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Crepidotus calolepis

by Michael Kuo, 4 March 2023

Separating this Crepidotus from similar species is likely to be challenging without microscopic examination. It appears on the wood of hardwoods (in Europe mainly on aspen, but in North America on various trees), and features a slightly rubbery cap with fine brown fibrils. Its gills are whitish when young, though they turn dull brown as the spores mature. Under the microscope, Crepidotus calolepis features nearly smooth, ellipsoid spores, and lacks clamp connections; additionally there is a zone of gelatinized hyphae under the pileipellis, causing the rubbery texture.

Crepidotus crocophyllus can appear similar, but can be separated on the basis of its yellow-when-young gills and non-rubbery flesh. Under the microscope it is very different; it has round, punctate spores, clamp connections, and no gelatinized zone under the pileipellis.

Most similar is Crepidotus mollis—so similar, in fact, that many authors (especially in North America) treat the two mushrooms together, with Crepidotus calolepis designated as merely a variety, Crepidotus mollis var. calolepis. Both mushrooms feature the gelatinized zone; the difference is found in the presence of the brown fibrils on the cap of Crepidotus calolepis. The surface of Crepidotus mollis is virtually bald, and it therefore lacks the brown-encrusted hyphae in the pileipellis that compose the fibrils on Crepidotus calolepis.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously on the deadwood of oaks and other hardwoods; originally described from Sweden (Fries 1873) and neotypified from Estonia (Senn-Irlet 1995); widely distributed in Europe and in North America. The illustrated and described collections are from California and Illinois.

Cap: 1–5 cm across; 1–3 cm deep; semicircular or fan-shaped; convex; with scattered, fine brown fibrils; moist or dry; whitish to yellowish or brownish under the fibrils; fading with age.

Gills: Close; radiating; close; short-gills frequent; whitish when young, becoming dull brown with maturity.

Stem: Absent.

Flesh: Thin; slightly rubbery; watery whitish; unchanging when sliced.

Odor: not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface dull reddish; on gills red.

Spore Print: Brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7–10 x 5–6 µm; ellipsoid to subamygdaliform; virtually smooth; yellowish to brownish in KOH. Basidia 18–25 x 4–6 µm; 4-sterigmate. Pleurocystidia not found. Cheilocystidia 30–60 x 3–5 µm; cylindric-flexuous with rounded or clavate apices; occasionally slightly irregular; smooth; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis; elements 5–12 µm wide, encrusted, brownish in KOH; exserted terminal cells cylindric with rounded or clavate apices. Subcuticular zone about 70 µm thick, composed of gelatinized hyphae. Clamp connections not found.

REFERENCES: (E. M. Fries, 1873) P. Karsten, 1879. (Murrill, 1917; Kauffman, 1918; Hesler & Smith, 1965; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Schalkwijk-Barendsen, 1991; Lincoff, 1992; Senn-Irlet, 1995; Krisai-Greilhuber et al., 2002; Roody, 2003; Bandala & Montoya, 2004; Gonou-Zagou & Delivorias, 2005; McNeil, 2006; Bandala & Montoya, 2008; Buczacki et al., 2013; Jančovičová et al., 2014; Desjardin, Wood & Stevens, 2015; Evenson, 2015; Siegel & Schwarz, 2016; Baroni, 2017; Senn-Irlet, 2018; Læssøe & Petersen, 2019.) Herb. Kuo 06011501, 01121802.

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KOH

Spores

Cheilocystidia

Pileipellis elements

Gelatinized subcuticular zone

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2023, March). Crepidotus calolepis. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/crepidotus_calolepis.html