there has recently been some discussion on WAB - I suspect it occurs every year - about the identity of these fungi; the discussion is generally along the lines of is it
Stropharia aeruginosa or is it
S. caerulea (-
S. cyanea)?
this is just a reminder that there is another fungus in this country which can resemble these (particularly the latter)
in recent days on the lawn here (probably as old as the house, therefore around 160 years old, and moss-rich I'm glad to say
) one of these fungi has put in the first appearance I have ever noted (so first time in well over a dozen years)
a quick shot when late for the bus
- growing in grass with sparse creeping buttercup and the moss
Rhytidiadelphus sqarrosus :
and shots taken in more controlled conditions indoors tonight:
so while the colour was coming off the cap (parrot waxcap style) there was still a strong colouration on the stem, and a very distinct ring
to be absolutely certain with these fellows you need to check the gill edge and look at the type of specialised cells (called cheilocystidia); if a lot of these have yellowish contents and pinched out ends (a bit like the teats on babies' bottles), then you have got
Stropharia caerulea; here's one I prepared earlier
:
those cystidia with yellowish contents are called chrysocystidia and their presence or absence is often very important in identifying a fungus
the gill-edge cystidia for my fungus were neither chrysocystidia nor had the shape of those of
Stropharia caerulea then; they were also not like the ones you encounter with
S. aeruginosa, which tend to be irregularly club-shaped - these were
capitate:
i.e. with distinct 'heads'; I did manage to find a single chrysocystidium:
which I think had wondered in from the gill-face
this is
Stropharia pseudocyanea and the damp grassland habitat is a very good further pointer to it not being one of the other two (though these are growing very close to a flower bed in a garden!) I always treat habitat as an identifying character with a bit of caution in these cases
as a final comment, I suspect that at least one of the images in the
A to Z, under the heading
Stropharia caerulea could possibly actually be this fungus . . .
over and out
Chris