© Ben Woo
Danny’s DNA Discoveries – Clitocybaceae of the PNW
by Danny Miller
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Danny’s DNA Discoveries – Clitocybaceae of the PNW
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 Introduction and Excluded Species - click to expandSpecies mentioned: Clitocybe adustiterricola, albirhiza, albimontana, alnicola, avellaneifolia, coacta, crenulata, dilatata, epigaea, griseifolia, leopardina, martiorum, maxima, mitis, multicarpa, mutabilis, pallidipes, payettensis, profundidisca, ramigena, salmonilamella, sclerotoidea, senilis, sparsivestita, squamulosa, subclavipes, subsocialis, tenuissima, thujana, umbrinipes, variispora, vermicularis ssp. americana, americana, leptoloma, trunicola, crassa, smithii, arvalis, badioferruginea, glivaoides, gracilis.
Every clitocyboid mushroom, those of at least a certain size (caps >2.5 cm across or so) with decurrent gills and white spores (occasionally with an indented cap to boot) and no partial veil, was once placed in Clitocybe. The most similar stature is omphalinoid, usually reserved for similar smaller mushrooms. The clitocyboid form has evolved independently many times, and many have been moved to different families. Those that are left in the Clitocybaceae usually grow on the ground and have inamyloid spores and clamp connections. But not only do many clitocyboids not belong in the Clitocybaceae, some mushrooms that do are not clitocyboid shaped. Here is a summary of those no longer in this family: - Ampulloclitocybe
- are very similar, but often have an umbo that Clitocybe usually
lack. As for the species left in the Clitocybaceae, this paper has finally sorted many things out. Clitocybe - while just about every species in this family used to be in Clitocybe, now Clitocybe s.s. is restricted in our area to Clitocybe nebularis, a large grey mushroom with a skunk odor. Collybia - the original Collybia were tiny mushrooms growing on other decaying mushrooms, often Russula, and often with a sclerotium at the base of each stem. The gills are not decurrent so it is not obvious that they belong here. Other genera on rotting mushrooms are larger, with Asterophora being the closest lookalike, being fairly small but usually powdery, never with sclerotia, and with stockier stems a couple mm wide instead of 1 mm wide like Collybia). Then it was noticed that many medium sized Clitocybes were in the same part of the tree as Collybia, the older genus, meaning that many large clitocyboids in Clitocybe would need to be renamed to Collybia. In the paper referenced above, this has finally happened. This also means that many species of Collybia are not collybiod in stature, they are clitocyboid in stature. So much for the traditional descriptions of the genera. Collybia subgenus Collybia - contains the tiny original Collybias referenced above plus many medium sized former Clitocybe with white to tan caps and pale gills, with spores <6u long (except for those species with a cellular cap cuticle, those are in Singerocybe). The paper solved a long standing mystery of which Clitocybes are poisonous: Most in this subgenus are the ones that are poisonous, containing muscarine, except for the basal clade containing the blue licorice mushroom, Clitocybe odora. While I suspect the white licorice mushrooms are not poisonous, they were not included in their tree, and my ITS only tree cannot confidently place some of them as either poisonous or safe. Collybia (Macrosporocybe) deceptiva with larger spores is definitely in a safe clade, but C. CA03 and C. idahoensis are unclear. Collybia subgenus Macrosporocybe - as in subgenus Collybia (white to tan caps and pale gills), but spores >6u long. This includes the whitish licorice mushroom Collybia deceptiva. Lepista - the former home of all three groups of large mushrooms with adnexed, adnate or slightly decurrent gills, rough/warty spores and a spore print that is somewhat coloured. True Lepista are usually white with short spores (<6u long) and are found more often in grass and along roads and trails than deep in the forest. Collybia subgenus Crassicybe - (was Lepista2). As Lepista, also white, but with larger spores (>6u long) and usually found in forests.. Collybia irina from this group has been reported from the PNW, but without DNA confirmation so far. Collybia subgenus Leucocalocybe - these large mushrooms have adnexed, adnate or slightly decurrent gills, rough/warty spores and a spore print that is somewhat coloured, and therefore were formerly in Lepista. Those traits evolved more than once so Lepista has been split into three pieces. This group may have adnexed gills, or adnate at best. They are often purplish and include the famous Blewit, although some species lack purple but may have the gestalt of a blewit. Singerocybe - distinguished microscopically from Collybia subgenus Collybia by a cellular cap cuticle (spherical cells). I'm still looking for genetic proof that this genus is represented in the PNW. Pseudolyophyllum - those medium sized former Clitocybe with grey-brown cap and gills. Dendrocollybia - rare, unique LBMs with branches growing out of the stem. As you can see, most Clitocybe will be moved to Collybia, but as of this writing, that has not happened yet, so I will still refer to most of them as Clitocybe. The authority on clitocyboids is Bigelow. His monograph and sequencese of his collections will be needed to continue to demystify the many unknown species of Clitocybe.
