Key to Collybiod Mushrooms (MushroomExpert.Com)

Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Collybioid

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Key to Collybia, What Used to Be Collybia, and Mushrooms Kind of Like What Used to Be Collybias, in North America

The key below includes Collybia in its former sense (before most species were moved to Gymnopus and Rhodocollybia), as well as mushrooms from other genera that are, um, kind of like the mushrooms in Collybia, in its former sense . . . if that makes any sense. To be more precise, the mushrooms included in the key are "collybioid," if the term can be used anymore. They have white or very slightly pinkish spore prints, and small to medium (but not usually tiny) caps that are not conical. The gills are not waxy and thick, are not conspicuously ragged or serrated (with a few exceptions), do not run down the stem, and are not typically attached by a notch (as in Tricholoma) or a collar (as in some of the tiny species of Marasmius). The stems are not wiry or hair-like, but they are also not very thick and fleshy. They lack partial veils, and their surfaces do not bruise appreciably.

Included genera: Collybia, Gymnopus, Rhodocollybia, Tricholomopsis, Melanoleuca, Flammulina, Calocybe, Crinipellis, Clitocybula, Callistosporium, Megacollybia, Xerula, and some of the larger species of Marasmius.

Note: This key is in desperate need of revision. The non-dichotomous format is annoying, many of the choices are dubious, and it does not cover all that it needs to cover. A rewrite is planned--but don't hold your breath. In the meantime, the key does have the benefit of providing brief descriptions of a number of mushrooms. See also the references list below, which contains many good keys.

Growing terrestrially or on leaves or needles. (1/3)

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Growing on other mushrooms or decayed fungal remains, and/or arising from a small knot of tissue (a sclerotium). (2/3)

> Stem with extending side branches. (1/2)

Dendrocollybia racemosa

> Stem without side branches. (2/2)

° Mushrooms growing from tiny knots of tissue ("sclerotia") within the substrate. (1/2)

~ Sclerotia dark reddish brown, shaped like apple seeds. (1/2)

Collybia tuberosa

~ Sclerotia pale yellow to orangish, round or nearly so. (2/2)

Collybia cookei
at NYBG

° Mushrooms not growing from sclerotia. (2/2)

Collybia cirrhata

Growing on wood or in wood chips, not arising from a sclerotium. (3/3)

> Flesh (and often the gills) yellow or yellowish. (1/5)

° Cap yellow, yellowish, olive, or yellowish brown. (1/2)

~ Cap covered with brownish-blackish scruffies, especially in the center. (1/2)

Tricholomopsis decora

~ Cap smooth, finely hairy, or without scruffies--or with yellowish or olive (not blackish brown) scruffies. (2/2)

Cap yellow; spores 5.5-6.5 µ long; cap margin not fringed; found east of the Rocky Mountains and in the Pacific Northwest. (1/4)

Tricholomopsis sulfureoides

Cap chrome yellow; spores 7-9 µ long; cap margin sometimes fringed; found in the Pacific Northwest. (2/4)

Tricholomopsis flavissima

Cap olive to olive brown, developing yellow shades; spores 4.5-6 µ long; cap margin not fringed; probably widely distributed. (3/4)

Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum

Cap olive to olive brown, developing yellow shades; spores longer than 6 µ; cap margin not fringed; found in the Pacific Northwest. (4/4)

Callistosporium graminicolor

° Cap reddish to purplish red. (2/2)

Cap surface smooth; gills with pinkish or purplish tones; growing on decayed wood of hardwoods. (1/2)

Callistosporium purpureomarginatum

Cap surface densely covered with reddish to purplish red scruffies over a yellowish base color; gills without pinkish or purplish tones; growing on decayed wood of conifers. (2/2)

Tricholomopsis rutilans

> Cap notably slimy or sticky, at least in normal conditions; stem dark and fuzzy/velvety, at least towards the base. (2/5)

° Cap whitish; growing in coastal British Columbia and Alaska. (1/2)

Flammulina rossica
at U Tennessee

° Not as above. (2/2)

~ Growing at high altitude in Mexico, from stumps of Senecio cineraroides, a woody plant. (1/2)

Flammulina mexicana
at U Tennessee

~ Not as above. (2/2)

Growing on Quaking Aspen and other poplars in the Rocky Mountains or westward; spores 6-7.5 µ long. (1/2)

Flammulina populicola

Growing on other hardwoods; widely distributed; spores 7-9 µ long. (2/2)

Flammulina velutipes

> Stem base attached to long, white mycelial cords; cap grayish brown and streaked-looking; stem pure white. (3/5)

Megacollybia platyphylla
( = Tricholomopsis platyphylla)

> Cap and stem prominently hairy or scaly. (4/5)

° Cap 1-3.5 cm, tawny brown to golden brown, densely hairy; gills white; odor and taste not distinctive or slightly mealy; spores 4-6 µ long; growing on dead wood of hardwoods; found in eastern North America. (1/4)

Crinipellis zonata

° Cap 1-2 cm, brown to rusty brown, densely hairy; gills white; odor and taste not distinctive; spores 8-9 µ long; growing on dead wood of conifers, including the lower branches of living trees; found in northern North America. (2/4)

Crinipellis campanella

° Cap to 1 cm, whitish to buff or tawny, with a darker center, densely hairy; gills white; odor and taste not distinctive; spores 7-10 µ long; growing on dead wood of conifers, especially spruce; found on the west coast. (3/4)

Crinipellis piceae
photo only

° Cap 5-8 cm, covered with dark brick red scruffies over a cinnamon ground color; gills whitish to yellowish; odor and taste unpleasant; spores 6-7 µ long; growing on dead wood or in sawdust; found east of the Rocky Mountains. (4/4)

Tricholomopsis formosa

> Not as above. (5/5)

