Vaporub or moldy cinnamon. TASTE mild. GILLS Narrowly adnexed and deeply sinuate, thin, close, edges even becoming eroded in age. White, unchanging and non-staining. STEM 9-20 mm thick and 8-10 cm long. Light orange becoming pallid below substrate. Striate-grooved, non-staining, stuffed, fibrous, tending to split longitudinally. More or less fusiform, tapering abruptly towards base. Buried for about half its length. No rhizomorphs at base. SPORES 6.5-7.5 x 3-4 um, narrowly ovate to ellipsoid, thin-walled, dextrinoid, smooth. HABITAT no data, reported from King County, Wash.

41b Odor mild or different

................................................................................42

42a Odor aromatic, a bit like maraschino cherry

................................................................................Rhodocollybia subsulcatipes (A.H. Smith) Lennox

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 10-16 mm thick and 6-10 cm long, 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 um, globose, hyaline, smooth, inamyloid. HABITAT gregarious on humus. REMARK Rare. The only reported collection is from Storm King Mountain in the Olympic National Park.

42b Odor mild, sweet, or pungent

................................................................................43

43a Stems fusiform

................................................................................Gymnopus fusipes (see 24a)

(G. fusipes is double keyed here because Moser describes the spore deposit as ‘cream to pinkish’.)

43b Stems not fusiform

................................................................................44

44a Stems clavate or enlarged at base

................................................................................45

44b Stem bases equal or tapered downwards

................................................................................47

45a Caps dark brownish black

................................................................................Rhodocollybia maculata var. nigra Lennox

CAP 2.7-4 cm wide, convex to plane, dark brownish-black, shiny, unchanging when drying. Context quite thick, firm, rather tough. ODOR sweet. TASTE pleasant at first, becoming bitter. GILLS Emarginate, rather thick, shallow, subdistant. Cream colored to peach, unchanging, not staining. Edges even. STEM 12-14 mm thick and 7-7.5 cm long. 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 um, ellipsoid, dextrinoid. HABITAT cespitose on much decayed wood. EDIBILITY inedible.

45b Caps with other colors

................................................................................46

46a Caps tan, brown, gray-brown, often with darker discs

................................................................................R. butyracea form asema (Fr.: Fr.) Antonín, Noordeloos, et al.

CAP 2.5-6 cm wide, convex to plane, usually with a low umbo and uplifted margins in age. Smooth, shiny, brown to gray-brown fading to tan when drying with a whitish margin. Context whitish, thin. ODOR mildly resinous, pleasant. TASTE mild. GILLS Adnexed to notched, white, thin, very crowded. Edges crenulate. STEM 4-15 mm thick and 4-8 cm long. Glabrous to finely longitudinally fibrillose, more rarely longitudinally grooved. Gray-brown to brown, usually expanding at base. Hollow, corticate, base with white tomentum. SPORES 5.7-7.2 x 2.8-3.8 um. Elliptic, smooth, whitish-cream in deposit. HABITAT gregarious in mixed woods on conifer duff and leaf litter. EDIBILITY Caution is advised. This form has been aligned with Gymnopus dryophilus before, a species that has affected some individuals adversely. REMARKS Most authors believe this species has pinkish spores. The brown capped version described here can be seen in Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.3, (pg.172). A visually distinct version with olive ochre caps and striated vinaceous-brick stipes can be seen in Moser and Julich’s Farbatlas der Basidiomyceten. Both versions have showed up at Deception Pass Park in Washington.

