Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Collybioid > Gymnopus luxurians

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Gymnopus luxurians

[ Basidiomycota > Agaricales > Marasmiaceae > Gymnopus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Gymnopus luxurians is usually found in woodchips, where it grows in loose clusters—but it is also found, occasionally, in grassy areas and even in woods. Crucial identifying features include the bald, reddish brown cap that soon fades to pinkish tan; the white young gills that become dingy pinkish buff with age; the tough, twisted stem; the absence of a partial veil; the white spore print; and microscopic features—including spore size, cheilocystidia, and pileipellis anatomy (see below).

Gymnopus luxurians can look very different in young and mature or post-mature stages, since it progresses from dark reddish brown and stocky to pale tan and skinny-stemmed. The change in the color of the cap results in a corresponding change in microscopic features: highly pigmented young caps have pileipellis hyphae that are heavily encrusted, while pale, older caps can have smooth, hyaline hyphae.

Collybia luxurians is a previous name.

Thanks to Cecily Franklin for collecting, documenting, and preserving Gymnopus luxurians for study; her collection is deposited in The Herbarium of Michael Kuo.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing gregariously or in tight clusters in woodchips, or on lawns (probably fruiting from dead, buried roots), and, rarely, fruiting directly from logs and stumps; summer and fall; widely distributed and relatively common east of the Great Plains; occasionally appearing in western North America. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Cap: 3–11 cm; convex with an incurved margin when young, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or flat; dry or tacky; bald; dark reddish brown when young, fading to pinkish tan; often somewhat streaked-looking; the margin sometimes becoming slightly lined in old age.

Gills: Narrowly attached to the stem, often by means of a notch; close; short-gills frequent; whitish when young, but soon darkening to pale pinkish tan.

Stem: 4–7 cm long; 0.4–1.5 cm thick; more or less equal above a slightly enlarged base; dry; tough; often twisted; somewhat longitudinally ridged; finely silky or finely dusted; whitish above, buff to brownish below; darkening with age; often with white basal mycelium and/or rhizomorphs attached to the base.

Flesh: Whitish to pale pinkish tan; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive, or slightly fragrant; taste not distinctive, or slightly bitter.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface gray to olive gray—or sometimes very pale gray to negative on older cap surfaces.

Spore Print: White to creamy white.

Microscopic Features: Spores: 7–11 x 3–4.5 µm; long-amygdaliform; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Cheilocystidia usually present; 20–40 x 3–7 µm; cylindric to clavate, irregular, lobed, or somewhat diverticulate; smooth; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH. Pleurocystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis of cylindric elements 4–12.5 µm wide, brownish-encrusted in KOH except in faded caps, clamped.


REFERENCES: (Peck, 1897) Murrill, 1916. (Saccardo, 1899; Halling, 1983; Antonín & Herink, 1999; Desjardin, Halling & Hemmes, 1999; Halling, 2004; Trudell & Ammirati, 2009; Kuo & Methven, 2014.) Herb. Kuo 08230202, 08190503, 09280504, 06300702, 08210903, 06211507, 08151601, 08271604.


This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.


 

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians

Gymnopus luxurians
KOH

Gymnopus luxurians
Spore print

Gymnopus luxurians
Spores

Gymnopus luxurians
Cheilocystidia

Gymnopus luxurians
Section in KOH

Gymnopus luxurians
Pileipellis



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2017, October). Gymnopus luxurians. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/gymnopus_luxurians.html