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Gymnopus dryophilus (Collybia dryophila) [ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Gymnopus . . . ] by Michael Kuo This little mushroom, listed in older field guides as Collybia dryophila, qualifies as the weed of the North American mushroom world, in my opinion; it is everywhere, all the time. Its distinguishing features include its greasy, tawny or tan cap; its attached, crowded, white gills; the absence of a partial veil; and its white spore print. A large number of Gymnopus and Rhodocollybia species look for all the world like Gymnopus dryophilus on casual observation. For help sorting these mushrooms out, see the key to Collybioid Mushrooms--or, if you are comfortable separating Rhodocollybia butyracea from Gymnopus dryophilus but you would like to fine tune your species concepts within the "Gymnopus dryophilus group," see the table and comments below. A parasite, Syzygospora mycetophila, sometimes attacks Gymnopus dryophilus, causing pale, tumorous growths on the stem, gills, and cap. Description: Ecology: Saprobic. Despite its name (which translates as "oak-loving"), this mushroom will grow almost anywhere in hardwood or conifer forests, frequently arising from twigs or leaf litter; spring, summer, and fall (and in winter in warmer climates); widely distributed in North America. Cap: 1-7.5 cm, convex with an incurved margin when young, becoming broadly convex to flat; moist; smooth; dark reddish brown to brown when young, becoming tan to orangish brown to very pale. Gills: Attached to the stem or free from it; whitish to pinkish (yellow in one variety; see below), becoming buff; crowded. Stem: 1-10 cm long; 2-7 mm thick; equal (occasionally slightly flared to base); dry; pliant and fibrous; smooth; whitish above, light buff below, becoming darker; soon hollow; usually with thin, whitish rhizomorphs attached to the base. Flesh: Whitish; thin. Odor and Taste: Not distinctive. Spore Print: White to creamy or pale yellowish white. Microscopic Features: Spores: 5-6.5 x 2.5-3.5 µ; smooth; elliptical; inamyloid. Cheilocystidia 15-50 x 2-6 µ; clavate, subclavate, cylindric, or irregular; often with lobes or coralloid projections. Pileipellis of branched and swollen, interwoven hyphae 2-13 µ wide. REFERENCES: (Bulliard, 1790) Murrill, 1916. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1887; Kauffman, 1918; Smith, 1949; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Halling, 1983; Vilgalys & Miller, 1983; Weber & Smith, 1985; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Vilgalys, 1991; Lincoff, 1992; Horn, Kay & Abel, 1993; Noordeloos, 1995; Evenson, 1997; Halling, 1997; Barron, 1999; Halling, 2003; Roody, 2003; Halling & Mueller, 2005; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 09210102, 06080301, 06120306, 10090303, 09290501, 10010505. |
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Mating studies (Vilgalys & Miller, 1983; Vilgalys, 1991) have determined at least 11 interbreeding groups within the "Collybia dryophila complex" and have proposed separating at least five named species. Representatives of four of these species occur in North America; Vilgalys (1991) provides four morphological features that can be used in combination to predict the North American biological species, summarized below.
Cheilocystidia types in the table correspond to "filamentous" and "inflated" in Vilgalys & Miller (1983)--and the two types are not easily separated with casual analysis. However, observation of many collections gives one a good feel for the difference. I have illustrated the types, based on cheilocystidia in my collections, on this page (above) and on the pages for Gymnopus earleae and Gymnopus subsulphureus. Further Online Information: Gymnopus dryophilus at Roy Halling's Collybia site Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2008, May). Gymnopus dryophilus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/gymnopus_dryophilus.html © MushroomExpert.Com collybia brunneola |