Amanita prairiicola

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Amanita_prairiicola.html

Ecology: Saprobic, appearing in grasslands, growing alone or gregariously; originally described from Kansas; distributed in North America from the Great Plains westward to Colorado, the southwestern United States, and southern California; also known from Argentina. The illustrated and described collection is from Colorado.

Cap: 5-11 cm across; convex, expanding to broadly convex or planoconvex; dry; white to pale brownish, with brownish to grayish brown, flattened warts; developing cracks and fissures in arid conditions; the margin not lined.

Gills: Free from the stem or nearly so; creamy, becoming brownish when past maturity; close; short-gills frequent.

Stem: 5-9 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; fairly equal; dry; finely fibrillose; whitish to pale brownish; with a collapsing white ring; universal veil remnants present as brownish patches.

Flesh: White; unchanging when sliced.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Creamy white.

Microscopic Features: Spores 10-12 x 6.5-7.5 m; elongated-ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; amyloid. Basidia about 40 x 10 m; clavate; 4-sterigmate. Hymenial cystidia not found. Pileipellis not differentiated; cap surface a layer of smooth, hyaline elements 5-15 m wide, with velar sphaerocysts in chains.

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Lactarius maculatipes

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Lactarius_maculatipes.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks and possibly other hardwoods; summer and fall (November through January in Florida); originally described from Florida, but also collected in Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Illinois; probably to be expected throughout the oak forests of eastern North America.

Cap: 3-10 cm; broadly convex with an inrolled margin when young; becoming shallowly depressed or vase-shaped with an uplifted margin; slimy when wet; smooth or finely roughened; whitish to pale yellowish; typically with vague zones of color or texture, at least when young.

Gills: Beginning to run down the stem; close or crowded; pale yellowish; typically bruising tan.

Stem: 3-8 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; tapering to base; slimy when fresh or wet; usually with yellowish potholes by maturity; whitish.

Flesh: White; firm; appearing to yellow when sliced, due to the milk.

Milk: White, becoming yellow on exposure to air (usually quickly, but originally described by Burlingham (1942) as taking from 10 minutes to an hour to change color; staining white paper yellow.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive; taste acrid (sometimes developing slowly).

Spore Print: Yellowish.

Chemical Reactions: KOH greenish yellow on cap surface.

Dried Specimens: Dried caps, stems, and gills are bright, golden brownish orange. The oldest specimens in my herbarium have retained this color for 16 years--and Gertrude Burlingham's 1941 type collection for the species is still this color in online records.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6.5-9 x 6-7.5 ; broadly ellipsoid or occasionally subglobose; ornamentation 0.5-1 high, as amyloid warts and connecting lines that branch into short patterns but do not form complete reticula. Pleuromacrocystidia scattered; subcylindric to subfusiform; to about 55 x 8 . Cheilocystidia abundant; subcylindric to fusiform; to about 50 long. Pileipellis a very thick ixocutis.

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Chalciporus piperatoides

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Chalciporus_piperatoides.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods and conifers; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall (also over winter along the West Coast); possibly widely distributed, but more common in northern and montane areas.

Cap: 3-8 cm; convex or slightly conic, becoming broadly convex; sticky when fresh, but soon dry; bald or very finely velvety when young; shiny; dull red to reddish brown or dull pinkish tan, fading to tan.

Pore Surface: Dull brownish orange to dull reddish; bruising blue, then slowly resolving to dark reddish brown; 1-2 pores per mm near the margin and when young, becoming larger and irregular to angular near the stem and with age; tubes to 5 mm deep.

Stem: 4-8 cm long; 0.5-1.5 cm thick; more or less equal; dry; colored like the cap; bald; base with bright to dull yellow mycelium.

Flesh: Yellowish in the cap; brighter yellow in the stem; bluing erratically when sliced, or not bluing.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive; taste strongly peppery or bitter.

Chemical Reactions: Ammonia reddish brown on cap surface; brownish on flesh. KOH black on cap surface; brown on flesh. Iron salts negative on cap surface; negative on flesh.

Spore Print: Olive.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-8 x 2.5-3.5 ; smooth; subfusoid; yellowish in KOH. Hymenial cystidia fusoid to fusoid-ventricose; to about 75 x 12 . Trama of tubes faintly and erratically greenish-amyloid when dried specimens are studied. Pileipellis a tangled layer of cylindric elements 6-12 wide; terminal elements with rounded to subacute apices; hyaline to yellowish.

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Pluteus atromarginatus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Pluteus_atromarginatus.html

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying conifer wood; growing alone or scattered; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America. The illustrated and described collection is from Arkansas.

