| Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Marasmioid > Marasmius plicatulus |
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Marasmius plicatulus [ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Marasmiaceae > Marasmius . . . ] by Michael Kuo This beautiful West Coast mushroom is a decomposer of forest debris, found under conifers and hardwoods alike. Its cap and stem are purple-red when fresh (though less dramatic, browner specimens are not uncommon), and its well spaced gills are creamy. It is fairly large (for a Marasmius), and its finely velvety cap is often conical, making it seem more like a mycenoid mushroom. Under the microscope, however, it features funky "broom cells" on the cap surface and the edges of the gills, like many species of Marasmius. Description: Ecology: Saprobic on litter and debris under hardwoods or conifers; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; fall and winter; along the West Coast. Cap: 1-5 cm; conical or bell-shaped when young, expanding to broadly conical or convex; dry; finely velvety, at least when fresh; sometimes developing radial wrinkles with age; purple-red to reddish brown. Gills: Narrowly attached to the stem or free from it; distant; white to creamy or yellowish; sometimes developing pinkish to brownish edges. Stem: 5-13 cm long; up to 3 mm thick; equal; dry; brittle; bald; creamy or pinkish above, purple-red to reddish black or dark brown below; basal mycelium white. Flesh: Thin; whitish. Odor and Taste: Taste mild; odor not distinctive. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 11-16.5 x 5-6.5 µ; smooth; fusoid, subfusoid, or amygdaliform; inamyloid. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia cylindric with diverticulate apices ("broom cells"); to about 25 x 6 µ. Pileipellis hymeniform, with dextrinoid broom cells. Trama dextrinoid. REFERENCES: Peck, 1897. (Saccardo, 1899; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Desjardin, 1987; Lincoff, 1992; Murphy, 2005; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 01131101. This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms. |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2012, June). Marasmius plicatulus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/marasmius_plicatulus.html |