Little Brown Mushroom 2

I have another Little Brown Mushroom with interesting colours , namely the stipe which is whitish outside with a yellowish flesh in the upper half and brownish at the bottom (when fresh). No ring, stipe glabrous except few scanty fibrils. I think the gills are in majority free (some maybe slightly touching at the uppermost part). Spore-print darkish rusty brown. The pileipellis is an hymenoderm of either spherical or spheropendiculate cells. Basidia frequent, 4-sporous oblong-clavate. Cheilocystidia appears to be numerous from the whitish edge, but when mounted, they were rather scarce. Their shape is lageniform-conical with gradual tapering towards the tip, 25-35um long. Spores ovate with a slight almond-shape, tiny germ pore at the base, wall seems thick, size:

(6.5) 7.5 - 8.6 (9.1) × (3.9) 4.2 - 4.9 (5.2) err

Q = (1.5) 1.6 - 1.9 (2.1) ; N=19

V = (61) 69 - 109 (130) err3

Me = 8.1 × 4.5 err ; Qe = 1.8 ; Ve = 87 err3

A big thanks to all who contributed. Yes a Hymeniderm 100%. I am quite convinced it is a Pholiotina but I have to go deeper in some key to suggest some options.

Raphael, the shape of the cheilocystidia is shown/documented in my post (if it helps re id)

So I am consulting the keys of Pholiotina in Flora Agaricina Neerlandica Vol. 6 (Arnolds, 2005: 180--203).

Our specimen would classify under subkey 2 for its veil present, leaving flocks adhering to the margin

The Cheilo not being capitate would exclude Ph. brunnea.

Now I am not so sure if my spores have a tiny germ pore or not, but if not, then this autumn-fruiting species would be ascribed to Ph. vestita from

the keys mentioned.

If we decide that the spores have a germ pore, P. utriformis is discarded for having utriform cheilocystida

With a spore mean of 8.0 um, the specimens would key to a branch leading to P. velata and P. exannulata. The later should have a pileus with a darker centre when moist , and which my specimens are.

Hmm not really convinced that it is Ph. exannulata though!

Dear friends, I was suspecting that it wasn't a germ pore but in some examples, there was a distinct gap and made me doubt what I am seeing apiculus or a g. pore. That doubt being cleared, the keys of Pholiota in N Europe as per 2006 leaves Ph. vestita as the only candidate. But one must consider what is found in the south, newer species or perhaps something new. I do some more research in this area and see what I find.

here is already something:

Pholiotina vestita - Pholiotina

Pholiotina vestita - inviati in Pholiotina: Pholiotina vestita (Fr.) Singer, Beih. bot. Zbl. 56: 170 (1936)Basionimo:Galera vestita Fr., in Quélet…

www.ambmuggia.it

Pholiotina vestita - Pholiotina

Pholiotina vestita - inviati in Pholiotina: Pholiotina vestita (Fr.) Singer, Beih. bot. Zbl. 56: 170 (1936)umbone leggermente più scuro

www.ambmuggia.it

Thank you so much!

I have found Ph. dasypusa a week or two ago (i think I posted on this forum) and it had a different 'feeling' namely the cheilocystidia were more capitate and less broad, the colours of the pileus not so dark (caramel-brown) with less evident margin veil, and more importantly, the stipe flesh was not reddish brown but pale beige. I think we are not 100% happy with vestita for the striations in the pileus right? --- and the colours are a bit too vivid here.

More cheilos with graphic enhancement - lageniform with long slender necks but variable too.

Zitat von Clavaria

... on your spore pictures I see something like a indistinct germ pore (callus) on some spores. The spore wall is thinner and/or lighter brown:

Some Pholiotina species have a very indistinct germ pore.

I was gonna write earlier that if my specimen had a germ pore, this would perhaps match Ph. nemoralis. What I can do is to mount the spores at x1000 but photography may not be a state of art ! Yet it seems that there is no germ pore (in these images I took).

Pholiotina nemoralis var. nemoralis - Pholiotina

Pholiotina nemoralis var. nemoralis - inviati in Pholiotina: Pholiotina nemoralis var. nemoralis (Harmaja) Bon, (1991) Basionimo: Conocybe nemoralis…

www.ambmuggia.it

Spores in 3%KOH (aq) and glycerol (3:1) at x1000 oil immersion.

In my opinion, the single gap in the spore wall is derived from the apiculus. Saying that images of Ph. nemoralis on the web don't show a distinct germ pore, but often you can see 1 germ pore in ten spores. I have photographed some 200 spores, and I can't say I see any distinct examples. Nevertheless, I stick to the keys by Arnolds (2006) and assign this to Ph. vestita. Also, reading the description of Ph. vestita in Arnolds (2006), I see that it is a good match. Moreover, the notes for Ph. nemoralis mention the close relationship with Ph. velata

.