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Megacollybia platyphylla [ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Megacollybia . . . ]
by Michael Kuo In my area (central Illinois), Megacollybia platyphylla is one of the first mushrooms to appear after the seemingly eternal lull in fungal activity following morel season, sometimes popping up in large numbers after June rains. Though several field guides list it as "edible" with caution, you should not try eating it; recent evidence suggests it makes some people sick. Finding out whether you are "some people" or not, and discovering that you are, is probably not worth what would be a meager cullinary experience, judging from the mushroom's smell and appearance. Megacollybia platyphylla could be easily confused with Pluteus cervinus, a similar looking species that also grows on decaying wood, but that mushroom has pinkish gills when mature, a pink (rather than white) spore print, and lacks white mycelial cords at the base of the stem. Description: Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously on rotting logs (sometimes buried) under hardwoods; summer; fairly widely distributed and common east of the Rocky Mountains, and reported from the Pacific Coast and from riparian ecosystems in the Southwest. Cap: 3-20 cm; ovalish to bell-shaped when young, becoming broadly convex to flat in age; the margin becoming wavy; dry or slightly sticky; brown to pale grayish brown, usually streaked-looking with darker, appressed fibers that radiate from the center. Gills: Attached to the stem or nearly free from it; almost distant, or close; whitish; often breaking up somewhat in maturity. Stem: 7.5-12.5 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; equal or slightly tapering to apex; usually tough and fibrous; smooth or fibrous; solid, becoming hollowish; white; with white cords (rhizomorphs) attached to the base. Flesh: Whitish, not changing on exposure. Odor and Taste: Taste mild to slightly bitter; odor not distinctive. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 7-9 x 4.5-7 µ; smooth; elliptical; inamyloid. Pleurocystidia absent or basidioid. Cheilocystidia abundant; basidioid, widely clavate, fusoid-ventricose, hair-like, or irregular; to about 50 µ long. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 4-9 µ wide, with brownish contents; terminal elements frequently erect, with clavate to cylindric tips (labeled "pileocystidia" by some authors, but not strikingly cystidioid). Clamp connections present. REFERENCES: (Persoon, 1796) Kotlaba & Pouzar, 1972. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1887; Kauffman, 1918; Smith, 1949; Smith, 1960; Arora, 1986; States, 1990; Breitenbach & Kränzlin, 1991; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Horn, Kay & Abel, 1993; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; Halling & Mueller, 2005; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006) Herb. Kuo 06039501, 06140202, 05120706. Tricholomopsis platyphylla and Collybia platyphylla are former names. Further Online Information: Megacollybia platyphylla at MykoWeb |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2008, January). Megacollybia platyphylla. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/megacollybia_platyphylla.html |