Volvariella pusilla

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Pluteaceae > Volvariella . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This is one of several tiny, whitish Volvariella species that are quite similar--but it can be distinguished by its smooth stem and its lined cap margin. The closest look-alike, Volvariella hypopithys, has a densely but finely hairy stem, and a non-lined margin, while other known look-alikes have caps that are not completely white. Volvariella pusilla is listed in most sources as growing in gardens, lawns, and other cultivated habitats, and I suspect that it is partial to the disturbed ground of these settings (like some morels, including Morchella rufobrunnea).

Edibility is not known for Volvariella pusilla, but it is too small to deserve your culinary attention, anyway.

Description:

Ecology: Apparently saprobic; growing alone or gregariously; usually reported from gardens, lawns, wood chips, and so on--but found in woods as well, at least in areas of disturbed ground; summer and fall; range uncertain due to possible confusion with look-alikes, but documented in many areas east of the Great Plains; apparently rare.

Cap: Up to 3.5 cm; oval becoming convex to broadly convex to nearly flat; whitish, sometimes very slightly darker over the center; the margin lined; slightly sticky when fresh but soon dry.

Gills: Free from the stem; whitish becoming pink to salmon; close or almost distant.

Stem: 1-5 cm long; 1-3 mm thick; more or less equal; dry; white; smooth; without a ring; the base encased in a thick, white to grayish, sack-like volva which may be buried.

Flesh: Thin, white.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface negative.

Spore Print: Salmon pink.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5.5-8 x 4-6 µ; more or less elliptical; smooth. Pleuro- and cheilocystidia mostly fusoid-ventricose; to about 76 x 24 µ. Pileipellis sometimes gelatinized. Clamp connections absent.

REFERENCES: (Persoon, 1799) Singer, 1951. (Fries, 1821; Kauffman, 1918; Shaffer, 1957; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Monoson, Methven & Sundberg, 1993; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 09049505, 08010201, 08240503.

Further Online Information:

Volvariella pusilla at Fungi of Poland.

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, November). Volvariella pusilla. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/volvariella_pusilla.html