common in the southern appalachian mountains but also found throughout northeastern north america. when young, the cap and upper stem of entoloma violaceum are brownish purple, although the cap may later become dark brown, brown, or grayish beige. the cap surface is silky or finely scaly, the young...
by their (usually) pale gills, which are free from the stem; their white spore prints ; the presence of a universal veil that often creates a volva or other distinctive features on the stem; and their more or less dry caps (as opposed to the slimy caps in the related genus limacella ). many species of...
the gilled mushrooms , rivaled only by the oyster mushrooms . you probably won't need to make a spore print in order to see the orange to orange-brown or rusty brown color ofthe spores, since spore dust frequently coats everything within a few inches ofthe mushroom. in fact, you should be careful what...
. the species are mycorrhizal with a wide range of trees, and can be found in most woodland ecosystems on our continent. many species of hebeloma have a veil that can be reminiscent ofthe cortina in cortinarius --but the veil, when present, is often ephemeral, and many species lack the veil entirely...
brown spore prints , whitish to yellowish brown caps, and partial veils that often leave fragments hanging from the cap margins and fragile rings on the stems. themushrooms range from small to medium in size, and are often found in urban settings--though some species occur in woods, as well. research...
the shape ofthe cap, the fuzziness or baldness ofthe undersurface ofthe cap, and (especially) the stem, which may be dramatically ribbed and/or pocketed. microscopic analysis comes into play in a few ofthe more difficult identification areas ofthegenus--most notably, in separating helvella macropus...
("little brown mushrooms"), and most require microscopic examination for accurate identification. themushrooms are saprobes that decompose grass litter, dung, or forest litter, and the physical features that define thegenus include: a dark brown to purple-brown or black spore print . small size. grayish...
to brownish species and a few (well, two) that are more interesting. the rare crepidotus cinnabarinus is bright red, and crepidotus crocophyllus usually features yellow to orange gills . . . but pretty much everything else is brown or white, and requires extensive microscopic study for accurate identification...
copious, and it almost seems to pour out ofthe mushroom when you slice it or damage the gills. in other species the milk can be scanty to almost nonexistent--especially in older specimens that have grown in dry weather. a few mushrooms in other genera exude a juice (for example, mycena haematopus )...
ago, there were two north american honey mushrooms: armillaria mellea and armillaria tabsescens —and thegenus armillaria held many mushrooms. this state of affairs was too easy for mycologists, however. someone had to go and point out that armillaria contained many mushrooms that differed widely in...