Cudonia circinans

What You Should Know

Cudonia circinans can be distinguished by its irregular-round cap that is plump when wet, smooth to the slightly wrinkled underside, rubbery stipe, buff to beige coloration, and growth with Sitka spruce.

Grows scattered to gregarious in moss, thick duff, or well-rotted wood, primarily in Sitka spruce forests; locally common in the far north coast, uncommon south to Mendocino County; fall through spring.

Other names: Common Cudonia, Redleg Jellybaby.

Cudonia circinans Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Presumably saprobic; growing scattered to gregariously or in clusters on the duff of spruces and other conifers, and occasionally on well-rotted wood; late summer and fall; widely distributed in northern and montane North America.

2. Cap

   10–20 mm across; cushion-shaped to irregularly convex, with the margin curled under; upper surface bald, sometimes a little wrinkled; dry; creamy to pale pinkish tan; undersurface similar to the upper surface.

3. Stem

   15–30 mm long; 2–5 mm thick; dry; bald or very finely fuzzy near the base; often with longitudinal grooves or ridges which may extend onto the undersurface of the cap; brown to purplish tan; attached to copious underground, sulfur yellow mycelium.

4. Flesh

   Thin; insubstantial; not gelatinous.

5. Odor

   Not distinctive.

6. Chemical Reactions

   KOH negative on cap surface.

7. Microscopic Features

   Spores 35–40 x 1.5–2.5 µm; cylindric with one aciculate end and one end merely rounded; often a little curved; smooth; hyaline and multiguttulate in KOH. Asci 75–125 x 8–11 µm; fusiform, with subacute apices; hyaline in KOH. Paraphyses 75–150 x 2–3 µm; filiform; often exceeding the asci and curving or looping; apices varying from subacute to subclavate or merely rounded; smooth; hyaline in KOH.

Cudonia circinans Look-Alikes

1. Leotia lubrica

   Is similar, but with more yellow to yellowish-green coloration and is usually larger.

2. Pachycudonia monticola

   Is a mostly spring-fruiting, less yellowish species with shorter (18-24 microns) spores, normally with one or no crosswalls (as opposed to multiple cross-walls for C. circinans), (Trudell), P. monticola is pinkish-cinnamon to pinkish-buff to grayish brown, occurs mainly in spring and summer, and has smaller spores.

3. Cudonia grisea

   Is drab or dark gray and has smaller spores (18-22(24) microns long).

4. Leotia lubrica

   Is gelatinous, thicker-fleshed, and more brightly colored sometimes with green tints, and has different spores.

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Silver Leapers (Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Photo 2 - Author: Urmas Ojango (Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic)