LBMs

[waxcap]

These are very common on grazed land in the New Forest. Caps around 7mm. Greyish gills, 5cm tall.



I'm assuming it's a Panaeolus sp.

Which one though?

Another LBM about the same size with greyish/purplish distant gills on grassland.



If there's not enough to go on I'll go back and try harder.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by waxcap

These are very common on grazed land in the New Forest. Caps around 7mm. Greyish gills, 5cm tall.



I'm assuming it's a Panaeolus sp.

Which one though?

most probably Panaeolus acuminatus = P. rickenii; but I'd want to do the microscopy to be sure

Chris

[waxcap]

many thanks Chris

[waxcap]

I think the second one is Laccaria laccata. I found another today and took more photos. There was a yellowish one nearby with yellowish gills growing in a bog. I put it at the end of the photos. I'm thinking it's another Laccaria.

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by waxcap

I think the second one is Laccaria laccata.

Unfortunately you can't guess at these little brown mushrooms. You need spore colour and full microscopic details. I can say that this definitely isn't Laccaria (which a spore print would quickly have ruled out because it will be dark spored and Laccaria has white spores), and neither is it Naucoria scolecina, as suggested for the copy of the image posted in the Gallery.

I doubt it is a Naucoria at all. But that's about as far as I can go. Options include one of the small Hypholoma species that grow in damp mossy habitats, or as an outside chance, a Galerina, though the lack of a striate cap makes me think this unlikely. But you won't be able to put a name to this without microscopic characters.

Your darker brown one, with patches of dark spores visible on the gills, may be Hypholoma udum, but would also need microscopy to confirm it for sure.

Ken

[waxcap]

I appreciate your input Ken. I'll stop guessing then

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by waxcap

I appreciate your input Ken. I'll stop guessing then

You are free to guess, of course. I should have said that guessing doesn't get you any nearer a correct identification.

Naucoria scolecina is a darker brown colour (described by Roger Phillips as umber brown to date brown), and even when dried out it would not have yellowish tones. Don't forget that photographs on other websites may just as easily be incorrectly labelled, unless they have been properly identified from spore print and microscopy.

Gill spacing on your other photo (not posted here) is actually just about right for something like Hypholoma elongatum, but there are other similar species and I am not familiar enough with them to be able narrow down the options.

Going by the very scientific process of flicking through the pictures in Fungi Europaei 13, Hypholoma polytrichi is another option for your darker brown specimen. The image below is almost identical to the photo on page 498 of H. polytrichi. But that is only a guess, without microscopic characters.



Ken

[waxcap]

Thanks again Ken. I've asked my wife for the first 15 volumes of "Fungi Europaei" for Christmas. I'll probably just get socks again though

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by waxcap

Thanks again Ken. I've asked my wife for the first 15 volumes of "Fungi Europaei" for Christmas. I'll probably just get socks again though

sell a kidney . . .

C

[waxcap]

Believe me Chris - when you are as bad as I am at identifying fungi - you need both kidneys!