Clitocybula lacerata

[Basidiomycota > Agaricales > Marasmiaceae > Clitocybula...]

by Michael Kuo

With its streaked, gray-brown cap and its collybioid stature, Clitocybula lacerata almost looks like a small version of Megacollybia rodmani. However, the stem base of Clitocybula lacerata is not connected to white cords, its gills usually feature prominent cross-veins, and it differs microscopically (see below), especially in its amyloid spores. Among other species of Clitocybula, Clitocybula lacerata is distinguished by its comparatively large size, its tendency to grow gregariously or in loose (rather than dense) clusters, and microscopic details.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone, scattered, gregariously, or in loose clusters on the wood of conifers and hardwoods (but often attached to buried wood and appearing terrestrial); summer and fall; originally described from what is now Slovenia; fairly widely distributed in Europe and North America. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois.

Cap: 1.5–4 cm; broadly convex to flat, sometimes with a shallow central depression; with appressed radiating fibers; greasy when fresh; pale gray, with a gray-brown center.

Gills: Beginning to run down the stem; distant; cross-veined; short-gills frequent; waxy and brittle; white.

Stem: 3–4 cm long; 2–5 mm thick; more or less equal, or flared at the apex; very finely hairy, or nearly bald; hollow; whitish to pale gray.

Flesh: Thin; whitish to grayish; not changing when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Musky and unpleasant.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Details: Spores 6–9.5 x 3.5–5 µm; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; weakly amyloid. Basidia subclavate; 4-sterigmate; tips often amyloid. Pleurocystidia not found. Cheilocystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 2.5–5 µm wide, smooth, hyaline in KOH. Clamp connections present.

REFERENCES: (Scopoli, 1772) Singer ex Métrod, 1952. (Bigelow, 1982; Breitenbach & Kränzlin, 1991; Barrasa et al., 2006; McNeil, 2006; Kuo & Methven, 2014; Gminder & Böhning, 2017; Holec, 2018; Læssøe & Petersen, 2019.) Herb. Kuo 07070708, 06161007, 08042001.

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Spores

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2021, January). Clitocybula lacerata. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/clitocybula_lacerata.html