Mycena nucicola
Mushroom Identification
🍽️ Mycena nucicola is considered inedible. Due to its tiny size and lack of significant flavor or scent, it's not suitable for culinary use. It's more of a fascinating find for mushroom enthusiasts than a mushroom for the kitchen!
🧢 Cap: Tiny, only 1.5-5 mm across! Starting off conical, it becomes more parabolical or hemispherical as it ages. The surface is white, often furfuraceous or floccose, turning smooth with age. Its texture can be translucent-striate when older, and it's shallowly grooved.
🌸 Gills: You'll spot 11-13 gills, which are white and adnexed. They don't always reach the stem, and have a convex edge.
🦵 Stem: Thin and delicate, reaching up to 30 mm long and 0.2-0.3 mm wide. The stem is cylindrical, often twisted, and turns from greyish to whitish as it matures. It's covered in fine hair, with a small, disappearing basal disc.
🔬 Microscopic Features:
Basidia: 4-spored, about 12-24 x 8-10 µm.
Spores: 8-10.5 x 4-5.5 µm, pip-shaped, amyloid.
Cheilocystidia: 15-26 x 8-16 µm, densely covered with short warts (excrescences).
Pleurocystidia: Absent.
🌳 Habitat: Mycena nucicola is a rare find, growing on fallen fruits of Corylus (hazelnut), twigs, or leaf litter. It’s mostly seen between summer and autumn, often hidden in moist forest litter.
💡 Fun Fact: Due to its tiny size and white color, this species can easily be overlooked.
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Arne Aronsen (CC BY-SA 3.0)