Clitocybes that need to be moved elsewhere (if I say maybe, my guess is based on the section Bigelow placed them in and where its neighbours ended up moving, because we have no DNA yet. We need collections).
Clitocybe adustiterricola OR - an omphalinoid on burned ground, in a unique section
of Bigelow with C. payettensis and C. albimontana (which is a
Lichenomphalia even though this can't be) Clitocybes found on wood - so that's suspicious. I don't think they're actually in Clitocybe.
Clitocybe americana MI - Large, stocky species (all the rest are small to medium slender species)
Clitocybe crassa ID - large, grey brown with a short, bulbous stem, this
could possibly belong in
Clitopaxillus.
Clitocybe arvalis WA - abundant common uncommon rare - colour codes match my Pictorial Key and are my opinions and probably reflect my bias of living in W WA. Rare species may be locally common in certain places at certain times. |
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Clitocybe and New Genera - click to expand
Clitocybe nebularis EU - Skunk odor, large and grey - our only species left in Clitocybe. Clitocybaceae PNW02 - a frosted grey species that may need a new genus name. It resembles Pseudolyophyllum species. Species mentioned: Clitocybe nebularis, robusta.
Clitocybe nebularis EU (=Clitocybe robusta NY) - the type species of the genus. It is a large grey mushroom that smells like skunk. It can grow in fairy rings. Clitocybe robusta, said to be a related white species, has four east coast ITS sequences that are identical to C. nebularis, so the colour does not seem to indicate a different genetic species. White forms are reported rarely from the PNW.
Clitocybe nebularis (sequenced and unsequenced) © Bruce Newhouse and Steve Trudell
Clitocybaceae PNW02 - a cool frosted grey species. This is in Bellanger Lyophyllaceae clade I-3, one of the clades that had poor support for being in the Lyophyllaceae, which in fact we now believe could be a new genus in the Clitocybaceae.
Clitocybaceae PNW02 © Yi-Min Wang and Matthew Koons |
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Collybia subgenus Collybia - click to expand
1. Small parasites on decaying mushrooms, often with sclerotia.
2. Medium sized with white to tan caps and pale gills, and spores <6u long (except for those species with a cellular cap cuticle)
Species mentioned: Collybia tuberosa, cookei, cirrhata, bakerensis, odora, idahoensis, rivulosa, dealbata, sudorifica, phyllophila, dilatata, cerussata, diatreta, hebelomoides, albidula, angustifolia, catervata, glutiniceps, pseudomarginella, subcanescens, sublutea. Leucocybe connata. Hygrophorus caeruleus.
1. Small parasites on decaying mushrooms, often with sclerotia. Collybia tuberosa EU - the sclerotia are orange brown, and elongated seed shaped. Local and east coast sequences match EU sequences. Collybia 'cookei PNW01' - the sclerotia are more round and wrinkled in shape. Our one west coast ITS sequence, from CA, matches many east coast sequences fairly well, but not our one EU type area sequence (1% different). Russia has matches to both. It's possible our NA species is different than the EU species, and that Russia has both. Collybia cirrhata EU - lack sclerotia. Local and east coast sequences match EU sequences very well. Collybia bakerensis WA - is the last Collybia still needing to be moved somewhere else from the great exodus that happened after Gymnopus was erected. It is rare, and not local to those doing the moving, and got overlooked. It belongs in Collybiopsis.
