Collybia sensu stricto



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    Collybia (Fr.) Staude, Schwamme Mitt.-Deutschl. xxviii, 119. 1857, nom. cons.

    Agaricus tribe Collybia Fries, Syst. Mycol. 1: 129. 1821.

    Collybia (Fr.) Kummer, Führ. Pilzk . 113. 1871.

    Collybia (Fr.) Quélet, Mem. Soc. Emul. Montbeliard, ser. II, 5: 92. 1872.

    Microcollybia Lennox, Mycotaxon 9: 187. 1979.

    Basidiomata membranous, typically arising from a sclerotium and/or growing on blackened fungous remains, usually pallid and canescent, rarely gray brown and then with short branchlets arising from the stipe (in Dendrocollybia racemosa distinguished on morphology and ribosomal gene sequences).

    Type species: Collybia tuberosa (Bull.:Fr.) Kummer



      Key to Species of Collybia sensu stricto  


    1. Stipe racemose (i.e., with short side branches); sclerotium black . . . . Dendrocollybia racemosa (IMAGE ONLY) (California, Oregon, Washington)

    1. Stipe not racemose; sclerotium brown, orange to yellow, if present . . . . 2

    2. Basidiocarps not arising from a sclerotium, usually growing from old agaric remains, rarely on humus . . . . Collybia cirrhata

    2. Basidiocarps arising from a sclerotium (may be buried in the substrate) . . . . 3

    3. Sclerotium lacrymoid, ellipsoid to ovoid, dark red brown; basidiocarps mostly on rotten agarics, rarely on soil or humus; cheilocystidia present but inconspicuous and scattered; pileocystidia absent . . . . Collybia tuberosa

    3. Sclerotium globose to subglobose, pale yellow to pale ochraceous orange; basidiocarps mostly on soil or humus, sometimes on agarics; cheilocystidia absent; pileocystidia present . . . . Collybia cookei



    Collybia cirrhata (Pers.) Quélet, Mém. Soc. Émul. Montbéliard, sér. II, 5:96. 1872. Micro features, Macro image

    Agaricus cirrhatus Persoon, Obs. Mycol. 2: 53-54. 1799.

    Microcollybia cirrhata (Pers.) Lennox, Mycotaxon 9: 193. 1979.

    Pileus 3-11 mm broad, convex with an inrolled to incurved margin when young, becoming convex to plane or slightly depressed on the disc with a decurved to straight margin in age; surface dry to moist, glabrous to somewhat canescent, mostly even, translucent striate at the margin, subhygrophanous, whitish, becoming a grayish orange (5B3) when watery or old, typically white a very faint pinkish flush when fresh; context whitish, very thin; odor and taste none. Lamellae adnate to slightly arcuate with a tooth, close to subdistant, thin, narrow to moderately broad, white to pinkish buff (5A2); edges even, not marginate. Stipe 8-25 mm long, 1(-2) mm thick, equal to slightly enlarged downward, flexible and filiform but not fragile; surface dry, whitish to grayish orange (5B4), faintly pubescent above, more so below, nearly strigose toward the base, frequently branched at the base into rhizomorph-like strands or with copious white mycelium, not arising from a sclerotium; interior becoming hollow.

    Spores 4.8-6.4 x 2-2.8(-3.5) µm, ellipsoid to sublacrymoid in profile, obovoid to ellipsoid or slightly subcylindric in face or back view, smooth, inamyloid, acyanophilous. Basidia 17.5-21 x 4.8-5.6 µm, clavate to subclavate, four sterigmate, not siderophilous. Hymenial cystidia absent. Lamellar trama interwoven to subparallel, inamyloid; hyphae 2.8-8.4 µm in diam, smooth. Pileus trama interwoven beneath the disc of pileus, more or less radially oriented over the lamellae, inamyloid; hyphae 3.5-8.4 µm in diam, smooth, but with slightly, irregularly thickened walls. Pileipellis a poorly differentiated layer of repent, radially arranged, mostly cylindric hyphae, often with a subgelatinous matrix above; cells 2.8-6.4 µm in diam, smooth, thin.walled, with scattered, short diverticulate branchlets. Stipitipellis a layer of parallel, vertically oriented hyphae; cells 3.5-4.2 µm in diam, smooth, slightly thick walled, pale yellow brown in alkali, giving rise to a vesture of tangled, branched, multiseptate caulocystidia, 2.8-4.8 µm in diam, smooth, thin walled, cylindric to cylindric contorted. Clamp connections present in all tissues.