Cap: 4-7 cm across; convex at first, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat--but often featuring a broad central bump; dark blackish brown to nearly black; with pressed-down, streaked fibers and often, over the center, small and inconspicuous scales.

Gills: Free from the stem; close; whitish at first, becoming pink; short-gills frequent; with dark brown or nearly black edges from the margin to the stem.

Stem: 4-7 cm long; up to 1 cm thick; with a slightly swollen base; dark brown; longitudinally fibrillose.

Flesh: Whitish; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Pink.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-7.5 x 4-5 ; broadly ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline and uni- to multiguttulate in KOH; inamyloid. Cheilocystidia cylindric to clavate or subcapitate; to 50 x 10 ; thin-walled; with brown contents. Pleurocystidia thick-walled; at first merely widely lageniform, but soon developing 2-4 apical hooks; 50-100 x 10-25 ; hyaline in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis. Clamp connections present.

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Leucocybe candicans

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Leucocybe_candicans.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing scattered or gregariously in leaf litter under hardwoods or, less frequently, in needle duff under conifers; summer and fall; originally described from England (Bolton 1788); widely distributed in Europe and North America. The illustrated and described collection is from Illinois.

Cap: 1-2 cm across; convex, becoming broadly convex with a central depression; thin; moist or dry; at first with a hoary covering, but soon bald; faintly yellowish to grayish, becoming white; the margin not lined.

Gills: Beginning to run down the stem; close; short-gills frequent; white; becoming dull, pale yellow when dried for the herbarium.

Stem: 2-3.5 cm long; 2-3 mm thick; more or less equal; bald; whitish; with copious white basal mycelium.

Flesh: Thin; whitish; not changing when sliced

Odor: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative to yellowish on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Details: Spores 3.5-5 x 2-2.5 m; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia 28-30 x 4-5 m; subclavate; 4-sterigmate. Cystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis or ixocutis of elements 2.5-7.5 m wide, smooth, hyaline in KOH; clamp connections present.

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Amanita submaculata

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Amanita_submaculata.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer through fall; originally described from North Carolina (Peck 1900); probably widely distributed east of the Great Plains; reported from the Caribbean and Central America. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina.

Cap: 4-10 cm; egg-shaped to convex at first, expanding to planoconvex or nearly flat; tacky when fresh and young but soon dry; bald; dark gray-brown at first, becoming grayish brown with a darker center and a paler margin, with the pigment radially streaked; often developing whitish streaks and small spots as the pigment separates; sometimes with small, whitish to grayish warts, especially over the center and when young; the margin not lined, or slightly lined at maturity.

Gills: Free from the stem or slightly attached to it; close or nearly crowded; with frequent short-gills; white; rarely bruising reddish.

Stem: 5-15 cm long; 0.5-2 cm thick; tapering slightly to apex; often, but not always, with a slight basal bulb; with an ample white ring that is usually attached at the very apex of the stem, hanging skirtlike; whitish under brownish fibrils; rarely bruising and discoloring reddish, especially near the base (see discussion above); base often featuring loosely adhering fragments or ringlets of whitish to gray universal veil material.

Flesh: White; not staining on exposure.

Odor: Sweetish and fruity, or not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative to slightly yellowish on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5-10 x 4.5-7 m; ellipsoid or broadly ellipsoid, with an apiculus; smooth; amyloid. Basidia 25-30 x 6-8 m; clavate; 4-sterigmate; without basal clamps. Hymenial cystidia not found. Pileipellis an ixocutis of elements 2-7.5 m wide, hyaline in KOH. Lamellar trama bilateral; subhymenium inflated-ramose. Veil sphaerocysts 10-20 m; subglobose; smooth; hyaline in KOH.

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Volvopluteus gloiocephalus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Volvopluteus_gloiocephalus.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing terrestrially, alone or gregariously in urban settings and disturbed ground (landscaping, ditches, beaches, lawns, gardens, and so on)—and, east of the Rocky Mountains, sometimes in forests; found year-round, depending on the climate; widely distributed in North America, though some records of it from east of the Rocky Mountains may represent other similar species, including the smaller-spored Volvopluteus michiganensis. The illustrated and described collections are from California and Illinois.

Cap: 5-10 cm across; convex becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; sticky when fresh and young but often soon dry; bald; color variable (see discussion above), white to grayish or gray, discoloring brownish to yellowish with age; when gray, with a radially streaked, appressed-fibrillose appearance; the margin sometimes finely lined.

Gills: Free from the stem; close or nearly crowded; short-gills frequent; white at first, becoming brownish pink with maturity.

