Saturday, 04 February 2012

Verdigris Navel

Facts
Common Name: 
Verdigris Navel
Scientific Name: 
Arrhenia chlorocyanea
Also Known As: 
Omphalina chlorocyanea
Cap Diameter (mm): 
6-20
Stem Height (mm): 
18-25
Stem Diameter (mm): 
1-3
Information
Description: 

A small dark grey heathland agaric with funnel-shaped cap and broad decurrent gills, favouring sandy soil. Cap: At first plano-convex with small papilla, soon applanate with depressed centre, finally subinfundibuliform; weakly hygrophanous; blue-grey incrusted melanized pigment becoming more pallid grey-green at the broadly sulcate margin. Gills: Decurrent, distant and broad, pale grey-blue Stem: Cylindrical tapering, more or less concolourous, darker blue-grey below apex with base covered in white down. Flesh: very thin, concolorous Spores: White and inamyloid

Distribution: 

Known from Bedfordshire, Hampshire, Norfolk, Surrey and West Kent. Reported from North Lincolnshire and Shropshire in the late nineteeth century but unsubstantiated with voucher material.

Habitat: 

Rare, on sandy soil amongst Polytrichum mosses and Cladonia lichens; singly or small trooping groups.

Additional Notes: 

Conservation Status: Rare (Red Data List, ed. 1); Vulnerable / D2 (Red Data List, ed. 2) Recent find: Found at Minley, Hampshire on 10.2.08 by members of 'Shrooms (ABFG).The collection has been retained in the herbarium at Kew as K(M) 156109. Details of earlier British collections are given by Alick Henrici in Field Mycology 6(2).