Calocybe onychina

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Calocybe . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This attractive but rare mushroom is found under mountain conifers from Idaho to the Four Corners region, and west to California. It is reminiscent of Tricholomopsis rutilans, but grows terrestrially rather than on wood. Defining features include a white spore print, yellow gills, and a pinkish to purplish stem.

Edibility is not known for Calocybe onychina; do not experiment.

Description:

Ecology: Probably saprobic; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously under conifers, especially subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and Douglas-fir; summer and fall; central Idaho to the Four Corners, west to California.

Cap: 2-9 cm; broadly convex becoming broadly bell-shaped or flat; dry; smooth; deep purple to purplish red or purple-brown; the margin inrolled when young.

Gills: Attached to the stem, sometimes by means of a notch; close; dull yellow.

Stem: 2-5 cm long; up to 1.5 cm wide; more or less equal; dry; fairly smooth; whitish to pinkish or purplish.

Flesh: Whitish to yellowish.

Odor & Taste: Not distinctive, or mealy.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 3-4.5 x 2-3.5 µ; elliptical to subglobose; smooth; inamyloid. Cystidia absent. Basidia with siderophilous granules. Lamellar trama parallel. Pileipellis hymeniform. Clamp connections absent.

REFERENCES: (Fries, 1838) Donk, 1961. (Saccardo, 1887; Moser, 1983; Bessette, Miller, Bessette & Miller, 1995.) Herb. Kuo 08110701.

Pileipellis

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Kuo, M. (2008, January). Calocybe onychina. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/calocybe_onychina.html