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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing basidia and basidiospores; ephemeral; clustered (mostly), or solitary; differentiated into a stipe and pileus with the hymenium underneath the latter (nearly always), or fan-shaped (and with the gills on top, in Stropharia squamosa); small to large; (0.5–)1–10(–12) cm across. The mature pileus convex, or parasol-shaped, or more or less flat or somewhat depressed. The fruit-bodies brightly pigmented to not brightly pigmented. The top of the pileus conspicuously patterned with scales, or not patterned with scales (often brown scales on lighter ground); white or whitish, or cream or yellowish to yellowish-brown, or reddish-brown, or light brown to dark brown, or olive, or yellow, or green. The pileipellis not forming continuous epithelium. The stipe bearing a ring but no volva, or with neither ring nor volva. The hymenium borne on gills; not thickening. The hymenophore adnexed to decurrent. The hymenophoral trama not bilateral. Cystidia present (often), or absent (?); commonly chrysocystidia. The basidia ‘unmodified’. The basidiospores ballistosporic; yellow-brown, or fuscous to blue-black; usually smooth; with a germ pore.
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. Parasitic, or saprophytic. Coprophilous (e.g., Deconica coprophila), or neither coprophilous nor particularly associated with decaying keratinous materials. The fruit-bodies borne on the ground, or on dead wood, or on living wood (with Pholiota destruens causing heart-rot). Found in grassy places, in broad-leaved woodland, in mixed woodland, in coniferous woodland, and in places modified by human activities.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. Deconica, Flammula, Hypholoma, Kuehneromyces, Melanotus, Pholiota, Pleuroflammula, Psilocybe, Stropharia.
World representation. 328 species; genera 7.
Classification. Basidiomycota; Basidiomycetes; Agaricomycetidae; Agaricales.
Comments. Some edible (and good: e.g., Kuehneromyces mutabilis). The pileipellis never epithelial.
Illustrations. • Stropharia aeruginosa, S. coronilla, S. hornemannii, S. semiglobata, S. squamosa (LH). STROPHARIACEAE. 1, Stropharia hornemannii; 2, Stropharia coronilla; 3, Stropharia aeruginosa; 4, Stropharia semiglobata; 5, Stropharia squamosa. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Hypholoma capnoides, H. fasciculare, H. lateritium, H. marginatum, H. rasicatum, H. udum (LH). STROPHARIACEAE. 1, Hypholoma lateritium; 2, Hypholma fasciculare; 3, Hypholoma capnoides; 4, Hypholoma udum; 5, Hypholoma marginatum; 6, Hypholoma radicosum. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Kuehneromyces mutabilis, Pholiota aurivella, Ph. highlandensis, Ph. lucifera (LH). STROPHARIACEAE. 1, Pholiota highlandensis; 2, Pholiota aurivella; 3, Pholiota lucifera; 4, Kuehneromyces mutabilis. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Pholiota adiposa, Ph. alnicola, Ph. astragalina, Ph. lenta (LH). STROPHARIACEAE. 1, Pholiota adiposa; 2, Pholiota lenta; 3, Pholiota alnicola; 4, Pholiota astragalina. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Pholiota flammans, Ph. populnea, Ph. squarrosa, Psilocybe coprophila, P. montana, P. semilanceolata (LH). STROPHARIACEAE. 1, Pholiota populnea; 2, Pholiota flammans; 3, Pholiota squarrosa. 4, Psilocybe coprophila; 5, Psilocybe montana; 6, Psilocybe semilanceata. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Pholiota squarrosa: photo, A. Myers. • Kuehneromyces mutabilis and Pholiota jahnii (Berkeley). STROPHARIACEAE. 2, Pholiota jahnii (Tjall.) Beuk. & Bas; 3, Kuehneromyces mutabilis (Schaeff.) Singer and A.H. Sm. CORTINARIACEAE. 4, (Berkeley's Agaricus fastigiatus Fr.), cf. Inocybe rimosa (Bull.) P. Kumm.; 5, Inocybe rimosa (Bull.) P. Kumm.; 6, Inocybe trechispora (Berk.) P. Karst. BOLBITIACEAE. 1, Agrocybe praecox (Pers.) Fayod. From Berkeley (1860). • Stropharia squamosa, with Agaricaceae and Cortinariaceae (Berkeley). STROPHARIACEAE. 6, Stropharia squamosa (Pers.) Quél. CORTINARIACEAE. 1, Crepidotus variabilis (Pers.) P. Kumm. AGARICACEAE. 2 and 3, forms of Agaricus campestris L. (Field Mushroom); 4, Agaricus arvensis Schaeff. (Horse Mushroom); 5, Leucocoprinus cretaceus (Bull.) Locq. From Berkeley (1860). • Hypoloma fasciculare, with Coprinaceae and Bolbitiaceae (Berkeley). 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. PSATHYRELLACEAE. 3 & 4, Psathyrella candolleana (Fr.) Bertrand. 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’.
