One from the Gower for ID, please

[solus]

It seems I can't find a fungus these days without having to ask for help in identifying it. I thought I knew some with a little bit of confidence but then up something pops in an unfamiliar habitat and ....

On Tuesday we visited a relative holidaying on the Gower peninsula in South Wales and ended up walking on Oxwich Bay NNR, "out" along the beach and "back" behind the dunes. I managed to find only one species of fungus which, had I seen it in the more familiar surroundings of a Cotswold Beechwood I would have had no hesitation in identifying as Clitocybe nebularis. There were several, in a wide-ish loose semi-circle, in short (horse, rabbit & possibly deer) grazed grass by a grass pathway, sandy soil, with bracken and bramble scrub, just inland from the marram-grassed sand dunes. The more open specimens were paler and largely slug-eaten, the smaller emerging ones darker with browner caps. The gills were crowded, a few forked, whitish in colour, but not really as decurrent as I would have expected with a Clitocybe; the stipe much the same colour as the cap with longitudinal brown fibres and had a swollen base where it grew from the soil. The flesh of the cap was thick and white and didn't seem to be discoloured where the slugs had nibbled and the smell seemed very strong and "mushroomy" (although I am very bad at recognising smells!) There were oak and birch trees in the distance but not close to the area these were growing in.

Any ideas please, 'cos I'm getting more and more confused and more stupid with everything I find!

[ManwithNoname]

If you will find unusual specimens it's no wonder you can't identify them.

It isn't Clitocybe nebularis and I think most people will be struggling to put a name to this.

The only thing that springs to mind is Lepista panaeola, which is a grassland species and is not at all common. It also seems to be quite variable in appearance but that would be my best guess, though I'd be interested to hear other people's suggestions.

[fairplay]

I would certainly agree with Lepista, but am totally unfamiliar with L.panaeola (shhh .... I've never even heard of it !)

Neil.

[ManwithNoname]

Here's a photo of a confirmed Lepista panaeola.



As I say, it is quite variable in appearance. Lepista luscina is the former name. The darker spots on the cap are characteristic.

[solus]

Originally Posted by ManwithNoname

If you will find unusual specimens it's no wonder you can't identify them.

Oooo-er!

I wish I'd brought one back with me now! I've had a look on Bioimages which says of L. panaeola: "A pale pinkish-brown toadstool with no smell, that commonly grows in fairy rings on downland, in frondose woodland and gardens but always on calcareous soil. The cap is often spotted." Mine definitely had a strong smell which I thought was mushroomy but could easily have been something else I didn't recognise but they were in a sort of (part) "fairy ring" and the sandy soil would certainly have been calcareous so two out of three from that...

Here's my only other photo of two in situ before I picked the right hand one for the gill shot. No cap spots on that one?

[NickCantle]

Well, throw the books at me all you want but I reckon this is a Melanoleuca! Woody stipe, almost eccentric pileus (last image, right specimen) and that characteristic umbonate top!

**Ducks under table!**

Nick

[ManwithNoname]

Originally Posted by NickCantle

Well, throw the books at me all you want but I reckon this is a Melanoleuca! Woody stipe, almost eccentric pileus (last image, right specimen) and that characteristic umbonate top!

**Ducks under table!**

Nick

The eccentric cap isn't typical for Melanoleuca as a genus, although the umbo is characteristic in some species, but not limited to that genus. However, typically species of Melanoleuca have a tricholomatoid stature, which would suggest typically that they have emarginate gills e.g. with a notch by the stem, unlike the specimens in the photo... but some species don't.

So they don't have a typical Melanoleuca-like appearance, but that's not to say they aren't Melanoleuca. But they are not any species of Melanoleuca I have seen. So you'd need to take your case a little further Nick.

[ManwithNoname]

Originally Posted by solus

I wish I'd brought one back with me now!

Yes, a spore print would have helped - pinkish for Lepista panaeola.

Originally Posted by solus

"A pale pinkish-brown toadstool with no smell, that commonly grows in fairy rings on downland, in frondose woodland and gardens but always on calcareous soil. The cap is often spotted." Mine definitely had a strong smell which I thought was mushroomy but could easily have been something else

Lepista panaeola is very variable and the smell can range from indistinct to meally to fruity... so take your pick.

[NickCantle]

Originally Posted by ManwithNoname

The eccentric cap isn't typical for Melanoleuca as a genus, although the umbo is characteristic in some species, but not limited to that genus. However, typically species of Melanoleuca have a tricholomatoid stature, which would suggest typically that they have emarginate gills e.g. with a notch by the stem, unlike the specimens in the photo... but some species don't.

So they don't have a typical Melanoleuca-like appearance, but that's not to say they aren't Melanoleuca. But they are not any species of Melanoleuca I have seen. So you'd need to take your case a little further Nick.

I'm staying under the table

Point made very eloquently there MWNN and all information read and taken in. You can buy all of the mycological books in the world, own the most amazing microscope possible, but as you so often show, you just cannot buy field experience.

Cheers mate

Nick