17 October 2020 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Synonymns Inocybe splendens var phaeoleuca Cap Bell shaped, expanding with age, sometimes with a central bump, radially fibrous, sometimes splitting radially to reveal paler flesh beneath, dark brown, to about 5 cm across Gills Broad, crowded, adnexed, whitish then pale brown, edges whitish Stem Equal, slender, white when young, then pale brown from the base upwards, pruinose at the apex Flesh Whitish Smell Faint Taste Do not taste Season Late summer to autumn Distribution Infrequent Habitat With deciduous trees especially beech Spore Print Walnut-brown Microscopic Features Spores almond shaped, smooth (9-12) x (5.5-6.5) µm2. Basidia club shaped, four spored. Gill edge cystidia mostly spindle shaped with a long neck and apical crystals, some balloon shaped. Gill face cystidia spindle shaped with a long neck and apical crystals. Stem cystidia spindle shaped with a long neck mostly with apical crystals, some balloon shaped. Edibility Poisonous Notes DNA analysis has shown that Inocybe phaeoleuca and Inocybe splendens are distinct species and not varieties of the same species as was once thought. 
Spores in Melzer's solution viewed with a x100 immersion objective. 17 October 2020 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. 
Gill face cystidia in Congo Red solution viewed with a x40 objective. 17 October 2020 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. 
Gill edge cystidium in Congo Red solution viewed with a x40 objective. 17 October 2020 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. 
Cystidia from the stem apex in Congo Red solution viewed with a x40 objective. 17 October 2020 Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. |