Psathyrella murcida (Fr.) Kits van Wav.

Diagnosis fuente:  PERSOONIA - Suplement - Vol. 2 - THE DUTCH, FRENCH AND BRITISH SPECIES OF PSATHYRELLA - 1985E. KITS VAN WAVEREN - Rijksherbarium, Leiden, The Nederlands
      Cap 15-35 mm, at first semiglobose, paraboloid or conico-paraboloid, later convex, not umbonate, sometimes fissured, rather firm, with smooth surface, dark reddish brown, warm ochre brown or date brown, striate up to half-way from margin, hygrophanous, drying out from centre via ochre (Mu. 7.5 YR 5/6, 5/8) to beige-ochre, cinnamon buff or alutaceous, darker at centre, rugulose to rugose, scarcely micaceous. Veil rudimentary, seemingly absent, leaving a few fibrils or wicker-works of fibrils near margin of cap and scattered fibrils on stem, Gills very broad (6—7.5 mm), not close, sometimes distant, blunt or sickle-shaped in front and then broader near stem, very broadly adnate, warm brown with chocolate hue or tobacco brown; edge white or concolorous near margin of cap and white towards stem, sometimes underlined with red. Stem 55—110x 3.5—6 mm, cylindrical, sometimes thickening near base, sometimes with a short pseudorrhiza, slightly flexuous, white or pale yellowish brown below, with satiny, finely longitudinally striate surface and pruinose apex, very hollow, lower part of cavity sometimes filled with loosely arranged floccose narrow tissue. Flesh of cap 2 mm thick in centre, rather firm, reddish brown, of stem not recorded. Trama of ‘washed’ gill distinctly brown or ochraceous brown (+ Mu. 10 YR 5/4) or slightly paler than Mu. 7.5 YR 5/4 in basal half, paler and greyer towards edge. Spore print sepia-chocolate.
     Spores 9-11 x 5.5—6.5 um (mean values 9.6—10.5 x 5.5—5.7 um: 3 collections, but see observations), ellipsoid, adaxially flattened, in water orange-brown or yellowish brown (Mu. 5 YR 4/8, 5/8) with red hue, in NH,OH 10% warm brown (Mu. 5 YR 4/4, 4/6), in KOH 5% sordid brown (Mu. 10 YR 4/3), not opaque, with very distinct germ pore (1.8—2 xm) and small hilar appendix. Basidia 17.5~25 x 8—10.5 um, clavate, 4-spored. Pleurocystidia 40-80 x 10-16(—17.5) pm, numerous, fusoid, lageniform or sublageniform pedicellate, thin-walled, colourless, sometimes with fairly long neck, with obtuse apex. Marginal cells: pleurocystidioid cheilocystidia 30-60 x 12.5-15 um, abundant, densely packed, intermixed with many spheropedunculate and clavate cells, 15-30 x 10-14 um; all cells thin-walled and colourless. Hymenophoral trama distinctly brown from membranal pigment, with few yellow hyphal septa and very few minute encrustations. Pileipellis a 2—3 cells deep layer of subglobose cells, 20-55 ym diam., pale brown in NH,OH 10%
HABITAT & DISTRIBUTION. — Terrestrial under Fagus.