Phaeomarasmius erinaceus
Revue Mycol. 2(5): 195. 1937.
Common Name: none
Synonyms: Pholiota erinaceus (Fr.) Rea; Naucoria erinaceus (Fr.) Gillet
Cap 5-15 mm in diameter, convex, broadly so in age; margin incurved, maturing decurved, fringed with overhanging cap fibrils; surface dry, dull reddish brown to dark brown, matted tomentose to tufted squamulose at disc, becoming radially fibrillose towards the margin, exposing a pale yellowish buff ground color; context thin, approximately 1 mm; odor and taste not distinctive.
Gills subdistant, adnexed to adnate, broad, cream colored in youth, later buff to pale tawny tan from spore deposit, edges fringed (use hand lens); lamellulae in 1-2 series.
Stipe 3-15 x 1-2 mm in width, more or less equal, central to eccentric; surface of apex cream colored, pubescent and longitudinally striate from gill edges; lower stipe dark brown, matted tomentose to pointed squamulose, buff colored strigose hairs at the base; partial veil evanescent, consisting of a zone of sparse fibrils high on the stipe.
Spores 8-10 x 6-8 microns, ellipsoid to ovoid in face-view, slightly inequilateral in profile, smooth, germ pore absent, one to several guttules present mounted in KOH, absent in Melzer’s reagent; inamyloid; spores pale rust brown in deposit.
Solitary or in small groups on downed branches and logs of hardwoods, especially oaks (Quercus spp., and Tanbark Oak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), in coastal forests and low elevations of the Sierra Nevada; fruiting from shortly after the fall rains to mid-winter; occasional.
Unknown; too small to have culinary value.
Phaeomarasmius erinaceus is a beautiful but seldom collected small mushroom recognized by a dark reddish brown tufted tomentose cap and stipe and cream colored gills that darken to yellowish tan with age. It is easily overlooked because of its tendency to fruit low on hardwood logs and branches, and appears only after soaking rains. The species epithet “erinaceus” meaning spiny or tooth-like, probably refers to the spiky tufts seen on the pileus and stipe. Phaeomarasmius erinaceus is widely distributed found in the US, Canada, and Europe where it was first described. Because of reports of significantly differing spore sizes, it is possible that Phaeomarasmius erinaceus is a species complex
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