Leucocoprinus brebissonii

Description

Leucocoprinus brebissonii typically are thin-fleshed with a radially pleated cap and tendency to look collapsed with age, as if partially deliquescent. The center of its cap is very dark gray brown to almost black and the margin is white but decorated with small gray-brown to blackish scales. The gills are crowded and white and the stipe is slender and clavate, white with pinkish brown in the lower part, and bearing a white somewhat fragile ring that often is lost with age.

It was first described by Louis-Luc Godey in 1874 as Lepiota brebissonii, and moved to Leucocoprinus by Marcel Locquin in 1943. It is commonly called the skullcap dapperling due to its distinctive pattern on the cap. Until recently, this mushroom was only found in Europe but over the last few years has been identified in the Pacific Northwest.

Leucocoprinus brebissonii is suspected to be poisonous. Its taste and smell are nondescript.

Common names: Skullcap Dapperling.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   2 to 3 cm (3⁄4 to 1+1⁄8 in) starts out conical expanding to a plane in age, with a dark brown/gray center that breaks up and radiates outwards on a white and deeply striated background.

2. Stem

   The white stem of L. brebissonii is long and slender (4.5 to 6 cm (1+3⁄4 to 2+3⁄8 in) by 3 to 6 mm (1⁄8 to 1⁄4 in)), equal or slightly clavate. It usually has a ring present, but due to its fragile nature sometimes it is rubbed or washed off.

3. Gills

   Its gills are crowded, white and narrowly attached to the stem, but occasionally detach in age.

4. Spores

   The spores (9 to 12 µm x 5.5 to 7 µm) are white and have a pronounced germ pore, elliptical or almond shape.

5. Spore Print

   White.

6. Similar Species

   Leucocoprinus cepistipes is similar in stature, but the cap disc is cream to buff-brown and fruitbodies usually grow in small, subcespitose clusters.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: alan_rockefeller (Alan Rockefeller) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Debbie Klein (dejaklein) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Debbie Klein (dejaklein) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Peter Santerre (CC BY-SA 3.0)