Melanoleuca lewisii A. H. Smith & P. M Rea
Mycologia 36(2): 135. 1944.

Photo: NOT natural habitat.

Common Name: none

• Description

  For description see Smith & Rea & 'California Mushrooms'.

• Habitat

  Solitary to gregarious in duff, primarily under oak and chaparral; uncommon, fruiting in fall along the central and southern coast ranges.

• Edibility

  Unknown.

• Comments

  Melanoleuca lewisiii, a California endemic, can be distinguished by its white fruitbodies with viscid (when moist) cap, notched gills, pubescent stipe, amyloid-warted spores, and the absence of universal and partial veils. Another white caped species occasionally encountered, Melanoleuca verrucipes, has a stipe covered with coarse brown scabers. Melanoleuca exscissa has a silvery gray cap with grayish brown disc, white to pinkish cream gills, a relatively short, white to gray stipe, and a sweet fruity odor; it grows in lawns.

• References

  Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
  Smith, A.H. & Rea, P.M. (1944). Fungi of Southern California—II. Mycologia 36(2): 125-137. (Protologue)

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Wood: Melanoleuca lewisii (CP)
  • Jacob Kalichman: Melanoleuca lewisii (CP)
  • Jacob Kalichman: Melanoleuca lewisii (CP)
  
  

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