Stropharia species with blue-green colouration

[Chris Yeates]

there has recently been some discussion on WAB - I suspect it occurs every year - about the identity of these fungi; the discussion is generally along the lines of is it Stropharia aeruginosa or is it S. caerulea (- S. cyanea)?

this is just a reminder that there is another fungus in this country which can resemble these (particularly the latter)

in recent days on the lawn here (probably as old as the house, therefore around 160 years old, and moss-rich I'm glad to say) one of these fungi has put in the first appearance I have ever noted (so first time in well over a dozen years)

a quick shot when late for the bus - growing in grass with sparse creeping buttercup and the moss Rhytidiadelphus sqarrosus :


and shots taken in more controlled conditions indoors tonight:


so while the colour was coming off the cap (parrot waxcap style) there was still a strong colouration on the stem, and a very distinct ring

to be absolutely certain with these fellows you need to check the gill edge and look at the type of specialised cells (called cheilocystidia); if a lot of these have yellowish contents and pinched out ends (a bit like the teats on babies' bottles), then you have got Stropharia caerulea; here's one I prepared earlier :

those cystidia with yellowish contents are called chrysocystidia and their presence or absence is often very important in identifying a fungus

the gill-edge cystidia for my fungus were neither chrysocystidia nor had the shape of those of Stropharia caerulea then; they were also not like the ones you encounter with S. aeruginosa, which tend to be irregularly club-shaped - these were capitate:


i.e. with distinct 'heads'; I did manage to find a single chrysocystidium:


which I think had wondered in from the gill-face

this is Stropharia pseudocyanea and the damp grassland habitat is a very good further pointer to it not being one of the other two (though these are growing very close to a flower bed in a garden!) I always treat habitat as an identifying character with a bit of caution in these cases

as a final comment, I suspect that at least one of the images in the A to Z, under the heading Stropharia caerulea could possibly actually be this fungus . . .

over and out

Chris

[solus]

I hope you don't think I'm hi-jacking your thread Chris, but I came across a Stropharia sp yesterday and was wondering of they might be S. pseudocyanea. I do know that without microscopic examination I'll never know for sure but ...

They were growing in rough grass at the edge of a public golf course on common land below Painswick Beacon in Gloucestershire (so on limestone) and there were both Beech and Scots Pine trees nearby. The caps were very viscid but some of the wetness may have been due to quite a lot of recent rain, although it hadn't actually rained for several hours. The mist/cloud had only lifted a bit by mid afternoon so everything up there was still very wet. As you can see there was not a great deal of blue colour at all, most obvious in the broken stipe.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by solus

I hope you don't think I'm hi-jacking your thread Chris, but I came across a Stropharia sp yesterday and was wondering of they might be S. pseudocyanea. I do know that without microscopic examination I'll never know for sure but ... . . .

hi

you're not hijacking anything and I think that you are pretty much 100% safe with calling this collection pseudocyanea - the habitat is spot on and the rather fragile stem in the long grass is typical - my collection in shorter grass had a relatively robust stem which was one of the factors which made me go through the whole rigmarole outlined above to be sure

my intention was not to say that if you haven't got a microscope you can't ever name these things, because you often can be pretty certain if other factors fall into place

best

Chris

[mollisia]

Hello,

C. pseudocyanea has another character that allows an identification just in the field (if it is not too cold): It smells like pepper. All my collections up to now had this unusual smell, like pepper or Asarum europaeum. I would like to know, whether you make the same observation.
I know only two other fungi which have the same smell: Cortinarius meinhardii and Tricholoma atrosquamosum.

best regards,
Andreas

[solus]

Sorry Andreas, I don't think I smelled mine and if I did I don't remember - I'm hopeless at smells, anyway.

However, if we go for a walk in the same place again and if we find any more (and if it ever stops raining!) I'll make sure I have a good sniff.


Thanks, Chris!

[Ditiola]

Hi
I collected a Stropharia today which I am sure is S.caerulea, as it has the pointy cystidia like a babies bottle, and a concolorous gill edge, However many of the cytidia have extended curley points not unlike pigs tails, Is this a common occurence? I tried to download some photos, but the system is being difficult!

Peter

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

Hi
I collected a Stropharia today which I am sure is S.caerulea, as it has the pointy cystidia like a babies bottle, and a concolorous gill edge, However many of the cytidia have extended curley points not unlike pigs tails, Is this a common occurence? I tried to download some photos, but the system is being difficult!

Peter

Hi Peter, I found Stropharia caerulea 27-10-2009, I was so pleased as they were my first.
Image 1. show's what I think you are talking about when you mention pig tails.. (I did actually see a few more which would have shown this better)

Image 2. is also Stropharia caerulea and was found at the same time but had started to turn yellow, I believe this happens with age.

Image 3. Is of Stropharia aeruginosa, these were incredibly slimy and the slime was dripping on to the ground. Found under young oak on grass and were also a first for me. (06-11-2009)

1. 2. 3.

[flaxton]

It's a great photo Shirley but the pig tails they are talking about are on the cystidia and even with my lasered eyes I can't see that well.

Mal

[Ditiola]

I have now managed to download the photo's









The first one is the normal cystidia of S.caerulea and the others show the 'Pigs Tail' extention, anyone know if this is normal?

Peter