Lepiota magnispora

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Agaricaceae > Lepiota . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Lepiota magnispora is often featured in field guides as "Lepiota clypeolaria," but recent studies by Vellinga (2000, 2001, 2003) have discovered several genetically distinct mushrooms in this group; compared to the true Lepiota clypeolaria, Lepiota magnispora has brighter, yellower colors and a more contrasting "eye" in the center of the cap, as well as longer, more spindle-shaped spores.

Edibility for Lepiota magnispora is not known with scientific certainty (since it has only recently been definitively separated from the poisonous Lepiota clypeolaria), but it may well be seriously poisonous; do not experiment.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing scattered, gregariously, or in clusters in forest litter; found under hardwoods (including Coast Live Oak on the West Coast and oaks in the Midwest) and under conifers; summer and fall (over winter in coastal California); widely distributed in North America.

Cap: 3-5 cm; convex to bell-shaped, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat in age; dry; scaly; yellow to yellow-brown or rusty brown with a darker, contrasting center.

Gills: Free from the stem; white; close.

Stem: 4-9 cm long; under 1 cm thick; more or less equal, with a slightly swollen base; hairy to shaggy; whitish to yellowish, or with scattered brownish scales; sometimes discoloring yellowish with age or on handling; with a sheathing ring or ring zone that sometimes disappears.

Flesh: White.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface negative.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 15-21 x 4.5-6 µ; smooth; strongly to weakly dextrinoid; fusiform, with a convex curve on the adaxial side but not on the other side; reminiscent of bolete spores. Cystidia absent. Clamp connections present.

REFERENCES: Murrill, 1912. (H. V. Smith, 1966; Vellinga, 2000, Vellinga, 2001; Vellinga, 2003.) Herb. Kuo 08190502, 01150604.

Further Online Information:

Lepiota magnispora at MykoWeb

Spore Print

Spores

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2007, October). Lepiota magnispora. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/lepiota_magnispora.html