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Collybioid Mushrooms  

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

"Collybioid" mushrooms are small to medium-sized gilled mushrooms with white spore prints and convex caps. 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. Collybioid mushrooms lack partial veils, and their surfaces do not usually bruise appreciably.

Most of the collybioid mushrooms were placed in the genus Collybia at one time or another, but mycologists over the years have virtually emptied that genus, which now contains only three species. Defining the limits of what could be considered "collybioid" can quickly degrade into tiresome nit-picking, but Collybia, Dendrocollybia, Rhodocollybia, and Gymnopus form the core of the group. Other genera that I am treating as "collybioid" include Callistosporium, Megacollybia, Xerula, Calocybe, Crinipellis, Flammulina, Clitocybula, Caulhoriza, Strobilurus, and Tricholomopsis--as well as some of the larger species of Marasmius.


Key to 50+ Collybioid Mushrooms in North America  


Note: This key is old, and 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)

    Page Three

  • 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

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

        Collybia cirrhata

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



    References

    Antonin, V., R. E. Halling & M. E. Noordeloos (1997). Generic concepts within the groups of Marasmius and Collybia sensu lato. Mycotaxon 63: 359-368.

    Antonin, V. & J. Herink (1999). Notes on the variability of Gymnopus luxurians (Tricholomataceae). Czech Mycology 52: 41-49.

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

    Bigelow, H. E. (1973). The genus Clitocybula. Mycologia 65: 1101-1116.

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

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

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

    Desjardin, D. E., R. E. Halling & B. A. Perry (1997). Gymnopus villosipes--a common collybioid agaric from California. Mycotaxon 64: 141-147.

    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.

    Desjardin, D. E. (2000). Strobilurus diminutivus: A new species from montane California, USA.. In: Associazione Micologica Bresadola, ed. Micologia 2000. Brescia, Italy: Grafica Sette, 137-142.

    Fatto, R. M. & Bessette, A. E. (1996). A new species of Callistosporium. Mycotaxon 60: 125-128.

    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. (1979). Notes on Collybia. I. Collybia alkalivirens. Mycotaxon 8: 453-458.

    Halling, R. E. (1981). Notes on Collybia. II. Additional taxa that are green in alkaline solution. Mycologia 73: 634-642.

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

    Halling, R. E. (1989). Notes on Collybia III. Three neotropical species of Subg. Rhodocollybia. Mycologia 81: 870-875.

    Halling, R. E. (1996). Notes on Collybia V. Gymnopus section Levipedes in tropical South America, with comments on Collybia. Brittonia 48: 487-494.

    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.

    Hughes, K. W., R. H. Petersen, J. E. Johnson, J.-M. Moncalvo, R. Vilgalys, S. A. Redhead, T. Thomas & L. L. McGhee (2001). Infrageneric phylogeny of Collybia s. str. based on sequences of ribosomal ITS and LSU regions. Mycological Research 105: 164-172.

    Hughes, K. W., R. H. Petersen, J. E. Johnson, J.-M. Moncalvo, R. Vilgalys, S. A. Redhead, T. Thomas & L. L. McGhee (2001). Infrageneric phylogeny of Collybia s. str. based on sequences of ribosomal ITS and LSU regions. Mycological Research 105: 164-172.

    Kauffman, C.H. (1918). The gilled mushrooms (Agaricaceae) of Michigan and the Great Lakes region, Volumes I and II. New York: Dover. 924 pp. This book is available online here.

    Komorowska, H. (2000). A new diagnostic character for the genus Collybia (Agaricales). Mycotaxon 75: 343-346.

    Lennox, J. W. (1979). Collybioid genera in the Pacific Northwest. Mycotaxon 9: 117-231.

    Mata, J. L., R. E. Halling & R. E. Petersen (2004). New species and mating system reports in Gymnopus (Agaricales) from Costa Rica. Fungal Diversity 16: 113-129.

    Mata, J. L., R. E. Halling, K. W. Hughes & R. H. Petersen (2004). Rhodocollybia in neotropical montane forests. Mycological Progress 3: 337-351.

    Mata, J. L., K. W. Hughes & R. H. Petersen (2006). An investigation of /omphalotaceae (Fungi: Euagarics) with emphasis on the genus Gymnopus. Sydowia 58: 191-289.

    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.

    Murphy, J. F. (1997). Intersterility groups in Collybia subnuda. Mycologia 89: 566-577.

    Noordeloos, M. E. (1995). Genus Collybia. In: Bas, C., Th. W. Kuyper, M. E. Noordeloos & E. C. Vellinga (1995). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica. Volume 3. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema. 106-123.

    Redhead, S. A. (1982). The systematics of Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum. Sydowia, Ser. II 35: 223-235.

    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.

    Vilgalys, R. & O. K. Miller, Jr. (1982). Observations on sexuality in Collybia butyracea using a simplified crossing technique. Mycotaxon 14: 305-308.

    Vilgalys, R. & Miller, O. K. Jr. (1983). Biological species in the Collybia dryophila group in North America. Mycologia 75: 707-722.

    Vilgalys, R. & O. K. Miller, Jr. (1987). Morphological studies on the Collybia dryophila group in Europe. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 88: 461-472.

    Vilgalys, R. & O. K. Miller, Jr. (1987). Mating relationships within the Collybia dryophila group in Europe. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 89: 295-300.

    Vilgalys, R. (1991). Speciation and species concepts in the Collybia dryophila complex. Mycologia 83: 758-773.

    Villarruel-Ordaz, J. L. & J. Cifuentes (1998). Primer registro de Collybia cookei (Tricholomataceae, Agaricales) en Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Micologia 14: 61-63.

    Wells, V. L. & Kempton, P. E. (1971). Studies on the fleshy fungi of Alaska. V. The genus Strobilurus with notes on extralimital species. Mycologia 63: 370-379.

    Wilson, A. W. & D. E. Desjardin (2005). Phylogenetic relationships in the gymnopoid and marasmioid fungi (Basidiomycetes, euagarics clade). Mycologia 97: 667-679.



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    Kuo, M. (2008, May).Collybioid mushrooms. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/collybioid_01.html

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