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Hebeloma insigne

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Strophariaceae > Hebeloma . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Hebeloma insigne is an aspen-associated, Rocky Mountain species that is similar to Hebeloma sinapizans; it is bulky and features a scaly stem surface. However, in the early stages of development it also features an ephemeral cortina, and it lacks the radishlike odor and taste of Hebeloma sinapizans.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with aspen, but often found in mixed conifer-aspen forests, leading to confusion in documentation; usually growing gregariously; late summer and early fall (monsoon season); Rocky Mountains.

Cap: 5-10 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat; sticky when fresh; bald; with a soft, cottony margin when young; cinnamon tan to pinkish brown; the young margin adorned with fibers from the ephemeral cortina.

Gills: Attached to the stem, often by a notch; close; pale clay color when young, becoming cinnamon brown to brown; sometimes with beads of liquid when young and fresh; the edges often becoming ragged as the mushroom matures.

Stem: 4-8 cm long; 1-3 cm thick; more or less equal above a swollen base; developing scales, often in more or less concentric bands; whitish, but the scales often capturing spores as the mushroom matures and thus becoming brownish.

Flesh: Whitish; thick.

Odor and Taste: Odor pungent, or not distinctive; taste mild.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on flesh. Iron salts slowly gray on base of stem.

Spore Print: Brown to reddish brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 11-15 x 6-8 µ; sublimoniform; finely verrucose; moderately dextrinoid. Cheilocystidia 50-70 x 7-9 µ; abundant; subclavate to clavate. Pileipellis an ixotrichoderm in young specimens; later an ixocutis.

REFERENCES: A. H. Smith, V. S. Evenson & D. H. Mitchel, 1983. (States, 1990; Evenson, 1997; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 08120703.

Although Hebeloma insigne is currently known only from the Rockies, collections of "Hebeloma sinapizans" from northern and montane ecosystems in which aspen predominates may need to be reconsidered.

Further Online Information:

Hebeloma insigne in Smith, Evenson & Mitchel, 1983

 

Hebeloma insigne

Hebeloma insigne

Hebeloma insigne

Hebeloma insigne
Spores

Hebeloma insigne
Cheilocystidia

Hebeloma insigne
Pileipellis



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2012, March). Hebeloma insigne. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hebeloma_insigne.html