Gymnopus earleae

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Gymnopus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This springtime species, along with the closely related Gymnopus subsulphureus, is often found in April and May by morel hunters. It is a member of the Gymnopus dryophilus species group, and can be distinguished from other members of the group through a combination of features: the small caps that are variable in color but are often dark brown to reddish brown; the yellow gills; the reddish brown rhizomorphs on the stem base; and, under the microscope, the swollen, stubby cheilocystidia.

Edibility is not known for Gymnopus earleae; do not experiment.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing scattered, gregariously, or in small clusters on wet soil or very decayed wood; spring; fairly widely distributed east of the Great Plains, and reported from California.

Cap: 1-3.5 cm; convex, becoming planoconvex or nearly flat; smooth; dark brown to dark reddish brown and moist when young and fresh, but soon fading to brownish or orangish buff.

Gills: Attached to the stem broadly or narrowly; close; pale yellow.

Stem: 2-5 cm long; up to about 5 mm thick; more or less equal; greasy; hollow; smooth except for tawny fuzz near the base; orangish buff to yellow or yellowish orange; often with a swollen and spongy basal portion immersed in the substrate; with thin, flesh-colored to reddish brown rhizomorphs attached to the base.

Flesh: Thin; whitish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive or slightly unpleasant.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores: 4.5-7 x 2-3.5 µ; smooth; narrowly elliptical or lacrymoid; inamyloid. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia when present up to about 36 µ long and 12 µ wide; variously shaped; often with protrusions or lobes; somewhat "stubby and swollen" rather than "long and skinny" (see discussion on the page for Gymnopus dryophilus). Pileipellis a tangle of cylindric, branching (but not diverticulate or coralloid) hyphae 5-20 µ wide.

Collybia earleae is a synonym.

REFERENCES: (Murrill, 1916a) Murrill, 1916b. (Vilgalys & Miller, 1983; Vilgalys, 1991; Halling, 1983; Halling, 2004.) Herb. Kuo 05079501, 05089501.

Further Online Information:

Gymnopus earleae at Roy Halling's Collybia site

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2008, May). Gymnopus earleae. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/gymnopus_earleae.html