Sava: Today's find at Sauvie Island field trip.
Sigle specimen, not in great shape, but can you guess the genus?
Hint: spores are white.
Godsavethecheese Marasmius?
Paul W: If one can imagine the yellow to be an orange, it may be Laccaria.
The Sauvie habitat is right as is the twisted stem.
The width of the cap is less than the width of the stem and is was a single specimen.
The stem is not fleshy and appears fibrillose.
Sava: I should've said: the dots on the paper form a 1 cm x 1 cm square lattice.
Marasmius and Laccaria are out: our mushroom has a conical cap,
even if it's not totally apparent from the picture.
Mike P: Well, that is a very helpful clue!
I will guess Hygrocybe (formerly Hygrophorus), maybe H. persistens.
Don: I think Mike is right........... Hygrocybe.
Sava: Hygrocybe is the correct answer.
Judy: How about Hygrocybe flavescens? The colors, cap shape, shattery appearance point me in that direction.
Sava: I measured the spores last night and then MatchMaker told me: H. acutoconica.
But then acutoconica and flavescens may be the same thing...
Mike P: My first guess (H. persistens) is not in MatchMaker.
However, it is on mushroomexpert.com
http://tinyurl.com/7dwp25z
where Kuo lists the main difference between that and H. flavescens
as the cap shape (persistens conical; flavescens convex or flat).
Spore sizes overlap among those two and autoconica.
In reading further, MD lists persistens as a synonym for cuspidata,
which MatchMaker does have, but descriptions of that include a cap that is red initially --
despite photos on mushroomexpert with a yellow mushroom overall.
When we try to get this specimen down to exact species,
have we reached the noise level of current taxonomy (at least as found in field guides)?
Sava: (1) I saw H. flavescens recently (http://mushroomobserver.org/91418?q=DYDM) and,
though entirely yellow too, it's slimy and has convex caps.
Yesterday was dry at the field trip time (10-12),
but it was raining during the night and it was generally wet enough at the place,
so that I would expect that sliminess would've been observable.
And our mushroom definitely had the conical aspect of H. conica
(even if my photo may not convincingly display it),
which I'd expect to be essential enough to eliminate H. flavescens.
But then, of course, what I expect often enough turns out to be wrong...
(2) H. acutoconica seems to be a variety of H. persistens. Quoting from MatchMaker:
NOTES distinguished by persistently pointed umbo, bright yellow to orange cap,
adnexed to free yellow gills, and absence of blackening reaction; Breitenbach
(3)give this taxon as well as Hygrocybe constans Lange, Hygrocybe crocea Bres. and
Hygrocybe langei Kuehner as synonyms of Hygrocybe persistens (Britzelm.)
Britzelm.;
the online Index Fungorum, accessed May 25, 2006, gives Hygrocybe
acutoconica (Clem.) Singer and Hygrophorus constans J.E. Lange as synonyms of
Hygrocybe persistens var. persistens (Britzelm.) Singer, Revue de Mycologie,
Paris, New Series 5: 8 (1940); var. microsporus of Hygrophorus acutoconicus
described by Hesler(1) from TN has smaller spores; type variety of Hygrocybe
acutoconica found in ID [but more widespread in Pacific Northwest], material
also studied from FL, MI, MT, NC, NE, TE, TN, WY, Isle of Rhum, (Hesler(1)); BC
collections are deposited at University of British Columbia (as Hygrophorus
acutoconica [sic])
Dick B: I just checked Index Fungorum
http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp and
acutoconica is now the preferred name for persistens.-Dick
Mike P: Thanks to Sava and Dick for the clarifications.
Also for the link to Index Fungorum -- a tremendous resource!
Judy: I considered acutoconica,
but Arora gives defined habitats along with slightly different color;
my choice, and I know flavescens grows here in spring
But you have the spores...