Key to Gilled Mushrooms KeyThis is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.
Agaricales OrderFruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)
White Spored SuborderSpore print "light-colored": white or buff, sometimes tinged with pink or tan. Greenish and (except for the Russulales) yellow spore prints also go here
Stalk fibrous, not fracturing like a piece of chalk
Tricholomataceae FamilyNone of the special features distinguishing the other white-spored genera:
Gills not free, as in the Lepiotas and Amanitas
Basidia not extra-long, as in the Hygrophoraceae
Spores smooth, except for Lentinellus
Terrestrial Trich SubfamilyGrowing on the ground
Grassland Trich TribeGrowing out in the open (lawn, field, etc.)
Diagnosis
Microscropic Characters
- All hyphae without clamp connections
-
Spores warty, with a plage, amyloid
Comments
This is a genus "in need of further work". Only half a dozen names are generally accepted, and most of them are generally held to be complexes rather than well-defined species
The two names given here are the ones that are common in Eastern North America
Narrow down your identification:
Melanoleuca alboflavidaCap 2-4" wide; yellowish brown fading almost to white, but umbo remaining darker
Stalk up to 6" long
Melanoleuca melaleucaCap 1-3" across, dark brown fading to tan
Stalk up to 3" long
