Inocybe

[flaxton]

I came across a small group of "Mycena" in a pine wood. A quick look at the white gills umbonate caps in the older specimens had me thinking about M galericulata but the stem had twisted striations around it so maybe M vitilis.
A quick look under the microscope to sort it out. No cheilocystidia that I could make out. and then I saw some spores At first I thought I must have picked them up from a contaminated slide or mounting slide. No a spore print proved they were the nodulose spores of Inocybe.
Any thoughts as to which one


Mal

[Chris Yeates]

hi Mal

that is one of the most un-Inocybe-y Inocybes I have ever seen

I would like to see a shot of basidia with spores attached

cheers

Chris

[flaxton]

Chris
Thats why I was sure it was a Mycena.
Not the best photo of the basidia but you can see the somewhat unusual "Mycena" spores

Mal
Ps I will try again in the morning for a better shot of the basidia

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by flaxton

Chris
Thats why I was sure it was a Mycena.
Not the best photo of the basidia but you can see the somewhat unusual "Mycena" spores

Mal
Ps I will try again in the morning for a better shot of the basidia

those look like Entoloma spores to me . . . which makes more sense

C

[Chris Yeates]

in fact they look rather like Entoloma conferendum spores . . .



C

[flaxton]

When I got up this morning the gills had changed to a nice pink and before I read your post (honest) I came to the conclusion it could be E conferendum.

Many thanks Chris

Mal

[SheffieldLass]

I nearly posted that too last night, then thought I might end up with egg on my face ... I'm a bit prone to mistake Inocybe nodulose spores for Entoloma , but I'm learning ....

Your fungus does look quite pale, from your photo I'd not have immediately thought of E conferendum, but maybe it has a woodland pallor . Mine are usually out in full sun.

But also to say that I find that Entoloma spores get everywhere even when the fungus I'm checking hasn't been anywhere near one . They seem to like to contaminate my slides, even managed to get into my water dropper that I use when I make a squash . Popped up on some rust micros that came from my garden where I haven't yet found Entoloma. But maybe I notice them because they are distinctive. Alien oval nondescript spores and conidia I find I can ignore quite easily

Melanie