Psathyrella     Genus



Cortinarius husseyiKey to Gilled Mushrooms     Key
This 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.



TricholomaAgaricales     Order
Fruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)


Hypholoma capnoidesBlack Spored     Suborder
Spore print black, very dark brown, purplish black, or dark purplish brown, but not fitting the Gomphidiaceae
Gills usually light grey, becoming black from spores only when very mature


Psathyrella     Genus     (Fries) Quélet




Psathyrella hydrophila

Diagnosis

Comments

Psathyrella appears very late in the succession of species on decayed wood. Often, it doesn't appear until the wood has been reduced to powdery humus
There are many species of Psathyrella, and many still to be discovered. Don't be frustrated if your "Psathyrella" keys out to this point and then no further. That's the state of the art
As it so happens, the photos that we have of Psathyrellas so far are all of unusually robust and colorful ones (no, I'm not joking). Now that we have another reason to take pictures besides aesthetics and personal interest, we'll be documenting more of the bland, uninteresting ones to help you KNOW that the greyish, boring-looking thing growing in your lawn is really a Psathyrella

Narrow down your identification:


Psathyrella candolleana
Cap up to 3" across; extremely fragile; pale grey, with brown and distinct but subtle purple tones
Cap margin and stalk often hung with shreds of the evanescent partial veil

Psathyrella epimycesPsathyrella epimyces
Growing on flattened-looking fruiting bodies of Coprinus comatus

Psathyrella foenisecii
Cap up to 1" across; dark brown, fading to tan (often with a darker zone at the margin for a while); becoming areolate when it dries out.
In grass

Psathyrella hydrophilaPsathyrella hydrophila
Spore print very dark brown
Cap up to 2" across; some shade(s) of brown
Partial veil fragments often present on stem and cap margin

Psathyrella rugocephala
Cap up to 4" across; closely radially puckered; some shade(s) of brown
On deciduous wood

Psathyrella velutinaPsathyrella velutina
Cap up to 4" across; hemispherical, sometimes umbonate; brown to yellow brown; covered with blackish fibrillose tufts that may wash off in age
Gills mottled in age; their edges white, often beaded with drops of moisture when fresh
Partial veil a cortina
Stalk often fibrillose (like cap) below the ring, but these wash off in age also


Lookalikes:



Coprinus disseminatusCoprinus disseminatus
  • Cap up to 1/2" across; often with white flecks of universal veil material
  • Growing in dense clusters


Coprinus plicatilis
  • Cap up to 3/4" across
  • Growing in small tufts or well-spaced troops


Panaeolus semiovatus
  • Cap whitish, shaped like half an egg
  • Stalk concolorous
  • Annulus present



 

 


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