Psathyrella keys, reference books?

[SheffieldLass]

I'm finding quite a few different Psathyrella at the moment, but am struggling with the key in Funga Nordica which is the only one I have (not quite true, I also have one for the red gill edged ones, only I'm not finding those ... ). I end up going round and round in circles, and half the time I can't work out what the difference is meant to be between certain species ... Is there a good reference book on them?

It looks as if they are another group that is under upheaval as genetic studies are carried out, though ....

By the way, with those other little brown jobs, Galerina, I'm finding the David Savage synoptic key actually quite good. I'm pinning down quite a few these days, when combined with backup from Funga Nordica and other resources ... most were eluding me, now I'm getting some ids that I feel confident with ....

cheers
Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

I'm finding quite a few different Psathyrella at the moment, but am struggling with the key in Funga Nordica which is the only one I have (not quite true, I also have one for the red gill edged ones, only I'm not finding those ... ). I end up going round and round in circles, and half the time I can't work out what the difference is meant to be between certain species ... Is there a good reference book on them?

It looks as if they are another group that is under upheaval as genetic studies are carried out, though ....

By the way, with those other little brown jobs, Galerina, I'm finding the David Savage synoptic key actually quite good. I'm pinning down quite a few these days, when combined with backup from Funga Nordica and other resources ... most were eluding me, now I'm getting some ids that I feel confident with ....

cheers
Melanie

take care with the synoptic key Melanie - they're not all there . . .

with regards to Psathyrella I have a copy of Kits van Waveren's 1985 The Dutch, French and British Species of Psathyrella (300 pages of serious stuff); my problem is that I try to look at too many groups, and if I'm honest I never really got to grips with the genus

I think I have the supplement as well (somewhere) anyway, they're yours if you want them - PM me your address and I'll post them off to you

best

Chris

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

take care with the synoptic key Melanie - they're not all there . . .


best

Chris

Well those must be the ones that I can't id then, because they are missing ...

Melanie

[ron1863]

I don;t know if this is any help to you Mel:

http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/plant_sc...lla_report.pdf

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

take care with the synoptic key Melanie - they're not all there . . .

with regards to Psathyrella I have a copy of Kits van Waveren's 1985 The Dutch, French and British Species of Psathyrella (300 pages of serious stuff); my problem is that I try to look at too many groups, and if I'm honest I never really got to grips with the genus

I think I have the supplement as well (somewhere) anyway, they're yours if you want them - PM me your address and I'll post them off to you

best

Chris

That is very generous of you, Chris, very greatly appreciated .

Back to those Galerina, G vittiformis is the most comon one I'm finding here, and I keep doubting the id until I remember that our very common one is the 2 spored form, with the bigger spores, not the 4 spored ones, it keeps catching me out . Seems that it is the reverse on the continent. And the synoptic key didn't work too well for G calyptrata that is true, but with the distinctive spores well it wasn't too difficult with Funga nordica. What I find is that the key helps to narrow down the possibilities even if it doesn't always quite get to the exact one.

calyptrate spores

cheers
Melanie

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by ron1863

I don;t know if this is any help to you Mel:

http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/plant_sc...lla_report.pdf

Thanks Ron. She makes some useful pointers, and also echoes Chris's concerns about the decline of taxonomy ... seems Australia has similar problems as here ... Also makes me realise that I should be recording things systematically like ground disturbance etc. I'm just about to add onto my own database a section for me to fill in with details of land management, grazing types, grazing levels etc, and so I will also include a bit about ground disturbance.

Slightly aside here, I notice that there is going to be some tree thinning this winter in the coniferous area that I find particularly good for fungi ... I'm wondering just what sort of impact this will have on the fungi, from the disturbance/soil compaction in cutting, and then from opening up the canopy and getting more ground cover. I'll only have about a year's worth of records before they do the work, probably not enough to get a good base-line to compare with. I do very occasionally attempt to look in the areas of very dense bramble, but have found very little there. I find most fungi in the areas that are under dense tree canopy with not much ground cover, but that may be because it is much easier to get in and see what is there. And also adjacent to paths where the ground cover is thinner - though that could be because I spend more time walking on paths than off-path ...

Melanie