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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
~ Coprinaceae
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing basidia and basidiospores; ephemeral; clustered (mostly), or solitary (e.g., Psathyrella plicatilis); differentiated into a stipe and pileus with the hymenium underneath the latter (the stipe usually white); small to medium sized (mostly), or large; 1–7(–8) cm across. The mature pileus convex, or parasol-shaped, or more or less flat or somewhat depressed. The top of the pileus conspicuously patterned with scales (brown on lighter, see especially Psathyrella caput-medusae), or not patterned with scales; cream or yellowish, or buff, or straw-coloured, or honey-coloured, or light brown, or dark brown. The pileipellis forming a continuous epithelium. The stipe bearing a ring but no volva, or with neither ring nor volva. The hymenium borne on gills (not deliquescent); not thickening. The hymenophore adnexed to decurrent (?). The hymenophoral trama not bilateral. The basidia ‘unmodified’. The basidiospores ballistosporic; fuscous, or brown-black, or blue-black (or purplish brown or black); smooth; with a germ pore.
The hyphae with clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, with a thin, electron-dense outer layer and a relatively thick, electron-transparent inner layer. The hyphae monomitic. The generative hyphae inflated. Spaerocysts not occurring among the context hyphae.
Ecology. Saprophytic. Neither coprophilous nor particularly associated with decaying keratinous materials. The fruit-bodies borne on the ground, or on dead wood. Found in grassy places, in heathland, in broad-leaved woodland, in mixed woodland, in coniferous woodland, and in places modified by human activities.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. About 105 species in Britain; Lacrymaria, Macrometrula, Parasola, Psathyrella.
Classification. Basidiomycota; Basidiomycetes; Agaricomycetidae; Agaricales.
Comments. This family represents breaking of the Coprinaceae on the evidence of molecular studies (Redhead et al., 2001). The current (2006) BMS list presents only the genus Parasola under this family, while simultaneously referring the (about) 95 Psathyrella species to it as well. Psathyrella (but not Parasola continues to appear under Coprinaceae.
Illustrations. • Lacrymaria lacrymabunda, Parasola (2 species), Psathyrella (4 species). PSATHYRELLACEAE. 1, Parasola plicatilis; 2, Parasola auricoma. 3, Lacrymaria lachrymabunda. 4, Psathyrella candolleana; 5, Psathyrella spadiceogrisea; 6, Psathyrella piluliformis. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Psathyrella (5 species) (LH). PSATHYRELLACEAE. 1, Psathyrella spadicea; 2, Psathyrella corrugis; 3, Psathyrella multipedata; 4, Psathyrella conopilus; 5, Psathyrella caput-medusae. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Hypoloma fasciculare, with Coprinaceae and Bolbitiaceae (Berkeley). PSATHYRELLACEAE. 3 & 4, Psathyrella candolleana (Fr.) Bertrand STROPHARIACEAE. 1, Hypholoma fasciculare (Huds.) P. Kumm. BOLBITIACEAE. 5, Panaeolina foenisecii (Pers.) Maire; 6, Panaeolus fimiputris (Bull.) Quél.; 7, Panaeolus semiovatus var. semiovatus (Sowerby) Lundell & Nannf. COPRINACEAE. 2, Lacrymaria lacrymabunda (Bull.) Pat. From Berkeley (1860).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2008 onwards. The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
