Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Tricholoma > Tricholoma species 04 |
Tricholoma species 04: [ Basidiomycota > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Tricholoma . . . ] by Michael Kuo To the naked eye this little gray Tricholoma is a dead ringer for Tricholoma terreum (often called "Tricholoma myomyces" in North American field guides); it features a fibrillose gray cap, grayish gills, and a white stem—and it lacks a distinctive odor. However, under the microscope the species described here does not feature a layer of inflated cells beneath the pileipellis. The latter feature is a must for Tricholoma terreum (illustration), and this species just ain't got it. Additionally, one of the collections described here was separated from the terreum group by a country mile in a preliminary DNA study (Ovrebo et al. 2009). I find this species under eastern white pine in early winter (November), in Illinois. Maybe, since it appears around Thanksgiving, it's really a Turkeyloma. At any rate I suspect the possibility that it is widespread in North America where white pines appear, and is consistently identified as Tricholoma myomyces or Tricholoma terreum without thorough microscopic analysis. Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal with eastern white pine; growing gregariously; November; distribution uncertain (see comments above). The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois. Cap: 2–5.5 cm; convex, broadly conic, or bell-shaped; dry; radially appressed-fibrillose with dark gray fibrils; sometimes becoming finely scaly; ground color pale gray; with an inrolled and woolly margin when young. Gills: Attached to the stem by a notch; close; short-gills frequent; pale gray, becoming whitish as spores mature. Stem: 2.5–5 cm long; 0.5–1.5 cm thick; more or less equal; bald or finely silky; whitish. Flesh: White to grayish; unchanging when sliced. Odor and Taste: Not distinctive. Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 5–8 x 3.5–4.5 µm; long-ellipsoid; apiculate; smooth; inamyloid; hyaline in KOH. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Cystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis of cylindric elements 5–10 µm wide, smooth or slightly encrusted; frequently septate; brownish-walled in KOH; interspersed with fascicles of dark-brown-walled elements 7.5–12.5 µm wide. Subpellis not differentiated. Clamp connections not found. REFERENCES: Herb. Kuo: 11209402, 11240601, 11070901, 11201901. This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms. |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2019, November). Tricholoma species 04: |