decaying cones of magnolia trees (especially fraser magnolia and southern magnolia ). aside from its habitat, xylaria magnoliae can be recognized by its tough, narrow, blackish fruiting bodies that have a white interior, and its spores , which lack a germ slit and are fairly unique among xylaria spores in...
grayish olive to olive brown cap, the olive-tinged gills, the bitter taste , and microscopic features (including broadly ellipsoid to nearly round spores, and basidia that turn green in koh). cortinarius infractus is a european species that is also widely distributed in north america under both hardwoods...
america, and can be recognized quickly if a drop of koh or ammonia is applied to its cap, producing a green color change. but without the chemical test . . . well, you're looking at a little brown mushroom with a white spore print and no distinctive odor or taste. in short, you may need to unpack your...
was the largest in a troop of gorgeous little waxy caps growing in my yard. tiny red waxies are notoriously difficult, so i didn't hold out much hope for a successful identification--but, happily, it turns out that hygrocybe subminiata is fairly distinctive. crucial features include its very tiny size...
in the hygrophorus russula species group; like other species in the group it features pinkish red to purplish red colors, and russula -like stature. it can be distinguished, however, by its distant, soon-red gills, the fact that its surfaces do not bruise yellow, and its short spores. the species is...
in the rocky mountains, where it grows under engelmann spruce and subalpine fir in monsoon season. it is often found growing in fairly tightly packed clusters--which is rare for a lactarius ; hesler and smith ( ) named the species for its frequently caespitose growth. distinguishing features include...
size, the white spore print , and the habitat in hardwood leaf and twig litter east of the rocky mountains, will narrow down the identification possibilities for this mushroom. its mycelium is a voracious decomposer, and can usually be found in copious amounts, spreading through the substrate. but marasmius...
summer and fall across northern and montane north america. on casual observation, one is likely to mistake it for a lactarius --but it does not produce milk when sliced. in fact, close examination reveals several things that are not at all lactarius-like: the gills separate from the cap in a layer (...
, appearing in both hardwood and conifer forests. aside from its larger size, it is virtually indistinguishable from psathyrella pseudovernalis in macroscopic features; both species feature brown caps, wisps of veil material along the cap margin, dark brown spore prints , and snap-able white stems....
russula differ on one or more of these features. description: ecology: mycorrhizal with hardwoods, especially oaks (occasionally reported under conifers); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer through fall; fairly widely distributed east of the rocky mountains, but apparently more common in...