R butyracea f. asema Michael Beug

46b Caps red brown, tawny brown or dark ochre with olive tinges

................................................................................R. var. butyracea (Bull.: Fr.) Lennox

CAP 3-7 cm wide, convex to broadly umbonate, dark reddish-brown when young to dull red-brown or dark ochre-brown with an olive tinge in age. Surface smooth with a fatty luster when moist. Context white. ODOR mild to mildly fruity. TASTE mild, rarely raphanoid. GILLS Sinuate, finely serrate at first, then strongly eroded. White becoming yellowish on drying. No rusty spotting. STEM 4-8 mm thick and 5-9 cm long. Pinkish-brown to yellow-brown becoming more reddish-brown towards apex in age. Longitudinally striate-fibrillose. Base clavate, white-matted tomentose, often with pseudorhiza. SPORES 6.5-9 x 3-4.5 um, narrowly ellipsoid to ovate, smooth with a dextrinoid endosporium. HABITAT scattered to loosely cespitose in thick duff in conifer forests. EDIBILITY edible. REMARK Smith cosmopolitan species with a variety of cap colors.

R. butyracea f. butyracea Steve Trudell

47a (44b) Gill edges serrated

................................................................................Rhodocollybia badiialba (Murrill) Lennox

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 5-9 mm thick and 5-11 cm long. Fibrous, flesh colored at apex darkening downwards to vinaceous tan, staining reddish-brown. Appearing to root somewhat. Abundant white rhizomorphs at base. SPORES Smooth, globose, hyaline with a dextrinoid endosporium, 3.5-5.5 x 3-4.5 um. Walls variable in thickness. HABITAT gregarious to loosely cespitose on much decayed logs or thick duff in dense conifer woods. EDIBILITY inedible. REMARK closely related to Rhodocollybia extuberans ss Lennox but does not react to PDAB and is bitter to taste.

Rhodocollybia badiialba Boleslaw Kuznik (MykoWeb)

47b Gill edges entire

................................................................................Collybia solidipes Kauffman

CAP 4-8 cm wide, convex to plane and obtusely umbonate. Glabrous, mouse gray becoming paler in age. Context fleshy but fragile, whitish to pale grayish. ODOR & TASTE mild to slightly farinaceous. GILLS Adnate at first, with decurrent tooth, then more sinuate in age. Whitish to pale gray, breaking transversely in age. Edges entire. STEM 7-10 cm long and 1-1 ½ cm thick. Solid, glabrous to faintly striate-fibrillose, cartilaginous. Whitish with gray tinge. Tapering towards base and then subradicating. SPORES 4 x 3 um, smooth, suglobose. HABITAT gregarious in mixed forest of oak and pine. EDIBILITY inedible. REMARK Found in Takilma, Oregon on December 10, 1925 and possibly not seen since. According to Halling this is a good Rhodocollybia just awaiting transfer. Kauffman did not describe a spore deposit color in his original description. However, according to Dr. Halling, the combination of subglobose and dextrinoid spores plus the cyanophilous reaction to cotton blue indicate a Rhodocollybia with colored spores.

48a (34b) Caps dark vinaceous red

................................................................................Rhodocollybia maculata var. fulva Lennox

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 relatively thick over disc, brittle, firm. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Narrowly adnexed to sinuate, thin, crowded, narrow. White with conspicuous rusty-red spots. Edges even. STEM 3-5 mm thick and 3.5-6.5 cm long. 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 um, ovate, smooth, thin-walled, dextrinoid. HABITAT cespitose on wood.

48b Caps with other colors

................................................................................49

49a Caps grayish cream

................................................................................Rhodocollybia maculata var. immutabilis (A.H. Smith) Lennox

CAP 2.5-3.2 cm wide, convex expanding to nearly plane at maturity, margins straight and even. Pale grayish-cream with no color change on drying. Surface slightly powdery at first. Context thin. ODOR faint, sweet. TASTE mild. GILLS Broadly adnate, thick, subdistant. Grayish-cream with cap, not staining. Edges even, not eroding in age. STEM 5-10 mm thick and 3.5-5 cm long. Concolorous with cap or somewhat darker, hollow, tapering towards apex. Surface streaked striate. Some white appressed tomentum at base. SPORES 6.5-8 x 4-4.5 um. Ovate to ellipsoid, dextrinoid, thin-walled, and smooth. HABITAT gregarious on conifer duff. REMARK According to Antonín & Noordeloos the var. immutabilis should now be considered conspecific with Rhodocollybia maculata var. maculata. DNA profiling would be needed to substantiate this.

