Mycena oregonensis
Mycologia 28: 413. 1936.
Common Name: none
Cap 2-8 mm broad, hemispheric becoming convex; margin decurved, slightly undulate; surface moist, faintly pruinose when young, soon glabrous, translucent-striate, indistinctly so when dry; bright yellow, sometimes yellow-orange at the disc, fading to pale yellow or almost white; context thin, yellowish, unchanging; odor and taste mild.
Gills adnate to subdecurrent, subdistant, pale yellow, non-marginate; lamellulae 1-2 seried.
Stipe 1-2.5 cm long, < 1mm thick, fragile, more or less equal; surface pruinose, translucent yellow, instititious, i.e. inserted on conifer needles and leaves of hardwoods; veil absent.
Spores 6.5-8.5 x 3-3.5 µm, tear-shaped, smooth, nonamyloid; spore print white.
Solitary to gregarious on rotting conifer needles and leaves of hardwoods, e.g. coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and tanbark oak (Lithocarpus densiflora).
Unknown; too small to have culinary value.
This tiny Mycena can be distinguished from the numerous other small litter decomposers that inhabit local woodlands by a bright yellow cap and similarly colored, extremely thin, fragile, pruinose stipe. It is most likely to be confused with a close cousin, Mycena acicula, a species with a orange to orange-red cap.
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Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Mass Geesteranus, R. A. (1992). Mycenas of the Northern Hemisphere. II. Conspectus of the Mycenas of the Northern Hemisphere. Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Vetenschappen: Amsterdam, Netherlands. 493 p.
Perry, B.A. (2002). A Taxonomic Investigation of Mycena in California. Masters Thesis, San Francisco State University: San Francisco, CA. 157 p. (PDF)
Robich, G. (2003). Mycena D'Europa. Associazione Micologica Bresadola: Trento, Italy. 728 p.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Smith, A.H. (1936). Studies in the Genus Mycena. III. Mycologia 28(5): 410-430. (Protologue)
Smith, A.H. (1947). North American Species of Mycena. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. 521 p. (PDF)
