Flammulaster, Phaeomarasmius or ... ?

[SheffieldLass]

Found yesterday on birch twig on the ground. They look as if they should be easy, so maybe I'm missing something obvious ...

Cap diameter 6 and 9mm, so small jobbies ... obviously rather tufted on cap and stipe.



I presume the dark bits in the gill squash are pleurocystidia, they seem to be very heavily pigmented. Not seen any quite like that before ...

gill squash 10x, 40x

Cheilocystidia, capitate, typically 22-33um long, 5-7.6um dia heads.

cheilocystidia

Spores brownish with oil guttules. No obvious pores. 7.4-8.8 x 3.7-4.6um Qav= 1.9 Basidia 4 spored. Clamps abundant in cap, stipe.

spores

My general key took me to Phaeomarasmius and Flammulaster, but only F limulatus seemed close, but if those dark pigmented bits are pleurocystidia then it can't be. So next thought was a Pholiota and as some of those have deformed pleurocystida entirely filled with pigment I think I might be getting closer ... but not found anything yet that quite seems to fit, particularly as these were small and most Pholiota are large ...

Any ideas?

cheers
Melanie

[SheffieldLass]

I'm now wondering whether it is Pholiota tuberculosa. Fits very well except for those pigmented pleurocystidia, if that is what they are. According to FAN pleurocystidia are absent ...

Melanie

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

I'm now wondering whether it is Pholiota tuberculosa. Fits very well except for those pigmented pleurocystidia, if that is what they are. According to FAN pleurocystidia are absent ...

Melanie

Hi Melanie,

Just had a quick look my Pholiota book, 2001- Jan Holec-Libri Botanico vol 20, and I think your collection does look as if it is P. tuberculosa Fb size fits, cheilo shape fits, the spores are a bit wider at 5.5 but yours are within the range. Birch as a host is known but it prefers Prunus avium in the UK according to the checklist. Holec says Tilia, Quercus & Fagus. I think you have a good record there.

Andy

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

I'm now wondering whether it is Pholiota tuberculosa. Fits very well except for those pigmented pleurocystidia, if that is what they are. According to FAN pleurocystidia are absent ...

Melanie

Moser cites Lange's Flora Agaricina Danica plate 108A - I have the 2 volume Italian reprint - it shows a rather darker agaric with a distinctive ring and a stipe considerably darker below that ring + obovoid to pyriform cystidia . . . your "dark bits" look much longer

interesting find though . . .

best

Chris

[BROCSMAN]

Thought you might be interested in this Yves Deneyer photo of P. tuberculosa.

[mollisia]

Hello,

the foto looks macroscopically very good for Ph. tuberculosa, but the problem are those cystidia. If the dark "things" really are cystidia. To me they look like Chrysocystidia, and the complex around Ph. tuberculosa-curvipes has only cheilocystidia! No pleurocystidia neither chrysocystidia.
So perhaps you should verify if those elements are cystidia and whether they are chrysocystidia. If you have Patentblau V (patent blue) it would be best. You can also check with KOH, then the content of those cystidia should be more yellow then all other tissue.

If those elements are pleuro- or even pleurochrysocystidia, Ph. tuberculsa-curvipes-lucifera are definitely out of the game ....

best regards,
Andreas

[SheffieldLass]

I have lactophenol cotton blue at hand, but not patent blue V ... will that work ok? it is one that gets mentioned as staining chrysocystidia dark blue.

I think I'll also try to refind the branch as it looked as if it might be producing a few more, I'm out that way this evening, weather permitting, to listen for nightjar ... I should be able to locate it, somewhere between the dead sheep carcass, green woodpecker nesting hole and spot where Xerocomus subtormentosus has grown ...

Melanie