Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Clitocyboid Mushrooms > Clitocybe acerba

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Clitocybe acerba

by Michael Kuo, 13 October 2022

One of several virtually identical clitocyboid mushrooms found in conifer duff in the fall, Clitocybe acerba "distinguishes itself" by featuring a cap that becomes finely lined with age, a bitter taste, and relatively small spores. Several similar species lack the bitter taste; see the discussion on the page for Clitocybe subcanescens for details.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing scattered, gregariously, or in loose clusters in needle duff under pines, including eastern white pine; fall; originally described from Tennessee; distribution uncertain. The illustrated and described collection is from Illinois.

Cap: 2–3 cm across; convex, becoming broadly convex with a central depression; thin; moist or dry; bald; hygrophanous; butterscotch to watery yellowish brown, fading to buff or nearly whitish; the margin becoming finely lined with development.

Gills: Beginning to run down the stem; crowded; short-gills frequent; whitish, darkening somewhat with age.

Stem: 2–4 cm long; 2–3 mm thick; more or less equal; dry; bald; whitish near apex; brownish to dark grayish brown below; with white basal mycelium.

Flesh: Thin; whitish; not changing when sliced

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

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Details: Spores 5–6 x 2–3 µm; ellipsoid; with a tiny apiculus; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid; often adhering in groups. Basidia 23–26 x 3–4 µm; subclavate; 4-sterigmate. Cystidia not found. Pileipellis an ixocutis of elements 4–8 µm wide, smooth, hyaline KOH; clamp connections present.


REFERENCES: H. E. Bigelow, 1982. (Bigelow, 1982.) Herb. Kuo 11050403.


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


 

Clitocybe acerba

Clitocybe acerba
Spore print

Clitocybe acerba
Spores



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Kuo, M. (2022, October). Clitocybe acerba. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/clitocybe_acerba.html