° Young, fresh cap lavender (not violet or violet brown). (1/3)

Cap lavender to lilac, fading to tan; gills close or crowded, lavender; stem to 5 cm x 3 mm, lavender; odor and taste not distinctive; spores 3.5-4.5 x 2-3 µ, elliptical; growing scattered or in loose clusters on decayed wood of hardwoods or conifers, especially hemlock; widely distributed. (1/1)

Baeospora myriadophylla
photo only

° Young, fresh cap whitish. (2/3)

Cap whitish with a grayish center; gills close, whitish; odor and taste not distinctive; spores 4.5-6.5 x 3.5-5.5 µ, nearly round; growing on decayed wood of hardwoods or conifers; probably widely distributed. (1/4)

Clitocybula abundans

Cap to 9 cm, buff to pale cinnamon, developing rusty spots; gills close or crowded, whitish to buff, often spotting rusty; stem to 10 cm x 13 mm, whitish, developing rusty spots; odor none or unpleasant, taste bitter; spores 5.5-6.5 x 5-5.5 µ, nearly round, round, or broadly elliptical, dextrinoid; growing gregariously on conifer wood; found in northeastern North America. (2/4)

Rhodocollybia maculata
( = Collybia maculata)

Cap to 5 cm, pale tan to buff or creamy; gills crowded, buff; stem to 12 cm x 6 mm, whitish; odor strong, taste not distinctive; spores 7-9 x 2.5-3.5 µ, elliptical, inamyloid; growing in clusters on decayed wood of hardwoods; found in northeastern North America. (3/4)

Marasmius cystidiosus

Cap to 4 cm, whitish at first, later flushed pinkish; gills crowded, white or pinkish, staining yellowish; stem to 4 cm x 5 mm, pale above, pinkish below; odor and taste not distinctive; spores 4-5 x 3-4 µ, broadly elliptical or nearly round; growing on decayed wood of conifers; found in the Pacific Northwest. (4/4)

Collybia bakerensis

° Young, fresh cap not lavender, not whitish. (3/3)

~ Taste markedly reminiscent of garlic or onions. (1/2)

Cap to 6 cm, dark reddish brown, fading to cinnamon, grooved; gills distant, buff or tan; stem to 4 cm x 5 mm, reddish brown; spores 8-8.5 x 3.5-4 µ, elliptical; growing gregariously or in clusters on wood chips; found in the northeastern United States. (1/2)

Gymnopus dysodes
at NYBG
( = Collybia dysodes)

Cap to 3 cm, reddish brown to yellowish brown, fading to yellowish; gills crowded, close, or nearly distant, whitish to buff; stem to 6 cm x 3 mm, buff above, dark brown below; spores 7-10 x 3-5 µ, elliptical; growing on twigs, in humus, on dead wood, from the bark of living trees, or in grass; found in northern North America and in California. (2/2)

Marasmius scorodonius
at Fungi of Poland

~ Taste not reminiscent of garlic or onions (but possibly bitter, alkaline, unpleasant, etc.). (2/2)

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References

Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms demystified: A comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. 959 pp.

Desjardin, D. E. (1985). New marasmioid fungi from California. Mycologia 77: 894-902.

Desjardin, D. E. (1991). Studies on Marasmius from eastern North America. IV. Additions to Sect. Sicci. Mycologia 83: 30-39.

Desjardin, D. E. & Petersen, R. H. (1989). Studies on Marasmius from eastern North America. II. New species. Mycotaxon 34: 71-92.

Desjardin, D. E., R. E. Halling & D. E. Hemmes (1999). Agaricales of the Hawaiian Islands. 5. The genera Rhodocollybia and Gymnopus. Mycologia 91: 166-176.

Gilliam, M. S. (1975). New North American species of Marasmius. Mycologia 67: 817-844.

Gilliam, M. S. (1976). The genus Marasmius in the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Mycotaxon 4: 1-144.

Gillman, L. S. & Miller, O. K. (1977). A study of the boreal, alpine, and arctic species of Melanoleuca. Mycologia 69: 927-951.

Halling, R. E. (1983). The genus Collybia (Agaricales) in the Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Germany: J. Cramer. 148 pp.

Halling, R. E. (1997). A revision of Collyba s.l. in the Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.nybg.org/bsci/res/col/colintro.html

Hughes, K. W. et al. (1999). Patterns of geographic speciation in the genus Flammulina based on sequences of the ribosomal ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 area. Mycologia 91: 978-986.

Kauffman, C.H. (1918). The gilled mushrooms (Agaricaceae) of Michigan and the Great Lakes region, Volumes I and II. New York: Dover. 924 pp. (1971 Reprint.)

Methven, A. S. et al. (2000). Flammulina RFLP patterns identify species and show biogeographical patterns within species. Mycologia 92: 1064-1070.

Moser, M. (1983). Keys to Agarics and Boleti (Polyporales, Boletales, Agaricales, Russulales). Ed. Kibby, G. Transl. Plant, S. London: Roger Phillips. 535 pp.

Redhead, S. A. (1987). The Xerulaceae (Basidiomycetes), a family with sarcodimitic tissues. Canadian Journal of Botany 65: 1551-1562.

Redhead, S. A., et al. (1987). The Xerula (Collybia, Oudesmansiella) radicata complex in Canada. Mycotaxon 30: 357-405.

Smith, A. H. (1960). Tricholomopsis (Agaricales) in the Western Hemisphere. Brittonia 12: 41-70.

Smith, A. H., Smith, H. V. & Weber, N. S. (1979). How to know the gilled mushrooms. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown. 334 pp.

Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, January). Key to Collybia, what used to be Collybia, and mushrooms kind of like what used to be Collybias, in North America. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/collybioid_01.html