Collybia tuberosa © NAMA and the Field Museum of Natural History, C. 'cookei PNW01' © Ed Barge, C. cirrhata © NAMA and the Field Museum of Natural History
2. Medium sized with white to tan caps and pale gills, and spores <6u long Anise (black licorice) odor Clitocybe odora EU - a beautiful pale blue mushroom that smells and tastes of black licorice. It's definitely a favourite. Other licorice mushrooms are found in different sections of this page. Hygrophorus caeruleus ID - a waxy version of Clitocybe odora that may lack the licorice odor. You can read about it here. Something seems to infect Clitocybe odora and make weird fruiting bodies every once in a while. It has basically identical DNA to Clitocybe odora. Clitocybe 'idahoensis PNW03' - pale orange or tan cap. A couple OR collections and a CA collection with a sweet odor are a lookalike of the more common edible C. deceptiva (described below in subgenus Macrosporocybe), but with smaller spores (4.5-6.5 x 2-3u). This is probably Clitocybe idahoensis, which has a chalky white canescence when young, as one collection somewhat demonstrated that. We need the type sequence to prove this. Caution, my ITS only tree does not show clearly if this mushroom is in the basal clade with C. odora and safe to eat or not. It may seem reasonable to assume it is, but remember that C. deceptiva is definitely in a different subgenus and also has the odor, so we know that the odor has evolved more than once. Clitocybe CA03 - very similar, can be pinkish-orange or whitish, and may have a chalky canescence as well. seems to be near C. 'idahoensis PNW03' in the tree and may have the anise odor as well. This has not been confirmed. Nor has its edibility.
Clitocybe odora © Andrew Parker and as Hygrophorus caeruleus © Richard Morrison
Clitocybe 'idahoensis PNW03' © Jonathan Frank (OR) and Warren Cardimona (CA) Clitocybe CA03 © Buck McAdoo
Chalky white species when fresh, but not truly hygrophanous nor farinaceous. Small spores (usually <6u long). Clitocybe 'rivulosa PNW07' - in grass, <6 cm across, chalky white when fresh, meaning it has a white bloom that can rub off revealing pinkish-orange tones. Small spores means it falls into the group with spores 4-5.5u long, not the group 6-8u long. Even though it turns out most species in this subgenus might be poisonous, this is the famously poisonous species for some reason. Our sequences are 1% different than EU sequences that Pablo thinks represent this species. This used to be called Clitocybe dealbata EU, but that poorly understood name has been abandoned in favour of C. rivulosa. Bigelow said that our NA species was not the same thing as found in Europe, and he declared that the proper name was probably Clitocybe sudorifica NY. We need to figure out what that is to test that theory. Clitocybe 'rivulosa PNW02' - a lookalike grass species, so much so that Pablo used to think this species was C. rivulosa. It doesn't live in the same part of the tree. One photo below shows it white and fresh, but the other photo shows is aged and waterlogged, where it has become tan coloured and difficult to place in this section. Fresh collections are needed for an accurate ID. Clitocybe phyllophila EU (=C. cerussata EU, =C. dilatata EU) - found in forests and not grass, and larger (>6 cm across when fully grown). ITS DNA of both species is within a couple of bp of each other, so the latest paper agrees with those that considers them synonyms. There seemed to be 2 clades of collections of this species, but the more sequences you put in the tree the more intermediate sequences are found so this is probably one species with some ITS variability. It is called C. phyllophila when it has a spicy odor and off white spore print, and C. cerussata when it has a mild odor and white spore print, although intermediate collections are found. Fresh collections are probably needed for accurate ID. Note that Clitocybe dilatata EU is also a newer synonym of this. Locally, we've been using that name incorrectly when talking about Leucocybe connata. If you've heard the name C. dilatata, it was likely referring not to C. phyllophila but to Leucocybe connata. There are lookalikes in the Lyophyllaceae family, Leucocybe (small white forest mushrooms <6 cm across, or clustered white mushrooms at the edges of trails and roads) and Atractosporocybe (spores more than twice as long as wide).
