Contumyces rosellus

What You Should Know

Contumyces rosellus is a small, white-spored mushroom with an infundibulate cap, striate-sulcate margin, and decurrent gills. Its vinaceous to pinkish-brown hues are an important distinguishing feature. In age, the cap may fade to a nondescript tan, but the gills and stipe usually retain some pinkish color.

Contumyces rosellus Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   0.5-2.0 cm broad, convex, becoming convex-depressed to infundibulate; margin incurved, then decurved to plane, sometimes appearing scalloped in age; surface glabrous, striate-sulcate to near the disc, vinaceous-brown, hygrophanous, fading to pinkish-tan, finally pale-tan; context thin, pallid; odor and taste mild.

2. Lamellae

   Gills long decurrent, close to subdistant, pale-pink, fading to pinkish-cream, pallid at maturity; lamelluae up to three-seried.

3. Stipe

   1.0-2.5 cm long, 1-3 mm thick, pliant, more or less equal, straight or bent, hollow in age; surface pruinose, becoming glabrous, colored like the cap, i.e. vinaceous to pinkish-brown, paler in age, often nearly tan; whitish tomentum at base; partial veil absent.

4. Spores

   9.0-10.5 x 4.5-6 µm, ellipsoid, smooth, inamyloid, contents granular, hilar appendage prominent; spore print white.

5. Habitat

   Scattered to gregarious in open areas, e.g. along trails and in sparse grass, often in moss; fruiting along the coast from mid-winter to spring; exact distribution unknown but probably widespread; occasional, locally common.

Contumyces rosellus Synonyms

1. Omphalia rosella J.E. Lange, 1930

2. Clitocybe rosella M.M. Moser, 1950

3. Omphalina rosella (M.M. Moser) M.M. Moser, 1953

4. Gerronema rosellum (M.M. Moser) Singer, 1973

5. Marasmiellus rosellus (M.M. Moser) Kuyper & Noordel., 1986

6. Jacobia rosella (M.M. Moser) Contu, 1998

7. Mycena carnicolor P.D. Orton, 1960

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Caleb Brown (Caleb Brown) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 2 - Author: Jacob Kalichman (Pulk) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)