Mycena corynephora

🏷️ Description

Among the damp moss and bark of deciduous woodlands in autumn, sharp-eyed foragers and mycologists might spot a miniature wonder — Mycena corynephora. First described by Maas Geesteranus in 1983, this delicate, inedible species is a member of the Mycenaceae family, quietly gracing the forest with its frosted-white, bell-shaped caps and fragile stature. Let’s take a closer look at this elusive species 🍂✨.

🗺️ Status and Conservation: Listed as Near Threatened (NT) in the Red List of Macromycetes of the Czech Republic (2024) due to its scattered distribution and specialized habitat requirements 🌿.

🌳 Where to Find It

This tiny mushroom grows singly or in small, gregarious groups on moss-covered bark of deciduous trees, sometimes on larger woody debris. It's typically found in autumn to early winter, most notably in the southern and western parts of Europe, including the UK and Denmark (Læssøe 2019). Though recorded in nearby regions, it has yet to be officially documented in Norway.

🔎 Identification

🧢 Cap: Measuring 0.08 to 0.24 inches (2 to 6 mm) in diameter, the cap is hemispherical to bell-shaped (campanulate) or slightly convex. It is white to off-white, with a greasy or finely scaly surface, sometimes translucently striate (see-through along the ribs), and covered in a furfuraceous or farinose coating—a fine, flour-like fuzz. The margin is fimbrate (hairy and fringed) and can appear wavy or scalloped.

🍖 Flesh: Thin, white, and brittle.

🍃 Gills: There are 7–14 gills, broadly adnate to slightly decurrent with a tooth—meaning they are attached squarely to the stipe and descend slightly with a small notch. Gills are white, spaced apart, and interspersed with shorter ones.

📏 Stem: Slender, 0.2 to 0.71 inches (5 to 18 mm) long and 0.004 to 0.04 inches (0.1 to 1 mm) thick, the stipe is cylindrical, curved to flexuous, slightly wider at the base but lacks a basal disc. It is white-puberulous (faintly hairy) above, and densely furfuraceous below, giving a frosty look. The color ranges from watery white to greyish white.

👃 Odor & Taste: Odor and taste are insignificant or mild, adding no culinary value.

⚪️ Spore Print: White

🔬 Microscopic Features

Spores: Globose to subglobose, 6–10 x 6–8 µm, smooth, amyloid (staining blue-black with iodine), average Q = 1.1–1.2

Basidia: Club-shaped (clavate), 17–28 x 9–13 µm, 4-spored, with sterigmata up to 4 µm

Cheilocystidia: 15–40 x 7–25 µm, club-shaped with numerous short cylindrical excrescences (up to 1.5 µm)

Pleurocystidia: Absent

Caulocystidia (on the stem): Extremely variable – 15–70 (up to 210) x 6–28 µm, obpyriform, clavate, or long-cylindrical, with spiny or thorn-like projections (up to 8 µm)

Pileipellis hyphae: 2–7 µm wide, terminal cells 16–60 x 9–27 µm, acanthocyst-like with spiny outgrowths (0.5–5.5 µm)

Clamp connections: Present on basidia, cheilocystidia, and some pileipellis elements—though rare.

👀 Look-Alikes

1️⃣ Mycena adscendens — distinguished by its basal disc, elliptical spores, smooth caulocystidia, and often beaked cheilocystidia.

2️⃣ Phloeomana alba and Hemimycena mairei — also small, white species with subtly different gill attachments and cystidia features.

3️⃣ Mycena alphitophora — usually greenhouse-bound and occurring on fern rhizomes.

🍽️ Edibility

Inedible. Like many tiny Mycena species, M. corynephora lacks both culinary value and palatability. It's best appreciated under a hand lens or microscope—not on a plate.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Daniel Ghyselinck (CC BY 4.0)

Photo 2-3 - Author: Michel Langeveld (CC BY 4.0)