Clitocybe 'rivulosa PNW07' © Leah Bendlin (2 images), C. 'rivulosa PNW02' © Buck McAdoo (2 images)
Clitocybe phyllophila © Yi-Min Wang
White to buff with very pale gills - in forests, small spores, hygrophanous but not farinaceous Clitocybe PNW01 (=Clitocybe diatreta EU?) - not farinaceous, small white spores (<6u long). One collection was noted to be hygrophanous. One matching sequence was labeled Clitocybe diatreta, which has similar sized spores and a tinted spore print. Pablo Alvarado's best guess is that this is C. diatreta. Clitocybe PNW04 - our one PNW sequence (unphotographed) is a collection from the 70s by Joanne Lennox which was labeled Calocybe hebelomoides. It also matches one EU sequence labeled Clitocybe diatreta, but it's not our first choice for being that species. Both of those are not farinaceous and small spored, so maybe PNW04 matches that description. Clitocybe PNW05 - also not farinaceous smelling, perhaps slightly sweet. It was hygrophanous in at least one photo (the last one). Some collections have an indented cap and almost appear omphalinoid, making this less likely than the other two to actually be C. diatreta. Some collections we've examined show small spores, and others large spores, so I think there has been some kind of a mix-up that needs to be sorted out.
Clitocybe PNW01 © Richard Morrison, C. PNW05 © Daniel Winkler, and Yi-Min Wang (2 images)
Little known species White gills and cap, hygrophanous or chalky - small spores 4-5.5u long
Clitocybe albidula NY - |
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Collybia subgenus Macrosporocybe - click to expand
As subgenus Collybia (medium sized former Clitocybe with white to tan caps and pale gills) but spores >6u long. Species mentioned: Collybia deceptiva, fragrans, obsoleta, fuscidisca, subditopoda, coniferophila, salmonilamella, caperata, cereoceps, patelliformis, subdicolor, variabilis.
Black licorice Clitocybe deceptiva ID - a small, watery grey-brown mushroom with a black licorice odor. Clitocybe fragrans EU (=Clitocybe obsoleta EU) is a similar sweet smelling mushroom (2% different in ITS) rumoured from the PNW, but that DNA has not been found here yet, over a dozen sequences have all been C. deceptiva. Bigelow, the most trusted Clitocybe identifier, never reported C. fragrans north of CA. This species has larger spores (6.5-9 x 4-4.5u) than other non-blue species with the licorice odor in subgenus Collybia, whose edibility are unknown.
Collybia deceptiva © iNaturalist user hugebooter
Clitocybe 'fuscidisca PNW10' (=Clitocybe subditopoda NY?, =Clitocybe coniferophila MI?) - the disc can be darker than the margin, but that is not an uncommon feature. At least some photos show it can be hygrophanous, and usually no odor is noted so it is not distinctly farinaceous (rarely it is reported as somewhat farinaceous only when crushed). Pablo Alvarado's analysis of this mushroom is a brownish cap that is rarely striate, a stem longer than the cap is wide, and spores 5-7 x 3 u, averaging about 6x3u. These spore measurements are in between the small and large spored groups whose cutoff is 6u long. This probably explains why some collections have been placed in the small spored group (keying out to Clitocybe subditopoda NY) and some have been placed in the large spored group (keying out to Clitocybe coniferophila MI in Bigelow). Pablo thinks this is Clitocybe subditopoda and that PNW06 is C. coniferophila, although others have competing ideas as to what C. subditopoda is, not all of them in Clitocybe. Joanne Lennox had a plan to name this Collybia fuscidisca back in the 70s, due to the darker disc. We're well on our way to having dozens of sequences of this. 'Clitocybe' salmonilamella CA - very similar but seems more likely to have an indented cap in age and may have a pink tinge to the gills and dries completely white (unlike most real Clitocybe), needs to move to Leucocybe. For more information, see that page.
