Small white fungus with ring - a rematch!

Steve vs White fungus with ring: 0-1 in 2018!

Now I met the same fungus in the same locality and even almost the same date (23/10/2018) and I want to rechallange and try to identify this cute and curious species. I just came from the forray (super tired!) and still have my camera in the bag, but these are the images from 2018. I will document gradually this fungus here. It is small (2 cm) and grow in small clusters, with the base of the stipe fused / connexed. I am quite sure that the habitat is leaf litter of Quercus ilex or Ceratonia siliqua, not connifer ( pine leaves present in pic). Investigation for tonight or tmrw!

To be continued...

good evening mycophiles

This fungus is the same that I reported weeks ago but here it is from a different location:

Small white mushroom, with a tomentose covering

These are the new images taken yesterday.

MACRO:

Small basidiocarps with a tomentose veil, hence tomentose cap and ring.

Gregarious or fused at the base

Lamellae free but very close to the stipe

Taste fungoid-sweet, good and palatable

Scent indistinct

Stipe white, but sometimes greyish esp. after handling

Pruinose-puberulent esp. above the ring

Stipe hollow, inside there are longitudinal white fibres (not sure if it is a characteristic of species)

Base slightly swollen in solitary examples

Ring slowly evanescent, leaving a cottony scar

Spores hyaline, don't stain easily.

4% KOH on stipe forms a faint yellowish colour (with a hint of greenish tones?)

MICRO (quite boring)

Cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia not observed

Distinct feature: Spores 2.0-3.0 um which aggregates in pairs or clusters, pip-shaped.

Basidia 4-spore (I managed to see one!)

Veil (or pileipellis) trichoderm of cylindrical hyphae, a few with clamp junctions, unspecialised

Some micro images (not much to show!)

At this stage, I am sure that the genus is Pseudobaeospora (family Tricholomataceae) - hence that is already an equalizer
Regarding the species, that is a challenging task, and I try to get as much info as possible, but I already pinned P. albidula and P. calcarea are at the moment the strongest options.

(PDF) Pseudobaeospora albidula (Agaricales) found in the Czech Republic

This paper has an interesting discussion opening to further research and options, from a possible new species that gros on leaf litter of broad leaf trees (spec. to carobs?) because from what I gather, these 2 species prefer to grow on moss.

Then this is also interesting:

Pseudobaeospora paulochroma and P. bavariae differ from P. albidula and P. calcarea in a positive (ie yellow or pale sordid yellowish) reaction of the pileus surface with KOH. Pseudobaeospora terrayi has a mild taste and therefore dif - fers by a pale yellowish greenish reaction of the pileus surface with KOH and by the presence of well-developed suprapellis.

(14) (PDF) Pseudobaeospora albidula (Agaricales) found in the Czech Republic . Available from: (PDF) Pseudobaeospora albidula (Agaricales) found in the Czech Republic [accessed Nov 03 2021].

I judge a positive pale sordid yellowish reaction in my specimen (see photo above)!

Hi, I have to retreat from my first impression of being a Pseudobaeospora because this genus do not produce a ring and it has tubular straight (needle-like) hyaline rhizoids that are not present in the examined material. The other collection is a Pseudobaeospora so that was a different species from the one in this post. So, now I have to fall back to a small Leucoagaricus (or Lepiota?!).

Now this text from Wikipedia is crazy: " Leucoagaricus sericifer is an agaric fungus in the genus Leucoagaricus. It was originally described as Pseudobaeospora sericifera by French mycologist Marcel Locquin.^[1] It is widespread in Europe".^[2]

Well, I have to repeat the micro maybe from a younger specimen maybe something went wrong.

[edit]

Rare species of Lepiota and other genera,

BŁAŻEJ GIERCZYK, ANNA KUJAWA, ANDRZEJ SZCZEPKOWSKI

and PIOTR CHACHUŁA[/edit]