Part 17

16(14) Basidia 2-spored. Conocybe rickenii - Basidia 4-spored. 17

17(16) Spores ellipsoid. 18 - Spores lentiform, angular in face view. Conocybe lenticulospora

18(17) Cap grey, contrasting with yellowish cream gills and pale stem. Spores 10.5-12.5 × 6-7µm. Conocybe murinacea - Cap pinkish brown or tawny. 19

19(18) Spores 11-12 × 7.2-7.8µm. Cap sienna. On raw dung. Conocybe fimetaria - Spores 10-12 × 6-7µm. Cap pinkish to cinnamon brown. On manured soil or sewage sludge. Conocybe fuscomarginata (Conocybe siennophylla might be found on straw/dung mixtures or in soil in greenhouses. It differs in having smaller spores).

20(8) Cap deliquescing to some degree at maturity. Basidia of 2 or 3 different sizes. (Coprinus) 21 - Cap not deliquescing. Basidia of one size only. 49

21(20) Veil on cap absent, cap either covered with small hairs (setules) or naked. 22 - Cap covered with a granular, micaceous, powdery or fibrillar veil. 28

22(21) Cap without setules. 23 - Cap with setules. 24

23(22) Cap minute, 1-5mm high before expanding, reddish orange at first, soon fading. Basidiospores almost globose to triangular in one view, elliptic in another, 7-10 × 7-9 × 5.5-6.5µm. (2- and 4-spored forms have been found). Coprinus miser - Cap larger, up to 15mm when expanded. Basidiospores pip-shaped, 7.5-8.5 × 9.5-11 × 9.5-11.5µm. (4-spored). Coprinus nudiceps

24(22) Spores hexagonal, 10-13 × 6.5-7.5µm. Cap purplish. Coprinus hexagonosporus - Spores ellipsoid. Cap brown or reddish, without purplish tints. 25

25(24) Basidia 4-spored. 26 - Basidia 2-spored. Spores 11-13 × 5.5-7µm. Facial cystidia absent. Coprinus bisporus (Coprinus sassii, not yet recorded in British Isles, has 2-spored basidia with very large ellipsoid spores up to 20µm long).

26(25) Cap with a mixture of hyaline and brown thick-walled setules. Spores 9-10 × 5.5-6µm, with eccentric germ pore. Facial cystidia absent. Coprinus heterosetulosus - Cap with only one type of setule. Facial cystidia present or absent. 27

27(26) Facial cystidia present. Spores 7.9-13.3 × 4.4-6.4µm, with apical germ pore. Coprinus stellatus - Facial cystidia absent. Spores elongate and narrow, rarely greater than 5µm wide, with apical germ pore. Fruit body usually quite small, up to 6mm before expanding. Coprinus pellucidus (fig. 58) (Several species in the group, e.g. C. congregatus and C. ephemerus have been found on straw/dung mixtures).

28(21) Veil strongly adhering to cap. Spores elliptic ovate, 15-20 × 8-12µm. Stem with distinct ring. Usually on buried dung. Coprinus sterquilinus - Veil more floccose or powdery. Stem lacking ring or, if present (C. ephemeroides), fruit body small with 5-angled spores less than 10µm long. 29

29(28) Veil composed of filamentous units. 30 - Filamentous units, if present, masked by a preponderance of rounded cells. 35

30(29) Veil composed of strings of sausage-shaped, thin-walled, hyaline cells. 31 - Veil composed of rather narrow, slightly thickened hyphae. 32

31(30) Spores large, 11-14 × 6-7µm. Cap up to 1cm before expanding. Fruit body with or without a rooting base. Coprinus radiatus - Spores smaller, up to 9µm long. Cap up to 6mm before expanding. Fruit body without a rooting base. Coprinus pseudoradiatus (fig. 59) (C. cinereus is found on straw/dung mixture and C. macrocephalus, with large spores, has been recorded on raw dung).

32(30) Veil citrus- or lime-yellow, or a mixture of hyaline and brown strongly coloured hyphae. 33 - Veil grey or whitish. 34

33(32) Veil of yellow hyphae. Spores 10.5-12.5 × 6-7.5µm. Coprinus luteocephalus - Veil with brown hyphae. Spores 7-9 × 3.5-5µm. Coprinus poliomallus

34(32) Veil hyphae thin-walled. Spores 6.5-7.5 × 5µm, 'shouldered' about the apiculus. Coprinus filamentifer (fig. 61) - Veil hyphae thin- and thick-walled, often with clamps. Spores elliptic-oblong, 9-10 × 5-6µm. Coprinus vermiculifer (fig. 60) (Coprinus flocculosus, with spores 11.5-16.5 × 6-9.5µm, can be found on straw/dung mixtures).

35(29) Stem with small, distinct ring. Spores subglobose to lentiform and 5-angled, 6-9 × 6.5-8 × 5-6µm. Coprinus ephemeroides - Stem at most with fibrils, even then rarely forming a faint ring zone. 36

36(35) with setules in addition to veil. 37 - Cap without setules. 38

37(36) Cap cystidia tapered. Spores 11-14 × 5-6.5µm. Coprinus heptemerus - Cap cystidia capitate. Spores 10-11 × 6-7µm. Coprinus curtus

38(36) Veil of inflated bladder-like cells attached to filamentous units. Spores 7.5-8 × 4.5-5.5µm. Coprinus utrifer - Veil of globose and subglobose cells and filamentous units often encrusted or with minute projections found sometimes at cap margin. 39

39(38) Globose cells, if ornamented then possessing crystalline or amorphous material (dissolved by 1N HCl, fig. 64.) 40 - Globose cells covered in small fine blunt projections on the walls (not removed by 1N HCl, fig. 64). 45

40(39) Basidia 2-spored. 41 - Basidia 4-spored. 42

41(40) Spores 14-17 × 8.5-10 × 12.5-14µm. Coprinus pachyspermus - Spores smaller, 9-11 × 6-6.5 × 8-9µm. Coprinus cordisporus (2-spored form)

42(40) Spores less than 10µm long. Coprinus cordisporus (fig. 63) (C. patouillardii is known on garden refuse, and an undescribed species with lemon-shaped spores has recently been found). - Spores 10µm or more long. 43

43(42) Veil soon discolouring greyish, drab or buff, Spores 11.5-14.5 × 6-8 × 7.5-9µm. Coprinus cothurnatus - Veil remaining snowy white, only slowly discolouring greyish. 44