Clitocybe PNW10 © Buck McAdoo, Jonathan Frank, and iNaturalist user solstice, 'Clitocybe' salmonilamella © Daniel Winkler
Little known species White gills and cap, hygrophanous or chalky - large spores 6-8u long
Clitocybe caperata ID - |
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Pseudolyophyllum - click to expand
medium sized former Clitocybe with grey-brown gills (and usually caps). Species mentioned: Pseudolyophullum glacialis, vibecina, pseudodicolor, coniferophila, amarescens, madefacta, concava, brunneoceracea, murina, pungens, ditopa, subditopoda, metachroa.
Snowbank Clitocybe Clitocybe glacialis WY - found in spring at elevation near snow, chalky white when fresh, revealing grey flesh below when rubbed or in age, it can undergo quite a transformation. This abundant species is one of the most recent sequences obtained on this page. It is related to C. 'amarescens PNW11, CA01 and C. brunneoceracea, which it resembles (strongly hygrophanous and grey-brown gills).
unsequenced Clitocybe glacialis © Danny Miller
Watery grey-brown species, strongly hygrophanous, with grey-brown gills - many mushrooms matching this description are also found in the Lyophyllaceae. That's why Bigelow called this section Pseudolyophyllum. All of these match sequences identified as species that Bigelow keys out with grey-brown gills, so this is how I am going to treat them, but in practice you'll see the gills might look fairly white, complicating their easy identification. A key difference between species in Bigelow is how they smell, and whether the spores are large or small, something that has not yet been noted for all of our species and needs to be. Then we shall see what species Bigelow would have called them (see below for the full list). Clitocybe PNW06 (=Clitocybe coniferophila MI?) - it has been likened to C. vibecina and C. pseudodicolor (which have different odors, but both have large spores and a white spore print). Pablo Alvarado considers this to probably be C. coniferophila MI, describing it as buff to yellowish capped with a somewhat stocky and somewhat fibrillose stem shorter than the cap is wide. One local collection had a mild odor like C. pseudodicolor and C. coniferophila. Large spores, >6u long. Clitocybe 'amarescens PNW11' - a couple of WA sequences match Pablo's concept for Clitocybe amarescens, so perhaps this is that. It is described with a mild odor, bitter taste, and large spores with a pale yellow spore print. Locally, it was noted with a peculiar odor and mild taste. The large off-white spores, measured as 6-8x3.5-4u and 6-8x4-5u, do match. Perhaps this has been mistaken for the similar C. pseudodicolor EU (white spore print) or C. madefacta ID (vinaceous grey spore print). Clitocybe PNW16 - has surprisingly white gills for being in this genus. It is an interior grass species (ID and interior BC, sometimes grass with dung). In the EU this sequence has been called both C. metachroa and C. amarescens, both probably incorrectly. We have one collection from Idaho.
Clitocybe PNW06 © Buck McAdoo, Clitocybe 'amarescens PNW11' © Richard Morrison and Yi-Min Wang
Clitocybe PNW16 © Joe Matanzas Clitocybe CA01 (=Clitocybe metachroa EU?) - with no farinaceous odor, photos showing it is often but not always umbilicate, and with spores mostly >6u (5.5-7x4-4.5). This is many people's concept of C. metachroa, including He and the authors of the 2023 paper that created Pseudolyophyllum and designated it the type species. Others consider this to be Clitocybe vibecina, but they disupted that. One collection keys out to Clitocybe concava EU in Bigelow. Not every photo shows the dark grey-brown colours. The odor has been reported as "faintly pleasant" or "wood". A similar species is Tephroderma PNW01. Clitocybe PNW13 - this species, found once in WA, is closely related to Clitocybe amarescens and Clitocybe CA01. This suggests it has a mild odor (confirmed in this collection) and spores mostly >6u long. It has an umbilicate cap, meaning that like CA01, it is a candidate for being Clitocybe concava. I do not know how to tell it apart from CA01. Clitocybe PNW14 - one umbilicate collection from OR is 4-5 bp different in ITS than PNW13, mostly in ITS1, and may be the same or a different species. Clitocybe PNW15 - one umbilicate collection from WA is also 4-5 bp different in ITS from both PNW13 and PNW14, mostly in ITS1, and may be the same or a different species. Clitocybe PNW17 - one ID collection. It matches one UK sequence labeled 'Tephrocybe' mephitica, but doesn't match other EU sequences with the same name.