49b Caps cinnamon to tawny olive

................................................................................Rhodocollybia lentinoides (Peck) Halling

CAP 2-4 ½ cm wide, convex with inrolled margins at first becoming cushion shaped in age, with indistinct umbo. Smooth, dull, hygrophanous. Cinnamon to tawny olive when young, fading to pinkish buff in age. Context white. ODOR & TASTE mild. GILLS Adnexed to emarginate, seceding, thin, crowded, rather broad. Whitish to ivory yellow. Edges serrate to laciniate. STEM 3-6 mm thick and 2-6 cm long. Equal or enlarged at base and apex. Fragile, fibrous, translucent white. Subpruinose to substriate. Not radicating. SPORES 5.4-7.5 x 3.2-4.4 um, lacrymoid to subellipsoid in profile. HABITAT gregarious in wooded swamps or in humus under spruce. REMARK reported by Lebo and Edmonds from the Hoh River Valley in the Olympic National Park.

NOMENCLATURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Antonín, V. & M. Noordeloos. 1997. A Monograph of Marasmius, Collybia, and Related Genera in Europe in Libri Botanici, Vol.17, (12, 15, 27-28, 32, 57, 84, 88-89, 102, 117, 120-121, 125, 134, 137, 186.)
2. Breitenbach, J. & F. Kränzlin. 1991. Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.3. Edition Mykologia, Lucerne, Switzerland. (172).
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33. Williams, J., 1975. The Collybioid Fungi of Western Washington. Doctorate.

LIST OF SYNONYMS

(The following list includes only the three most commonly seen synonyms with the name used in the original key listed first, provided there was a name change.)

Collybia cirrhata (Pers.) Quélet – Microcollybia cirrhata (Pers.:Pers.) Lennox, Collybia amanitae (Batsch) Kreisel.

Collybia cookei (Bres.) Arnold – Microcollybia cookei (Bres.) Lennox, Collybia cirrhata var. cookei Bres., Collybia tuberosa var. cookei (Bres.) Bon & Courtecuisse.

Collybia tuberosa (Bull.:Fr.) Kummer – Microcollybia tuberosa (Bull.:Fr.) Lennox, Marasmius sclerotipes Bres., Collybia picetorum Velenovsky.

Dendrocollybia racemosa (Pers.:Fr.) Petersen & Redhead – Collybia racemosa (Pers.:Fr.) Quélet, Microcollybia racemosa (Pers.:Fr.) Lennox, Sclerostilbum septentrionale Povah.

Gymnopus acervatus (Fr.) Murrill – Collybia acervata (Fr.) Kummer, Marasmius acervatus (Fr.) Pearson & Dennis, Collybia terginoides Svrcek & Kubicka.

Gymnopus biformis (Peck) Halling – Collybia biformis (Pk.) Singer, Marasmius biformis Peck, Marasmius longistriatus Peck.

Gymnopus confluens (Pers.:Fr.) Antonín, Noord. et al – Collybia confluens (Pers.:Fr.) Kummer, Marasmius confluens (Pers.:Fr.) Karsten, Collybia ingrata (Schum.:Fr.) Quélet.

Gymnopus contrarius (Peck) Halling – Collybia contraria (Pk.) Halling, Collybia pinastris (Kauffman) Mitchel & Smith, Collybia umbonatella Singer.

Gymnopus dryophilus (Bull.:Fr.) Murrill – Collybia dryophila (Bull.:Fr.) Kummer, Marasmius dryophilus (Bull.:Fr.) Karsten, Collybia pinacea Velen.

Gymnopus dysodes (Halling) Halling – Collybia dysodes Halling.