Stem: 6-13 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; tapered to apex; base slightly swollen; dry; bald or finely silky; white, discoloring brownish; without a ring; the base encased in a white, cup-like volva; basal mycelium white.

Flesh: White; not changing when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive, or a little foul.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: Brownish pink.

Microscopic Features: Spores 13-19 x 7-10 m; ellipsoid; thick-walled; smooth; hyaline to yellowish in KOH. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia 50-80 x 20-40 m; widely lageniform, widely cylindric with a rounded apex, subsaccate, or sphaeropedunculate; sometimes mucronate or rostrate (see discussion above); smooth; hyaline in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis of elements 5-12.5 m wide, smooth, hyaline in KOH, under a very thin gelatinous matrix. Clamp connections not found.

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Cortinarius distans

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Cortinarius_distans.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods, especially oaks and, in my experience, hickories; growing alone or gregariously; common in spring and early summer, but appearing through fall; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains (see comments below for western collections).

Cap: 2-7 cm; bell-shaped to conical, becoming broadly bell-shaped or convex; moist when fresh; usually finely grainy or scaly, at least when young; orangish brown, changing color markedly as it dries out and becoming dull orangish tan; the margin at first whitish, often splitting in age.

Gills: Attached to the stem, often by a notch; distant; pale brownish to nearly yellowish at first, becoming cinnamon brown; initially covered by a white cortina.

Stem: 4-8 cm long; up to 1.5 cm thick; equal or club-shaped (especially when young); finely silky; brownish, with a paler apex when young; often with a white ring zone; basal mycelium whitish.

Flesh: Whitish when young but soon brownish; becoming crumbly in the stem with age.

Odor: Radishlike, sweetish and fragrant, or not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface slowly dark reddish brown.

Spore Print: Rusty brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-9 x 4-6 ; ellipsoid, often with one subfusoid end; moderately to finely ornamented; dextrinoid; orangish brown in KOH. Cheilo- and pleurocystidia absent. Pileipellis a cutis.

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Lysurus cruciatus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Lysurus_cruciatus.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously, usually in urban habitats (lawns, landscaping, gardens, and so on); widely distributed in North America; also known from South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia; summer, or, in warm climates, year round. The illustrated and described collections are from Colorado, Washington, and New South Wales, Australia.

Fruiting Body: Initially a whitish "egg" up to 2 cm wide and 3 cm high; emerging to form a mushroom with a stem and a head. Stem 3-6 cm long; 0.5-1 cm thick; whitish to pale orange; round in cross-section; more or less equal; pocketed; spongy and soft; hollow; base encased in a white volva that is attached to white rhizoids. Head consisting of 4-7 short arms 1-2 cm long, initially folded inward with tips touching, but with age separating and standing individually; arms tightly wrinkled in concentric accordion-like folds; narrowed to a point at their tips; hollow; dark to pale orange; at first with a longitudinal "seam" on the outer edge—but with development the seam opens up to form a flat, sterile surface; elsewhere the young, fresh arms are coated with malodorous, dark brown spore slime.

Microscopic Features: Spores 2.5-4 x 1.5-2 m; elongated-ellipsoid to subcylindric; smooth; hyaline to yellowish in KOH; inamyloid; not cyanophilic. Context sphaerocysts 10-60 m; subglobose to irregular; walls 1 m thick; hyaline in KOH. Volval tissue composed of parallel hyphae 2-6 m wide, frequently septate, clamped at septa, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline in KOH.

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Hydnum repandum

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Hydnum_repandum.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods or conifers, especially spruces and beech; growing gregariously on the ground; summer and fall; widely distributed in Europe. The illustrated and described collection is from northern Italy.

Cap: 6-15 cm wide; broadly convex, becoming planoconvex or flat; the margin inrolled at first, becoming wavy and broadly scalloped; dry; bald; becoming finely pocked; pale orange to nearly white.

Undersurface: Usually just beginning to run down the stem; covered with densely packed, soft spines that are round in cross-section and measure 2-5 mm long; creamy to very pale orange; not bruising.

Stem: 3-6 cm long; 1-2.5 cm thick; sometimes somewhat off-center; dry; smooth; whitish; not bruising.

Flesh: Whitish; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Sweetish, not distinctive.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-8 x 5.5-7 m; subglobose to broadly ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH. Basidia 4-sterigmate; 29-34 x 5-6 m; subclavate. Pseudocystidia 30-40 x 3-8 m; mostly cylindric with rounded apices, but occasionally irregular or sublageniform; thin-walled; smooth; hyaline in KOH. Pileipellis not clearly differentiated; cap surface hyphae tangled, 2-6 m wide, hyaline to ochraceous in KOH, with clamp connections.

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