Clitocybe CA01 © Richard Morrison (2 images), Clitocybe PNW13 © Matthew Koons
Clitocybe PNW14 © Jordan Gates (2 images), C. PNW15 © Yi-Min Wang, C. PNW17 © Ed Barge
Clitocybe brunneoceracea Australia - sometimes clustered. A few WA collections match an Australian type area sequence and likely represent this species, not previously known from the PNW. It may have another name too if Bigelow found it here. It does have an odor, reported here as sweet, melon or cucumber, but described in Australia as "slight phosphorus like". The spores are described as 5.5-6x2.2u, in other words, in between large and small. However, the photo on the right had spores that measured 5-6x3-4u, and a subsequent WA collection had spores 6-7 x 3.5-4.5u.
Clitocybe brunneoceracea © Jacob Kalichman and Richard Morrison
Little known species Greyish-brown gills (this is how Bigelow keys them out but I can't vouch for how reliable a character this is).
Clitocybe murina WA - anise odor, with even bigger spores than C.
deceptiva. |
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Usually large, tricholomatoid mushrooms with adnexed, adnate or slightly decurrent gills, these have slightly coloured, warty spores. True Lepista are whitish and more often found in grass or along roadsides and trailsides than in the deep forest. Species mentioned: Lepista luscina, panaeola, subconnexa, caespitosa, praemagna, densifolia
Lepista luscina EU (=Lepista panaeola (panaeolus) EU, =Lepista subconnexa NY, =Lepista caespitosa EU) - a large, almost white species usually growing in grass, whose various names are due to various odors that different collections have had. This could be confused with Clitocybe brunneocephala, below, an even larger white mushroom with a short, thick stem, white spore print, and smaller warts on the spores that may be harder to detect. ITS DNA is the same for Lepista panaeola (sometimes spelled L. panaeolus), Lepista subconnexa, and Lepista caespitosa (which is not the same as Clitocybe caespitosa). Not everyone considers L. subconnexa to be conspecific with the others, but a NY type area sequence appears to be conspecific, and the sequence that doesn't match the other names is from some unknown part of the globe. The oldest name is Lepista panaeola. We don't have DNA of Lepista luscina yet, but the description is practically identical to the others, and it is now believed that it is an even older synonym. I would like EU DNA of L. luscina to prove it. Lepista praemagna SK/CO - very similar, with somewhat larger spores. We don't have DNA yet, but as the spores are somewhat larger, this might not be yet another synonym of the above. We need collections to find out if it is distinct, or the same as Lepista luscina which has smaller spores, or the same as Clitocybe irina which has larger spores (described under Collybia subgenus Crassicybe), or the same as Clitocybe brunneocephala which has similar sized spores (described under Collybia subgenus Leucocalocybe). Lepista densifolia EU - usually a smaller white mushroom (but not always) growing in the woods instead of grass, with smaller spores than L. luscina. When large it can be differentiated from C. luscina by its higher tendency to be in a forest instead of grass and smaller spores. When small, it can be differentiated from the many other small white Clitocybes by warty, coloured spores. Pablo Alvorado thinks he has figured out what sequences represent this species, and I am following him. We finally obtained a sequence of a WA collection confirming it is here. Lepista PNW01 - one BC collection has a unique sequence. It seems especially hygrophanous.