Gymnopus earleae Murrill – Collybia earleae (Murr.) Murrill, Collybia agricola (Murr.) Murrill, Gymnopus agricola Murrill.

Gymnopus erythropus (Pers.:Fr.) Antonín, Noord. et al – Collybia kirchneri (Thuemen) Halling & Baroni, Collybia erythropus (Pers.:Fr.) Kummer, Marasmius erythropus (Pers.:Fr.) Quélet, Collybia marasmioides (Britz.) Bresinsky & Stangl.

Gymnopus fuscopurpureus (Pers.: Fr.) Antonín, Halling, & Noordeloos – Marasmius fuscopurpureus (Pers.:Fr.) Fries, Collybia fuscopurpurea (Pers.: Fr.) Kummer, Collybia obscura Favre.

Gymnopus fusipes (Bull.:Fr.) S.F.Gray – Collybia fusipes (Bull.:Fr.) Quélet, Collybia crassipes (Schaeff.) Ricken, Collybia lancipes (Fr.) Gillet.

Gymnopus hariolorum (Bull.: Fr.) Antonín, Halling, & Noordeloos – Collybia harilorum (Bull.:Fr.) Quélet.

Gymnopus luxurians (Peck) Murrill – Collybia luxurians Peck, Collybia compressiceps Bigelow, Collybidium luxurians (Pk.) Murrill.

Gymnopus nivalis (Luthi & Plomb) Antonín & Noordeloos – Collybia nivalis (Luthi & Lomb) Moser, Marasmius nivalis Luthi & Plomb, Collybia verna Ryman.

Gymnopus ocior (Pers.) Antonín & Noordeloos – Collybia dryophila var. luteifolia (Fr.) Gillet, Collybia luteifolia Gillet, Collybia succinea (Fr.) Quélet.

Gymnopus peronatus (Bolt.:Fr.) Antonín, Noord. et al – Collybia peronata (Bolt.:Fr.) Kummer, Marasmius peronatus (Bolt.:Fr.) Fries, Marasmius urens (Bull.:Fr.) Fries.

Gymnopus polyphyllus (Peck) Halling – Collybia polyphylla (Peck) Sing. ex Halling, Marasmius polyphyllus Peck.

Gymnopus putillus (Fr.) Antonín, Noordeloos, et al – Collybia putilla (Fr.) Singer, Marasmius putillus (Fr.) Fr., Collybia incrustata O.K.Miller.

Gymnopus spongiosus (Berk. & Curt.) Halling – Collybia spongiosa (Berk. & Curt.) Sing., Marasmius spongiosus Berk. & Curt., Marasmius semisquarrosus Berk. & Curt.

Gymnopus striatipes (Peck) Halling – Collybia cylindrospora Kauffman, Marasmius striatipes Peck.

Gymnopus subpruinosus (Murr.) Desjardin, Halling, & Hemmes – Collybia subpruinosa (Murrill) Murrill, Marasmius subpruinosus Murrill, Marasmius obsoletus Murrill.

Gymnopus subsulphureus (Peck) Murrill – Collybia subsulphurea Peck.

Rhodocollybia badiialba (Murrill) Lennox – Collybia badiialba (Murrill) Murrill, Gymnopus badiialbus Murrill.

Rhodocollybia butyracea (Bull.:Fr.) Lennox – Collybia butyracea (Bull.:Fr.) Quélet, Collybia similis Hruby.

Rhodocollybia butyracea form asema – (Fr.:Fr.) Antonín, Noord. et al – Collybia asema (Fr.:Fr.) Gillet, Collybia butyracea var. asema (Fr.:Fr.) Quélet, Collybia butyracea form asema (Fr.:Fr.) Singer.

Rhodocollybia extuberans (Fr.) Lennox – Collybia extuberans (Fr.) Quélet ss Lennox.

Rhodocollybia lentinoides (Peck) Halling – Collybia lentinoides (Peck) Saccardo.

