Part 32

Spore-print: white.

Spores: small to medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, smooth, ellipsoid, 5-7 × 3-4 µm and becoming blue-grey when mounted in solutions containing iodine.

Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.

Habitat & Distribution: Frequently found amongst grass on heaths, in hill-pastures and in woodlands from summer to autumn.

General Information: This fungus is recognised by the gill-attachment and the powdery-scurfy cap formed by the breaking up of an enveloping veil composed of thick-walled, rounded cells, similar to those on the surface of the stem.

This fungus was formerly placed in the genus Lepiota because of the ring but the veil in Cystoderma amianthinum is formed in quite a different way to the ring in the true parasol mushrooms. The gills are also adnate and not free as in the true species of Lepiota (see p. 112). C. carcharias (Secretan) Fayod is found under similar conditions, but is white or flesh-coloured. C. cinnabarinum (Secretan) Fayod is also found in short grass and moss, but has a cinnabar-red, floccose cap and C. granulosum (Fries) Fayod is yellowish brown with non-amyloid spores and adnexed gills.

Many authorities prefer to connect this small group of closely related species more to members of the Tricholomataceae (i.e. the family which contains the Wood Blewits (p. 131), Mycena (p. 68, etc.) than to the parasol mushrooms--Lepiota (p. 112).

Illustrations: Hvass 23; LH 129; NB 103⁷; WD 8⁴.

~Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca~ (Fries) Maire

False chanterelle

Cap: width 25-70 mm. Stem: width 4-7 mm; length 25-50 mm.

Description:

Cap: bright orange-yellow or apricot, fleshy, soft, depressed at centre and with wavy, incurved, slightly downy margin.

Stem: yellow at apex, rich red-brown or orange about the middle and sometimes dark brown at the very base.

Gills: decurrent, deep orange, thin, crowded, repeatedly forked and easily separable from the cap-tissue.

Flesh: yellowish, pale in the cap, darker in the stem.

Spore-print: white.

Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, ellipsoid or pip-shaped, smooth, 7-8 × 4 µm and red-brown when mounted in solutions of iodine.

Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.

Habitat & Distribution: Common in woodlands, particularly with pines, and on heaths or in rough hill-pastures.

General Information: This fungus is recognisable by the orange or yellow cap and stem and the decurrent gills. It was formerly placed in Cantharellus because of the colours, white spores and the decurrent gills, but it really differs in many other respects. It is true, however, that it is frequently confused with the true Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius Fries, p. 162) by those who do not inspect their specimens carefully. The gills are thin, plate-like as in other agarics and not fold-like as in Cantharellus (see p. 162). The Chanterelle is edible and sought after as a delicacy, but there are varying reports as to the edibility of Hygrophoropsis. Certainly it is not of the best quality and there is evidence for it causing upsets: therefore it is best to take the name ‘False Chanterelle’ at face value and treat this fungus as truely false; ‘aurantiaca’ means orange-coloured and refers to the colour of the fungus.

A pale form is frequently collected, particularly in hill-pastures, and is probably worthy of specific recognition. The cap is ochraceous yellow to cream and the stem distinctly dark in the lower half.

There is some confusion as to the true position in classification of this fungus. The anatomical details of the fruit-body parallel those of Paxillus involutus (Fries) Fries (see p. 38) although the spore-print is white. There is little doubt that future research will answer this problem.

Illustrations: Hvass 183; LH 185; NB 103¹; WD 16³.

(b) Agarics of chalk-grassland and rich uplands

~Agaricus campestris~ Fries

Field mushroom

Cap: width 40-100 mm. Stem: width 12-20 mm; length 40-80 mm.