Stropharia aurantiaca

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Strophariaceae > Stropharia . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Stropharia aurantiaca is found in wood chips or in gardens or lawns in coastal California, and possibly elsewhere in North America. It appears to be a landscaping "import" like Morchella rufobrunnea, but it's a little difficult to determine where the species came from. It is found, rarely, in Europe, but its origins are probably elsewhere.

The habitat and bright orange colors of Stropharia aurantiaca are distinctive, but it is often confused with Stropharia thrausta, which decomposes woody debris in hardwood and conifer forests (at least in North America) and has a slimier cap, as well as a sturdy, gracefully arched ring and a shaggy stem. Stropharia thrausta also differs microscopically (it lacks chrysocystidia and has filamentous cheilocystidia).

Edibility for Stropharia aurantiaca is not known, and the similar Stropharia thrausta may be poisonous; do not experiment.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing scattered or gregariously on wood chips or in sawdust, lawns, gardens, and so on; fall through spring; coastal California.

Cap: 2-6 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; sticky when fresh, but soon dry; scarlet to reddish orange or reddish brown; smooth; when young adorned with white partial veil remnants.

Gills: Attached to the stem, often by a notch; close; pale yellow at first, later purplish gray to purple-black; with whitish to pale yellow edges when mature.

Stem: 3-7 cm long; up to 1 cm thick; dry; with or without a ring zone; fairly smooth or finely hairy; whitish to yellowish, staining reddish orange with maturity; base often with whitish to yellowish mycelial threads.

Flesh: Whitish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Dark purple-brown to purple-gray.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface dark gray.

Microscopic Features: Spores 10-14 x 6-9 µ; smooth; elliptical. Chrysocystidia and cheilocystidia present.

Naematoloma aurantiaca, Hypholoma aurantiaca, and Psilocybe aurantiaca are synonyms.

REFERENCES: (Cooke, 1887) Imai, 1938. (Stamets, 1978; Arora, 1986; Wood & Stevens, 1996.) Herb. Kuo 01110605.

Further Online Information:

Hypholoma aurantiaca at MykoWeb
Stropharia aurantiaca at Roger's Mushrooms

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2005, January). Stropharia aurantiaca. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/stropharia_aurantiaca.html