Lepiota confirmation request

[watsthat]

I would greatly appreciate comments on this fungus found in July last year. The scaly cap directed me to Lepiota but there is no sign of a ring and the gills seem to distant.





Cheers

Pete

[Chris Yeates]

hi Pete

not a Lepiota which should have free gills and white (i.e. unpigmented) spores

it looks rather like an Agrocybe to me; Agrocybe dura has this habit of the cap cracking like this, as does the somewhat similar Agrocybe praecox (which as its scientific name implies is a rather early fruiter) - though I could be proved wrong - there is no sign of veil remnants on the stem for example. . .

cheers

Chris

[kiltoncomp]

could this be an Inocybe?? with the pale edge to the gills and fibrous looking cap it could be a possibility??

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by kiltoncomp

could this be an Inocybe?? with the pale edge to the gills and fibrous looking cap it could be a possibility??

Hi kc

I suspect that the areolate splitting of the cap implies that it has a cellular cuticle; I agree that Inocybe can have a scaly cap, but the cap structure and therefore the form of the scales is rather different, this isn't really fibrous in the Inocybe sense - but that's just my opinion

I'm sure Andreas will sort this one out!

best wishes

Chris

[mollisia]

Hallo,

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

I'm sure Andreas will sort this one out!

I feel being put under pressure here

Agrocybe may be a good idea, but neither praecox nor dura, which both should have at least some rests of a ringlike structure. If Agrocybe, I would say it is A. pediades-semiorbicularis s.l. or even A. vervacti. The scaly surface of the cap is surely due to weather conditions and no feature of the species.
My other suggestion what it might be is Panaeolus foenisecii.

best regards,
Andreas

[watsthat]

Thanks for all the replies;
This may or may not cloud the issue.
Whilst continuing through my pics from last year, I came across the one shown below. It was found close to the above specimen and I had assumed it to be a different species. However; if you ignore the cap, it is very similar. I fear we may be in "little brown job" territory but what do you think?





Cheers

Pete

[mollisia]

Hi,

Panaeolus foenisecii.

best regards,
Andreas

[Chris Yeates]

yes

without doubt that's what it is - well done spotting it from such an atypical specimen . . . and a warning to all that in unsuitable weather conditions fruitbodies can do some strange things;

we bang on about microscopic features and I know that a lot of people without access to a microscope grumble at us for it ; but a glance at the spores of this would have solved the conundrum instantly - it's the same with insects - you often need to examine the 'sexy bits' of an organism - that's where they display their significant differences

Chris