Leotia viscosa Fries
Syst. Myc. 2: 30. 1821.

Common Name: chicken lips

• Pileus

  Cap 1.5-3.0 cm broad, hemispheric to convex, the disc occasionally depressed; margin inrolled, wavy, sometimes lobed; surface viscid when moist, more or less glabrous, dull olive-green; lower surface pallid; flesh gelatinous.

• Stipe

  Stipe 2.5-6.0 cm long, 0.5-1.0 cm thick, hollow or gelatinous at the core, equal to narrowed at the apex; surface smooth, pallid, buff, to yellowish, dotted with greenish granules.

• Spores

  Spores 18-25 x 4-6.5 µm, slightly fusiform, curved in profile, the ends rounded, septate at maturity.

• Habitat

  Solitary to gregarious in leaf litter, soil, or on rotten wood; fruiting from late winter to spring.

• Edibility

  Slimy and gelatinous; not worth trying.

• Comments

  Leotia viscosa is characterized by a greenish, viscid cap with a pallid undersurface and a pale yellowish stipe dotted with green granules, especially near the apex. More common in California but very similar is Leotia lubrica. It is distinguished by a yellowish rather than green cap.

• References

  Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
  Seaver, F.J. (1978). The North American Cup-Fungi (Inoperculates). Lubrecht & Cramer: Monticello, N.Y. 428 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  Main Photo
  • Nathan Wilson: Leotia viscosa (CP)
  • Ryan Snow: Leotia viscosa (CP)
  • George Barron's Fungi of Canada (East): Leotia viscosa (D & CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Leotia viscosa (CP)
  • Rogers Mushrooms: Leotia viscosa (D & CP)
  • Wikipedia: Leotia viscosa (D & CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 874 (D & P)
  • Lincoff: p. 365 (D), plate 727 (CP)
  • Phillips: p. 308 (D & CP)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)