Lepiota ochraceofulva

Image location: Naaldbomenpad, Kralingse Bos, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

A beautiful, but unfortunately not a very common species, with a Vulnerable status on our Red List (Arnolds & Veerkamp, 2008). Here’s the distribution in our country:

https://www.verspreidingsatlas.nl/0073550

Description:

Pileus: 22-40 × 10-12 mm; convex with decurved margin when young to plano-convex with broad, flattened umbo when mature; central velum patch velutinose (20x magn.), concentrically breaking up into smaller squamules towards margin, subsurface radially fibrillose; orangey-brown with ochraceous subsurface, velum darker than subsurface; no discolouration after bruising, although rubescent where animals have eaten.

Lamellae: Numerous, crowded, free from stipe; white at first, becoming orangey-brown (a day after picking) starting on the margin of the pileus; margins white at first, later darker orangey-brown; lamellulae present (l: 3).

Stipe: 24-36 × 6-8,5 mm; central, cylindrical, slightly bulbous base; velum similar to that on the pileus, forming a reddish-brown layer around the base, pulled apart upwards and gradually sparser, forming unconnected bands; incomplete cortina just above halfway of the stipe with squamulose margin; entirely fibrillose subsurface; whitish to pale reddish (appears to be blushing), more orangey at the apex; rubescent where animals have eaten.

Context: Firm, fairly thick in the centre of the pileus, becoming hollow in stipe; white, slightly browner in the stipe, rubescent/orangey where animals have eaten.

Microscopy: - Spores: Ellipsoid, but ovoid to amygdaliform in side view, very variable in shapes and sizes; smooth, granulose or guttulate inside; double-walled, apiculus prominent and eccentric. - Measurements (1000x; oil-im.; H2O; 1 sd=1,02 µm; n=12) - Spore stats.: (5,10) 6,80 (9,18) µm x (4,08) 4,55 (6,12) µm - Qav: (1,11) 1,50 (2,00)

Ecology: Terrestrial, mixed coniferous woods with Pinus, Picea and more, fairly thick humus and leaf litter layer, meso- to eutrophic sandy soil; sharing habitat with several Clitocybe spp., Lepista nuda, Macrocystidia cucumis, Lepiota cristata, Strobilurus sp. and Baeospora myosura.

Notes: I shared the collage of this collection in an Italian based facebookgroup, called “LEPIOTA e FUNGHI LEPIOTOIDI”, where I added the question: “Is this L. cortinarius or L. ochraceofulva?” The very kind Mario Di Giangregorio shared his thoughts, pictures and prints of descriptions for both species, which were sections from “Flore Mycologique d’Europe – Les Lépiotes – documents mycologiques hors série 3 – Lepiotaceae – Marcel BON – 1993”. I am very grateful for the help offered by the kind Mario!

For more information about this, see the observation page at Mushroom Observer. English | español | français | italiano | македонски | മലയാളം | português | +/−