ID please (1 Viewer)

A friend has asked if I could ID this funghi. Any offers?

Thanks, Des.

desgreene said:

A friend has asked if I could ID this funghi. Any offers?

Thanks, Des.

Click to expand...

This is difficult without knowing the spore colour. However, I am going to guess that the spores are dark purplish in mass, and since the cap looks to be dry rather than viscid (thus ruling out a common Stropharia) I would say it is a Hypholoma.

These brownish yellow Hypholomas are not easy - they need careful examination of the spores and sundry muttered swear-words, but my best guess is Hypholoma polytrichi. This is typically a heathland or heathy woodland species, growing amongst mosses.

I have also considered Entoloma pleopodium (a.k.a. Nolanea icterina), a very pretty pink-spored species, but the gills don't look like your fungus is pink-spored and E.pleopodium has a striate cap, at least when fresh.

I'm plumping for Hypholoma polytrichi.

Thanks for that Alan. I'd given up on getting an answer to this one!

Des.

desgreene said:

A friend has asked if I could ID this funghi. Any offers?

Thanks, Des.

Click to expand...

I suspect Alan was thinking of Stropharia semiglobata and it does look like one but as he says the cap looks too dry. But then again, was the cap sticky/viscid when fresh? Also any other characteristics e.g. where was it growing, time of year, soil type etc, odd smells, gill colour etc?

The only other info I have is that it was growing in a garden lawn, in early July in England. I didn't actually see it myself.
I think my friend was more concerned as to whether it might be dangerous to children or pets if eaten as it was growing in his garden.

Des.

desgreene said:

The only other info I have is that it was growing in a garden lawn, in early July in England. I didn't actually see it myself.
I think my friend was more concerned as to whether it might be dangerous to children or pets if eaten as it was growing in his garden.

Des.

Click to expand...

That sounds an unlikely habitat for my Hypholoma polytrichi suggestion, though it can grow in heathy grass.
It occurs to me that there is another possibility that I didn't think of - it may have been an Agrocybe species, quite possibly A. semiorbicularis. They have dull brown spores and several are small, neat and grow in grass, though usually rather dry grass, as on dunes or on wasteground. But as usual, one needs microscope characters to separate these things.
It doesn't look like anything dangerous!