Black entoloma

[SheffieldLass]

Found yesterday, a glossy black entoloma (ages dark brown) with gills dirty brownish even when young, very close. Cap not hygrophanous. Group of four under Scots Pine in grass and pine litter at shady path edge in a conifer plantation. Cap sizes 17-22mm dia. The fungus cap, stem are quite robust.
Smell strong, especially when cut, mealy-bed bugs.
Spores isodiametrical-subisodiametrical, 6.3-7.1 x 5.3-6.1um, spore print cream-pink.
Clamp connections - basidia, gill trama, pileipellis.
No obvious cheilocystidia. Gill trama short, inflated, to 20um width, 120um long.

Certainly no Ulmus nearby, and I'm pretty sure no Rosaceae either. Bramble very probably.

I've been through all the entoloma keys I have and can't place it. Any ideas?





Melanie

[kiltoncomp]

i'm not very good with these, but Entoloma nitidum looks to be a close match??,

Brian.

[FungiJohn]

A good shout too Brian.

There's several blue / black entoloma's and most require a lot of work to determine ID.

Les and I found Entoloma nitidum at Thorpe Salvin 2 weeks ago.

John

[kiltoncomp]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

A good shout too Brian.

There's several blue / black entoloma's and most require a lot of work to determine ID.

Les and I found Entoloma nitidum at Thorpe Salvin 2 weeks ago.

John

i was basing my "guess" on the spore sizes and colours, which seem a close match to Melanies description, along with the general look of the fungi,
most of the other blue/black ones dont seem as good a match to me, but as i said im not too good with Entoloma (and a lot of others besides)

Brian.

[KeenTeen17]

what about something from the Leptonia section of Entoloma? the gills looks right.

[SheffieldLass]

Thanks Brian

That was the closest I'd found, but the 'distinct yellow tinge' near the base, and weak smell, and gills at first white-pink, L<25 in the Funga Nordica description didn't quite fit, but I've just checked it in FAN and they say yellow or white at the base ... well it has white, and L28-32, and also their description as strongly shining, I think as good as clinch it, well the nearest I'm going to get ... And maybe I've just got a very good sense of smell ... must be all the zinc I've been supplementing with recently.

It is very attractive - lovely shape, little pointed umbo, lovely glossy black, a real witch's toadstool. A clean pink to the gills would have made it perfect!

Melanie

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

what about something from the Leptonia section of Entoloma? the gills looks right.

Hi KT
I wondered about a couple in that section, but dismissed them as the caps are generally 'rougher', and I think there was also something to do with the microscopic details, possibly they don't have clamps, or they have prominent cheilocystidia ... But there are so many in the Entoloma it certainly makes them tricky. I think Brian's suggestion, is correct .. it forced me to check out FAN, which I hadn't looked at for that one.

Cheers

Melanie

[kiltoncomp]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Thanks Brian

That was the closest I'd found, but the 'distinct yellow tinge' near the base, and weak smell, and gills at first white-pink, L<25 in the Funga Nordica description didn't quite fit, but I've just checked it in FAN and they say yellow or white at the base ... well it has white, and L28-32, and also their description as strongly shining, I think as good as clinch it, well the nearest I'm going to get ... And maybe I've just got a very good sense of smell ... must be all the zinc I've been supplementing with recently.

It is very attractive - lovely shape, little pointed umbo, lovely glossy black, a real witch's toadstool. A clean pink to the gills would have made it perfect!

Melanie

Hi Melanie,
F.O.S gives the stipe as blue to blue grey & sometimes longitudinally whitish fibrillose, base white-tormentose & sometimes with yellow tones,And the lamellae as whitish when young soon pink to pink brown, L= 25-35 , I= 1-5, notched,adnate,
plus the spore etc measurements seem to be pretty close,

as John says your images of the spores etc are really good, (i'm still struggling to find any spores under the scope, let alone get images like yours ah well, practice makes perfect as they say,

Brian.

[mollisia]

Hallo,

no,no, this is for sure not Entoloma nitidum, neither is it any of the blue Entolomas at all. In fact it isn't blue, is it? E. nitidum is besides that a species from acid Picea forests, often near bogs, in mountainous areas (at least that's the ecology through continental Europe ...).

I have no literature at hand at the moment to verify the spores (which seem quite small in your collection!), but macroscopically I would compare this with Entoloma vernum.

best regards,
Andreas

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by mollisia

Hallo,

no,no, this is for sure not Entoloma nitidum, neither is it any of the blue Entolomas at all. In fact it isn't blue, is it? E. nitidum is besides that a species from acid Picea forests, often near bogs, in mountainous areas (at least that's the ecology through continental Europe ...).

I have no literature at hand at the moment to verify the spores (which seem quite small in your collection!), but macroscopically I would compare this with Entoloma vernum.

best regards,
Andreas

No it isn't blue, more like ink black ... violaceous black, aging brownish. But E vernum doesn't see quite right either .... this one is definitely not hygrophanous, no striations, it is now dried and is jet black. And this one had a very definite, strong smell, though it has lessened some as it has dried. But gill colour is right. But spores as you say of mine are on the small side. I did think the pileipellis had encrusted pigment as well as intracellular, which is right for E vernum, and not E nitidum .... And season is right for E vernum.


Habitat seems to be ok for E nitidum, having checked it on the British Basidiochecklist .. "On soil, often in boggy areas in coniferous or mixed coniferous and deciduous woodland. Rarely reported and less often collected but apparently widespread. Mostly reported from northern areas, although recorded as far south as East Sussex (Ashdown Forest)." The area it is in is upland area, and coniferous and the path is on a flush, almost always wet.

But habitat is probably also right for E vernum "Habitat: On soil, in coniferous woodland, or amongst grass in unimproved grassland, and on heathland. Rarely reported but apparently widespread."

So it looks as if I'm still scratching my head on this one ...

Melanie