A couple of Mycena species for ID help

[RobSutton]

First was growing on a well rotten trunk of Larch:


I thought it looked like Mycena arcangeliana except for the fact that it was growing on Larch instead of the usual Beech or Ash that I find it on.

Spores and Cheilocystidia seemed consistent with M.arcangeliana:





Is this likely to be a correct ID or is there something else I've missed which is similar growing on Conifers?

The second was growing on deciduous twig debris amongst beech litter:


The cap was about 1.5cm diameter with distinctly pinkish gills, no stem or cap cystidia. Spores about 6.2-7.7 x 4.2-5.3µ (Q 1.3-1.5):



Cheilocystidia warty, clavate but seemed to be of two sizes:



Probably something really obvious but I'm struggling to get an answer I'm happy with

[RobSutton]

Could the second one also be Mycena arcangeliana - with slightly smaller spores?

[flaxton]

Rob
The first I would agree is M arcangeliana it can be found on conifer occasionally and as you say it looks right and the microscopic details are fine.

The second one is more of a problem. Macroscopically it looks like M metata which is basically a slightly pinker version of M filopes. The gills (and cap) can can take on a pink tinge. The cheilocystidia look OK (they should be mostly with a long neck

unlike filopes which most have short or no neck

). Although yours have not been teased out from the context I still think so far so good

Unfortunately the spores are wrong

Some books do say that M arcangeliana can have pink tinge to the gills and the cheilo and spores would fit for that so it could be but to me it just doesn't look right

Mal

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by flaxton

Rob
The first I would agree is M arcangeliana it can be found on conifer occasionally and as you say it looks right and the microscopic details are fine.

The second one is more of a problem. Macroscopically it looks like M metata which is basically a slightly pinker version of M filopes. The gills (and cap) can can take on a pink tinge. The cheilocystidia look OK (they should be mostly with a long neck

unlike filopes which most have short or no neck

). Although yours have not been teased out from the context I still think so far so good

Unfortunately the spores are wrong

Some books do say that M arcangeliana can have pink tinge to the gills and the cheilo and spores would fit for that so it could be but to me it just doesn't look right

Mal

Thanks Mal - this is the problem I was having, I thought I'd got the hang of arcangeliana and it didn't look like the ones I was seeing. One thing I have learnt is I need to get better at getting those cystidia out

[Fungalpunk]

Mycena arcangeliana - another species people seem happy to point to in the field and name just like that - aaaghhh - what am I missing here. I just can't get to grips with this one. OK its common and after microscopy can be nailed but am I missing something in the field.

Fungalpunk/OMD - the more you know the smaller your field lists become - boo hiss

[fairplay]

Hee hee, welcome to the club.

Neil.

[flaxton]

Dave
It depends on how keen you are to name in the field. I think I said elsewhere with Mycena there are a few colourful ones there are a group that (usually) bleed from the cap or stem, ones with a different coloured edge to the gills and then there are the rest. Very few of "the rest" can be identified with certainty in the field. Looking like this photo with a pale cap and dark stem growing in a cluster it is liable to be M arcangeliana but it could be others such as M galopus. Looking at a recent photo on the front of the Forayer magazine it might be M olida although I would have id'd that as M arcangeliana as well
In this case we have the microscopy to back it up.

Mal

[Fungalpunk]

Thanks Neil - the anti-depressants are now being taken and the membership card renewed ha, ha.

Flaxton - cheers and it is as I suspected but didn't want to admit to - hey ho. There are a few as you say that can be named but so many that can't and so we come to microscopy which of course needs literature. Any suggestions on a good book to tackle the mycena brigade and also how about the Russulas - I seem to be losing the plot with these very quickly. You lead a walk, you come across a nice bright specimen, the eyes are on you and all you can do is say well - 'it's one of (place own number here)'. All good fun but bloody frustrating as we all know. I do enjoy the microscopy side but again time is the tinker - 24 hour days - what a bad idea!

Fungalpunk Dave

[flaxton]

Dave
Geoffrey Kibby's "The Genus Russula" is a relatively cheap but excellent book for (surprise surprise) Russula.
But for Mycena it has to be either FOS or Funga Nordica

Mal

[Fungalpunk]

Cheers mate and will seek out the Russula book - more fool me ha, ha - I just can't help it.

Thanks for the key too - excellent assistance.

Fungalpunk Dave