Mycena inclinata
What You Should Know
Mycena inclinata is an inedible species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It has a reddish-brown bell-shaped cap up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in diameter. The thin stem is up to 9 cm (3.5 in) tall, whitish to yellow-brown at the top but progressively becoming reddish-brown towards the base in maturity, where they are covered by a yellowish mycelium that can be up to a third of the length of the stem. The gills are pale brown to pinkish, and the spore print is white.
It is widespread and has been found in Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australasia, and North America, where it grows in small groups or tufts on fallen logs and stumps, especially of oak.
Other names: Clustered Bonnet, The Oak-Stump Bonnet Cap.
Mycena inclinata Mushroom Identification
Ecology
Saprobic on the well-decayed wood of hardwoods; usually growing in dense clusters (but sometimes growing alone or scattered); spring and fall (or overwinter in warmer climates) widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, and occasionally reported on the West Coast.
Cap
1-5 cm; broadly conical, becoming broadly bell-shaped and usually retaining a central bump; vaguely lined or grooved radially; bald; tacky; the margin usually featuring tiny, fringe-like "teeth" when young, and in age often becoming somewhat tattered, or splitting; color variable (brown to yellowish-brown, brownish or tan, but often developing yellow stains and areas); fading to dingy whitish with exposure to sunlight.
Gills
Narrowly attached to the stem; close or nearly distant; sometimes with well-developed cross-gills when mature; whitish to pale grayish, sometimes becoming yellowish or pinkish in age; not bruising or staining.
Stem
5-10 cm long; 2-4 mm thick; equal; hollow; bald or with tiny fibers and flakes, especially when young; whitish near the apex, yellowish to yellow in the midsection, and brown to reddish-brown below.
Flesh
Insubstantial; pale.
Odor and Taste
Odor mealy to foul and mealy; taste mealy.
Chemical Reactions
KOH negative to brownish on cap surface.
Spore Print
White.
Microscopic Features
Spores 7-10 x 5-7 µ; amyloid; broadly elliptical; smooth. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia abundant; of the "broom cell" type, with rod-like projections and nodes. Pileipellis elements diverticulate, with short nodes and rod-like projections.
Mycena inclinata Look-Alikes
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Bears some resemblance to M. inclinata, but is only associated with decaying hardwood logs and stumps, and is found in eastern North America, and sometimes on oak on the West Coast. In age, it develops reddish spots on the gills that are not seen in M. inclinata.
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M. inclinata is often confused with the edible, a common species that is variable in cap color, size, and shape. M. galericulata typically has a bluntly conical cap that is dull gray-brown, and white to grayish veins that have numerous cross-veins.
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Has a ridged stem that is bluish-gray.
Mycena inclinata Taxonomy and Etymology
The basionym of this species was defined when, in 1838, the great Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries described the Clustered Bonnet and named it Agaricus inclinatus. Famous french mycologist Lucien Quélet transferred this species to its present genus Mycena in 1872, thereby establishing its currently accepted scientific name Mycena inclinata.
Synonyms of Mycena inclinata include Agaricus inclinatus Fr., Agaricus galericulatus var. calopus Fr., and Mycena galericulata var. calopus (Fr.) P. Karst.
The specific epithet inclinata comes from Latin and means 'curved inwards' or 'sloping inwards', as the stem bases invariably are when these bonnet mushrooms form clusters.
Sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Strobilomyces (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
Photo 2 - Author: Stu's Images (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
Photo 3 - Author: Björn S... (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
Photo 4 - Author: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
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