Rhodocollybia maculata (Alb. & Schw.:Fr.) Singer – Collybia maculata (Alb. & Schw.:Fr) Kummer, Gymnopus carnosus (Curtis) Murrill.

Rhodocollybia maculata var. immutabilis (A.H.Smith) Lennox – Collybia maculata var. immutabilis A.H.Smith.

Rhodocollybia maculata var. occidentalis (A.H.Smith) Lennox – Collybia maculata var. occidentalis A.H.Smith.

Rhodocollybia maculata var. scorzonerea (Fr.) Lennox – Collybia maculata var. scorzonerea (Fr.) Gillet, Collybia scorzonera Fries.

Rhodocollybia oregonensis (A.H.Smith) Lennox – Collybia oregonensis A.H.Smith.

Rhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Halling, & Noordeloos – Collybia distorta (Fr.) Quélet, Rhodocollybia distorta (Fr.) Singer, Lentinus microspermus Peck.

Rhodocollybia subsulcatipes (A.H.Smith) Lennox – Collybia subsulcatipes A.H.Smith.

Rhodocollybia unakensis (Murr.) Halling – Gymnopus unakensis Murrill, Collybia unakensis (Murr.) Murrill, Collybia egregia Halling.

GLOSSARY

acrid – sharp tasting, worse than peppery.

amygdaliform – almond-shaped.

alkali – a soluble salt consisting mainly of potassium or sodium carbonate.

anastomosed – connected by a fusion of smaller cross-gills.

apiculus – a short, sharp point at the basal end of a spore.

astringent – a taste causing the mouth to pucker.

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.

cartilaginous – tough, but breaking with a snap.

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

clavate – thick towards the base, club-like.

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

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.

cyanophilous – readily absorbing a blue dye, like cotton blue or cresyl blue.

cylindrical – of stem, evenly rounded.

decurrent tooth – gills that have a small break below point of attachment and then run slightly down the stem.

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.

entire – smooth gill edges.

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.

filiform – thread-like.

fimbriate – minutely fringed gill edges.

fistulose – hollow.

flexuous – crooked, bent in different directions.

floccose – loose, cottony tufts on stem or cap.

frondose – pertaining to broad-leafed trees.

furcate - forked.

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

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

globose – rounded.

granulose – covered with a granule-like substance.

gregarious – growing in company (very social).

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.

intervenose – having veins in the spaces between gills.

isabelline – a dingy yellowish-brown. The color of Queen Isabelle’s under garments which were seldom changed.

KOH – potassium hydroxide, an agent commonly used to revive dried mushroom material 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.

oblong – longer than wide but usually less than twice as long.

opaque – dull.

ovate – more or less egg shaped.

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

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

pellicle – a cuticle that is viscid and peels easily.

plicate – pleated, folded like a fan.

pruina – superficial powder.

pruinose – looking finely powdered or finely granular.

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

pubescent – covered with short, soft, downy hairs.

putrescent – tending to rot.

radicating – forming a root.

raphanoid – odor of radishes.

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

reflexed – upturned cap margin.

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

rhizoid – hyphae forming root-like structure arising from the stem base.

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.

seceding – gills separating from the stem in age.

serrate – saw-toothed to almost ragged.

serrulate – minutely serrate.

striate – lined or minutely furrowed.

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.

suprahilar depression – a smooth, rounded depression on the inner side of the spore.

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

terete – rounded in cross-section like a broom handle.

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

tomentum – a covering of densely matted woolly hairs.

tuberculate – wart-like or knob-like swellings.

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.

uncinate – barely hooked-decurrent.

undulate – wavy, usually referring to a cap margin.

ventricose – swollen in the middle.

vinaceous – the color of wine-stained cloth.

viscid – slimy when moist, sticky when dry.

zonate – marked with concentric bands of color.

INDEX TO THE SPECIES

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