Pholiotina rugosa
Pap. Mich. Acad. Sci. 32: 148. 1948.
Common Name: none
Synonyms: Conocybe filaris (Fries) Kühner; Pholiotina filaris (Fries) Singer; Conocybe rugosa (Peck) Watling; Pholiota rugosa Peck
Cap 1-2.5 cm broad, obtuse-conic to convex, expanding to nearly plane, sometimes with a slight umbo; margin decurved, plane to slightly upturned in age; surface glabrous to faintly wrinkled, striate when moist, otherwise obscurely so, butterscotch-brown to dull tawny-brown, the margin paler, fading when dry (hygrophanous) to cream-buff; context thin, 1-1.5 mm thick, cream-buff to tan-buff, unchanging or darkening only slightly when exposed; odor and taste mild.
Gills adnexed to notched, thin, close, moderately broad; at first cream-buff, becoming dingy light-brown, finally tinged dull rusty-brown from spores; lamellae up to 3-seried; gill edges lighter than the faces, fimbriate when young (use hand lens).
Stipe 1.5-5 cm long, 1-3 mm thick, more or less equal, straight to slightly flexuous, fragile, hollow at maturity, surface fibrillose-striate, above and below, occasionally lustrous, apex pruinose, with gill edges sometimes evident; surface colored like the young cap, becoming darker in age, except for a pallid apex; partial veil fibrillose-membranous, cream-buff, separating early from the cap margin, upper surface striate-grooved, sometimes drab rusty-brown from spores, loosely attached, forming a superior ring that may shrivel and disappear with age.
Spores 7.5-9.5 x 5-5.5 µm, ellipsoid, moderately thick-walled, smooth, with an apical germ pore; spore print dull rusty-brown.
Scattered, gregarious, to clustered on soil, often near woody debris; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.
Contains deadly amanitoxins.
This uncommon little brown mushroom (LBM) is characterized by a tawny-brown, striate-margined cap which fades to buff-brown, minutely fringed gill edges, and a striate-grooved annulus. Though seemingly distinctive, it belongs to species complex, members of which are distinguished largely by microscopic characters. The above description is based on a small number of local collections.
Ammirati, J.F., Traquair, J.A. & Horgen, P.A. (1985). Poisonous Mushrooms of the Northern United States and Canada. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, MN. 396 p.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1995). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 4: Agarics (2nd Part). Entolomataceae, Pluteaceae, Amanitaceae, Agaricaceae, Coprinaceae, Strophariaceae. Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 368 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Hausknecht, A. (2009). A monograph of the genera Conocybe Fayod & Pholiotina Fayod in Europe. Edizioni Candusso: Alassio, Italy. 968 p.
Knudsen, H. & Vesterholt, J. ed. (2008). Funga Nordica: Agaricoid, boletoid and cyphelloid genera. Nordsvamp: Copenhagen, Denmark. 965 p.
Knudsen, H. & Vesterholt, J. ed. (2012). Funga Nordica: Agaricoid, boletoid, clavarioid, cyphelloid and gastroid genera. Vol. 2. Nordsvamp: Copenhagen, Denmark. 572 p.
Noordeloos, M.E., Kuyper, T.W. & Vellinga, E.C. (2005). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica—Critical monographs on the families of agarics and boleti occurring in the Netherlands. Volume 6. Coprinaceae & Bolbitiaceae. Taylor & Francis: Boca Raton, FL. 227 p.
Peck, C.H. (1898) Annual Report of the State Botanist for 1896. From the 50th Report
of the New York State Museum. p. 77-159. (Protologue)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Watling, R. (1982). British Fungus Flora: Agarics and Boleti. Vol 3. Bolbitiaceae: Agrocybe, Bolbitius, & Conocybe. Royal Botanic Garden: Edinburgh, Scotland. 139 p.
