Psathyrella on cow dung?

[RobSutton]

Found this growing on well rotted cow dung on calcareous grassland near Malham Tarn.





Cap was about 1.5cm across. The closest I could get using my books was a Psathyrella sp. but they didn't mention dung as a habitat for any of them. Most of them seemed to be associated with woodland and this was a long way from any woodland. Am I on the right lines?

Thanks in advance folks.

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

Found this growing on well rotted cow dung on calcareous grassland near Malham Tarn.





Cap was about 1.5cm across. The closest I could get using my books was a Psathyrella sp. but they didn't mention dung as a habitat for any of them. Most of them seemed to be associated with woodland and this was a long way from any woodland. Am I on the right lines?

Thanks in advance folks.

Rob

You have two choices - it's either Psathyrella coprophila or Psathyrella hirta - both rarely reported in Britain.

Since all Psathyrella's need microscopy I would hesitate to say which it is (especially since I have never seen P. coprophila) but if I had to take an educated guess I would say that it was Psathyrella hirta, which has been recorded from Yorkshire previously. Neither are mentioned in any of the popular guides since they are so rarely seen.

There is virtually no material of either in herbaria !

Very nice photo as well.

Nick

[RobSutton]

Thanks once again Nick - pleased I got the right Genus for it.