Agaric or not ID please

[watsthat]

I couldn`t decide if this was even an Agaric. The cap is suggestive of Coprinus but where are the gills? (digested?)

Can anyone help?





Cheers

Pete

[KeenTeen17]

I think its an old and mature specimen of parasola plicitalis. It might be slightly transparent like that because of all the frost recently

[watsthat]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

I think its an old and mature specimen of parasola plicitalis. It might be slightly transparent like that because of all the frost recently

Thanks for that KT.

Frost is not a consideration however because i took the picture in September.

Pete

[Chris Yeates]

hi Pete

something worth bearing in mind is that fungi sometimes will produce aberrant fruit-bodies; for example sterile fruit-bodies of species which would normally have dark spores can be very confusing (and of course un-nameable), etc

here is what I thought was a nice, potentially nameable, collection of a Mycena species on woodchip very near where I work; when I got the specimens (at different stages of development) back home I was surprised to find that not a single spore was produced - there were no fertile basidia - and in fact the strange thing was that there were some spores on the gills but they were those of a Coprinus which had long since disappeared !



cheers

Chris

[mollisia]

Hallo,

the fungus you show does have gills - but they are not black as you would except them to be. As Chris said above, sometimes fungi are steril, what is quite irratating in dark spored species. This is quite common in the genus Psathyrella, but I have also seen steril Hypholoma fasciculare, which had very bright yellow gills. Quite astonishing, we have first thought it to be a Gymnopilus species ....

Another thing is, that also albinotic forms occur, and in these cases the fruitbodies produce spores - but also without pigment. I have seen this with Tubaria hiemalis/furfuracea. Also partly albinotic forms may occur, as is the case with Cortinarius collinitus, which sometimes (very rare!) produces fruitbodies without the orange-yellow-braun pigments. These fruitbodies are entierly white and violett and the first findings of this fungus was named provisionally "Cortinarius limacella" because of the ressamblance of a Limacella species. I was lucky enough to find such a collection and found it to be completely fertil and the spores were hyalin!

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

here is what I thought was a nice, potentially nameable, collection of a Mycena species on woodchip very near where I work; when I got the specimens (at different stages of development) back home I was surprised to find that not a single spore was produced - there were no fertile basidia

Three weeks ago I recieved a picture from a friend of a fungus that was collected and baptisted in the field as Mycena floridula. After microscopical examination it turned out to be a steril collection a Psathyrella prona s.l. ;-)
I also had steril Psathyrella pygmaea and P. corrugis yet. And the picture of Chris also shows a Psathyrella species. K.v.WAVEREBN also writes about the occurence of steril species, so this phenomenon should all in all not be too rare in this genus.

best regards,
Andreas

[Chris Yeates]

that is very interesting Andreas . . .

at least my photograph has one identifiable species - Albugo candida is on the Cardamine hirsuta at the right hand side!

best wishes

Chris