Clitocybe luscina (sequenced and unsequenced) © Andrew Parker (2 images), Lepista densifolia © Daniel Winkler, Lepista PNW01 © Anne Polyakov (2 images) |
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Formerly in Lepista, these are also whitish but are more often found in forests. Species mentioned: Lepista irina
Lepista irina EU - a large, white clitocyboid much like C. luscina, but usually growing in forests not grass. It has larger spores. Clitocybe irini var. luteospora is described as having yellowish spores, but I don't know if it is genetically any different. Pablo thinks he knows what sequences of this look like, and I am following him. Many supposed collections of this turned out to be C. luscina, because the spore size wasn't checked. We need local collections to find out if our reports are true or if we have been mistaking L. luscina for this as well. Bigelow reported it from Idaho, and he always checked the spores under a scope for his collections, so I am inclined to believe this could be here. |
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Formerly in Lepista (and also usually found in grass or along roadsides and trailsides), these are usually purplish, although some are white. Species mentioned: Collybia nuda, violaceifolia, glaucocana, tarda, sordida, personata, saeva, subalpina, brunneocephala, mongolica.
Clitocybe nuda EU - the blewit (for blue hat), this large mushroom is purple in the cap, gills, stem and flesh when fresh, and smells slightly citrusy (some say like Tang powdered orange juice). It's often an urban mushroom. It may be more common with hardwoods. Clitocybe violaceifolia OR - this lookalike has a distinct type sequence and is probably stockier with thicker cap flesh. It might be less urban. The type was reported on decaying wood. Reportedly, it will be more common with conifers and have a more unpleasant odor. We have matching sequences from CA and OR. In the PNW, the real C. nuda is more common, but down in CA, both might occur equally. Clitocybe glaucocana EU - a uniformly pale pink to lilac large blewit-like mushroom. We have a BC sequence that matches EU sequences, but no local, sequenced photo. Clitocybe personata EU (=Clitocybe saeva EU) - only the stem has purple tones when fresh. We have EU sequences, but no local sequences to prove it's really here as reported. Clitocybe subalpina WA - nothing really is known about this large vinaceous grey-brown roadside mushroom, or how to tell it apart from the above. I don't even know that it belongs in Lepista #3 but I'm treating it here because of the vinaceous tones and warty, coloured spores. We'll need a type sequence and modern collections. Clitocybe brunneocephala CA (=Leucocalocybe mongolica Asia) - usually in grass, this large white to tan capped mushroom with a short, thick stem is said to have the gestalt of a blewit with no purple at all, even when fresh. It has the same medium sized spores (between C. luscina and C. irina) as Clitocybe praemagna in Lepista #1 and looks very similar to all three. We have CA and matching WA DNA. It is probably most easily confused with Clitocybe luscina, above (known by many other names), but that mushroom is not quite as big, has a longer stem, and has a slightly coloured spore print and more prominent warts on the spores. Asian sequences of Leucocalocybe mongolica are basically the same, so the genus Leucocalocybe should be abandoned, and although Tricholoma mongolicum, the former name of Leucocalocybe mongolica, is an older name than Clitocybe brunneocephala, since this species needs a name in Clitocybe, Clitocybe brunneocephala is the proper name for it. Clitocybe sordida EU (=Clitocybe tarda MA) - a much smaller collybioid purplish-brown (but mostly in the gills) mushroom. West coast and east coast sequences of C. tarda match many EU sequences of C. sordida, which is probably the older synonym. The holotype sequence of Clitocybe tarda var. alcalina matches all of the above too, so it may not deserve distinct varietal status, at least as shown in ITS. At the time of this writing, Pablo Alvarado has a different concept of C. sordida. If that turns out to be correct, then our species should go by the name C. tarda.
Clitocybe nuda (cap faded) © Bruce Newhouse, C. violaceifolia © Alan Rockefeller, unsequenced C. glaucocana © Michael Beug
Clitocybe sordida © Ryan Downey, C. brunneocephala © David Arora and Edward Barge |
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Dendrocollybia - click to expand
Rare, unique LBMs with branches growing out of the stem. Species mentioned: Dendrocollybia racemosa, pycnoramella.
Dendrocollybia racemosa EU - long branches on the stem and round sclerotia. OR and BC sequences match most EU sequences and probably represent this species. Dendrocollybia pycnoramella n.p. - not yet described, it has shorter, denser side branches and lobed, elliptical sclerotia. It is only known from one collection in CA and one in OR. The OR sequence is 15% different in ITS from D. racemosa.
Dendrocollybia racemosa © Jenny Lippert, D. pycnoramella n.p. © Noah Siegel |
