Stropharia sp..?

[juliejam]

Found this group growing under Cedar of lebanon tree..



Appreciate help with ID please..

Cheers Guys..

Julie

[Fungalpunk]

Whilst I am on-line (a rare occasion indeed Stropharia caerulea is my shot The gills look right and the white mycelium is another clue and not obvious on similar species.

FP/OMD

[Chris Yeates]

hi

I agree with the above

Chris

[juliejam]

Cheers to you both...much appreciated..


Julie

[cybershot]

I would be interested to know why, other than for the reasons stated, the decision favoured S. caerulea rather than S. aeruginosa - Verdigris Agaric, which is what I would have plumbed for?

David

[fairplay]

Hi David,

I too agree on S.caerulea the only reason being because of the barely discernible 'ring' on the stem "even when young".

S. aeruginosa when young has a more obvious ring, the upper surface even being blue /green - the same colour as the cap, but beware, this disappears quickly.

There is also a difference in the gill edges, but I challenge anyone to say which is which from this (excellent) photo.

Neil.

Fungalpunk mentioned the white mycelium also being an indicator - I'm not aware of this, but this would be a very handy pointer.

[cybershot]

All good pointers to work with thanks Neil - back to the references for further investigation.

David

[Fungalpunk]

R. Courtecuisse makes a point of the white mycelium being white and experience tells me this is more often present than in similar species. Not always but more often! Also the yellowing of this species is a good pointer.

Also yes I agree with Fairplay - hardly any ring evidence. Oops and to add Aeruginosa is usually darker and gills are white when young and go darker - some of these seem young and are already darkish.

As always it is better to have the blighters in your hand so this is a mere guideline but conveniently raises ID tips. Perhaps this time next year all species will be the same anyway ha, ha.

Fungalpunk/OMD

[Morchella]

"which is what I would have plumbed for?"

Intriguing image David! Mind you I think I know some plumbers like that

[cybershot]

Having accompanied Julie to the park today where she showed me these trooping in two different locations I am convinced that the macro features, especially the deeper blue green colour of the younger caps and the covering of whitish woolly scales below the ring, more closely match the descriptions of S. aeruginosa in the popular references. After this experience it is easy to see why there is so much confusion and maybe, stretching a point, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that both species were present, or that Dave's prophecy above is not quite so radical after all.
David