Lichenomphalia umbellifera

Description

Lichenomphalia umbellifera is a species in the Hygrophoraceae (mushroom lichen) family. It is yellowish-tan and hygrophanous, and occurs throughout most of the year on damp soil and rotting wood. It can be found in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the region of the Arctic. Its cap grows up to 3 cm wide. Its stalk is 1–3 cm tall and 1–3 mm wide. The spores are white or yellowish.

The mycelium of Lichenomphalia umbellifera is symbiotically associated with the green alga Coccomyxa and forms tiny, granulose to globular bodies near the base of the agaric that were originally described as Botrydina vulgaris. Botrydina was considered a primitive lichen and has a complex arrangement of algal cells in a compact hyphal system.

Omphalina ericetorum and Omphalina umbellifera are synonyms, as are ericetorum and umbellifera combinations in various other genera, including Phytoconis.

The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Agaricus umbelliferus. It was transferred to Lichenomphalia in 2002.

Common names: Green-Pea Mushroom Lichen.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   5-15 mm broad, convex with depressed disc, infundibuliform in age, margin decurved, translucent-striate to sulcate. Surface dry, glabrous, cinnamon to brownish, yellowish in age. Odor and taste are indistinct.

2. Gills

   Decurrant, distant, moderately broad. Pale yellowish.

3. Stipe

   10–25 × 1–2 mm, cylindrical, glabrous above with white tomentum at the base. Apex vinaceous brown, paler below.

4. Flesh

   Thin; whitish; unchanging when sliced.

5. Odor

   Not distinctive.

6. Microscopic Features

   Spores 7–10 x 5–7 µm; ellipsoid to widely lacrymoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia 4-sterigmate; 35–45 x 5–7 µm; subclavate. Cystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis of hyaline to brownish, smooth elements 4–10 µm wide. Clamp connections not found.

7. Habitat

   Solitary to gregarious, typically on rotting conifer logs, occasionally in damp soil. It is rare south of Northern California, being common in the Pacific Northwest and north to the arctic.

8. Similar Species

   Include Chromosera cyanophylla, Chrysomphalina aurantiaca, Chrysomphalina chrysophylla, Contumyces rosellus, and Rickenella fibula.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: James Lindsey (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Photo 2 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Jason Hollinger (CC BY-SA 2.0)