Naucoria scolecina

Description

Mushrooms of the genus Naucoria are sometimes called aldercaps because many (but not all) of them grow under alder trees, often in swamps known as carr woodland. It is rare and found in many European countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Spain.

Common names: Cinnamon Aldercap.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   0.5 - 3.5cm across, convex becoming flattish but slightly umbonate; reddish brown, smooth at center; finely velvety towards the margin; faintly striate when wet; hygrophanous.

2. Gills

   Emarginate; moderately crowded; brown, becoming red-brown at maturity.

3. Stem

   Cylindrical, 2 to 8cm tall and 2 to 5mm diameter; yellowish brown to orange-brown sometimes with scattered white fibrils on the upper stem, becoming darker brown towards the base.

4. Spores

   Fusiform with finely roughened surface, 8-15 x 5-7μm.

5. Spore Print

   Rusty brown.

6. Cheilocystidia

   Urticoid/bottle-shaped, with a narrow and tapering apical neck, sometimes slightly capitate, 30-60 x 8-15μm.

7. Basidia

   Cylindrical; mostly or solely 2-spored..

8. Odor and Taste

   Not distinctive.

9. Season

   July to November.

Look-Alikes

1. Naucoria alnetorum

   Is distinguished by its tight gills and large warty spores.

2. Naucoria striatula

   May be a variant of the species that we present to you in this sheet, it is said to be long striated, but this is a highly variable and undefining character.

History

The basionym dates from 1838, when the great Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries described this little mushroom scientifically and gave it the binomial name Agaricus scolecinus. In 1875 the French mycologist Lucien Quélet transferred this species to the genus Naucoria, establishing its currently-accepted scientific name naucoria scolecina.

Naucoria, the genus name, comes from the Latin word Naucum meaning something slight or trivial. The specific epithet scolecina refers to the worm-like cheilocystidia on the gill edges of this mushroom.

Synonyms

1. Agaricus scolecinus Fr.

2. Alnicola badia Kühner

3. Naucoria phaea Kühner & Maire

4. Alnicola scolecina (Fr.) Romagn

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: natteheks (CC BY-NC 4.0)