Crepidotus alabamensis

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Cortinariaceae > Crepidotus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Crepidotus alabamensis grows from the dead wood of hardwoods in southeastern North America. Like other species of Crepidotus it is a stemless, pleurotoid, somewhat flabby mushroom with a brown spore print, but it is one of a number of whitish to brownish, smooth-capped Crepidotus species that are best separated with microscopic analysis. Crucial identifying features include the absence of clamp connections; the smooth, elliptical spores; and the anatomy of the pileipellis.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing gregariously on hardwood logs; summer and fall; widely distributed from Missouri to Florida.

Cap: 1-4 cm; kidney-shaped to petal-shaped; smooth or faintly hairy near the point of attachment; thinly sticky to slimy; the margin sometimes faintly lined when wet; whitish to watery grayish; fading markedly as it dries out, often resulting in two-toned specimens.

Gills: Close or crowded; whitish, becoming brownish with maturity.

Stem: Absent.

Flesh: Somewhat rubbery; whitish.

Spore Print: Brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5.5-8.5 x 4-5 µ; smooth; more or less elliptical; brownish in KOH. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia variously shaped; sometimes gelatinized; up to 60 X 10 µ. Pileipellis a thick zone of gelatinized elements under a layer of erect, hyaline elements (often branched or forked, with cystidia-like ends). Clamp connections absent.

REFERENCES: Murrill, 1917. (Hesler & Smith, 1965.) Herb. Kuo 08280402.

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2007, May). Crepidotus alabamensis. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/crepidotus_alabamensis.html