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Parasola plicatilis
Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or scattered in grassy areas, usually in direct sunlight; summer and fall (and over winter in warmer climates); widely distributed in North America. Cap: 10-35 mm across at maturity; ovoid at first, becoming convex or bell-shaped, then flat; bald; deeply grooved from the margin nearly to the center; yellowish to orangish brown when young, becoming gray in the grooves and finally overall; without veil remnants. Gills: Free from the stem; close or nearly distant; whitish at first, becoming dark gray and eventually black. Stem: 35-100 mm long; up to 2 mm thick; equal above a slightly swollen base; fragile; hollow; bald or very finely silky; white; without a ring.
Habitat in grass on lawns at pathsides. Season spring to late autumn. Common. Edible – not worthwhile. Distribution, America and Europe.
Morphologically, Parasola plicatilis is very small (maxing out at 35 mm across when mature) and its cap is reminiscent of a tiny little umbrella. It has no universal veil, which means it lacks the dust-like or granulated coating of similar species in Coprinopsis and Coprinellus--but tiny, veil-covered species often look to the naked eye as though they have lost all traces of veil material by the time they are mature, so a microscope should be used to confirm the absence of veil remnants. The spores of Parasola plicatilis are its most distinctive feature: they are fat, angular, large (measuring about 10-13 x 8-11 µ), and feature an eccentric pore.
7 Comments
I do not believe this is Parasola plicatilis based on it's woody habitat (P. plicatilis is a grass lover), clustered growth habit and very brown colouration. As I said before it is another Parasola or Coprinellus species. Both genera have black spore-prints.
@shebebusynow - the spore print is almost black. I went back and collected another. upon closer inspection it is Parasola plicatilis.
thanks CorduneanuVlad, I was thinking the same thing and when I realized I messed up my initial measurements the size fits.
Probably one of the many other Parasola species similar to P. plicatilis. Could also be Coprinellus.
gorgeous shapes
Looks like Parasola plicatilis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasola_pl...
What color spore print?