Yet more ID help needed, please.

[solus]

You know how it is - a nice, distinctive-looking fungus photographed - should be easy to identify. Only it isn't.

Both of these were in Cotswold limestone Beechwood - the first growing out of an old fallen log and the second apparently from the ground amongst the leaf litter.

Please can anyone help with identification? Thanks.

[Angelo_Xanthi]

I'd say the first ones could be Clitocybe sp., possibly C. flaccida if the gills are not as white as they look in the photo, but that's out of the question if they were growing on wood, which seems rather unlikely for what I see! Were they coming out of a hollow perhaps? If so, there might be soil in it, which could change the situation.

The last ones could be Coprinus silvaticus in their dry state, as the colour of the cap seems beige more or less. The cap is darker when it's damp (hygrophany). If I'm right, the gills should have gone through red to black by now.

[solus]

Thanks Angelo. From what I could find by poking about with my fingers, the first ones were growing out of that very dead bit of wood you can see sticking out at the right hand edge of the picture. I haven't been able to return to the site since I took the photographs last Saturday so have no idea how the others developed.
Neither species are in my reference book (Jordan)

[solus]

As I can't edit the last post, I'll add this one.
I have now found C. flaccida in Jordan under Lepista flaccida - having looked at lots of pics on Google it does seem to fit: that wood was very rotten so perhaps there was a soil pocket there after all! The other thing that confused me somewhat was that this species is more often found in conifer woods, "less frequently" in broadleaved ones where these were growing. Having been a birder for many years, I can't quite shake off the "It's much more likely to be a common species than a rarity" which just doesn't seem to apply so much in the fungus world!

According to Phillips, Coprinus silvaticus appears to grow in N America and not Europe/UK?

Help! I've given myself a headache!

[solus]

Right - I've just had another trawl through the Gallery and one of GerryNick's photos matches the second of mine - he's identified it as Coprinus impatiens which is good enough for me!

I'm pretty convinced now, too, that the first is Tawny Funnel Cap, Lepista flaccida.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions folks!

[Angelo_Xanthi]

First of all I must apologize for calling it a Clitocybe instead of Lepista (though Clitocybe is still acceptable). I was surprised to see I had called it that. Sorry I became a source of confusion!

Nowadays L. inversa and L. flaccida are considered by many authors the same species. Others retain the distinction and say that L. inversa grows with conifers, whereas L. flaccida with hardwoods.

Well done with the Coprinus, Solus! Now that you 've said it, I agree with you on C. impatiens. Somehow it didn't occur to me at the time, but the ones in your photo fit much more an impatiens than a silvaticus. It's very probably a C. impatiens then.

Coprinus silvaticus is probably much rarer, but it does grow in Europe too (Breitenbach & Kranzlin, "Fungi of Switzerland", vol. 3, page 250).