    Habit, habitat, and distribution: Gregarious on blackened fungous remains, on rich humus or well decayed wood in conifer and hardwood forests. Appearing during July, August, and September, or occasionally in November.

    Discussion: Collybia cirrhata is the one member of Collybia which does not produce a sclerotium. Thus, it is easy to distinguish from Collybia cookei, C. tuberosa, and C. racemosa. Usually, C. cirrhata occurs on blackened fungous remains or on humus in close proximity to such a subtrate. Occasionally however, a blackened fungus is not apparent, and the basidiocarps seem to be arising directly from humus. Spore deposits are difficult to obtain in this species as well as others in the genus. Lennox (1979) reported that C. cirrhata has a whitish colored spore deposit.



    Collybia cookei (Bres.) Arnold, Mycologia 17: 413. 1935. Micro features

    Collybia cirrhata var. cookei Bresadola, Icones Mycol. 5 (suppl. 2): 206. 1928.

    Microcollybia cookei (Bres.) Lennox, Mycotaxon 9: 194. 1979.

    Pileus 2-7 mm broad, convex with an incurved to inrolled margin when young, becoming planoconvex to plane or somewhat depressed on the disc, with a decurved or straight margin in age; surface dry or moist, subhygrophanous, minutely fibrillose to subtomentose, subglabrous and canescent with age, even to rugulose (with a lens), striate on the margin, whitish to pinkish buff or orangish gray (5A3, 5B3,2) at first, fading to a more or less uniform sordid whitish color overall; context very thin, concolorous with the pileus surface; odor and taste none. Lamellae adnate to slightly subdecurrent, close to subdistant, moderately broad, thin, white to pinkish buff (5A3,2); edges even. Stipe 4-50 mm long, 1(-2) mm thick, equal, flexuous and filiform, pliant fibrous; surface dry, pruinose above, thinly pubescent below, strigose from strands of rhizomorphs near the base, cinnamon buff (5B5,4; cinnamon buff) above, somewhat darker below; interior byssoid, eventually hollow in age; arising from a yellowish, ochraceous to orangish (53. m. 0; 54. br. 0; 71. m. OY; 5,6B6; ochraceous buff) sclerotium, 5-10 x 4-8 mm, globose to subglobose to amygdaliform, sometimes highly irregular in outline; surface often rugose and pitted to somewhat gyromitroid; interior solid, whitish.

    Spores 4.5-5.6(-6.4) x 2.8-3.5 µm, short ellipsoid to lacrymoid in profile, ellipsoid to obovoid in face or back view, smooth, inamyloid, acyanophilous. Basidia 14-21 x 4.2-5.6 µm, subcylindric to clavate, four sterigmate, not siderophilous. Hymenial cystidia absent. Lamellar trama interwoven, inamyloid; hyphae 2.8-10.5 µm in diam, sometimes inflated up to 14 µm, smooth, thin walled. Pileus trama interwoven under the disc of the pileus, radially oriented over the lamellae, inamyloid; hyphae 4.2-10.5(-14) µm in diam, smooth, thin walled. Pileipellis a thin layer of generally radially oriented, repent, cylindric and subgelatinous hyphae; cells 3.5-7 µm in diam, occasionally with short, diverticulate knobs, with scattered end cells or intercalary branches forming pileocystidia. Stipitipellis a layer of parallel, vertically oriented hyphae; cells 3.5-5.6(-7) µm in diam, smooth, moderately thin walled, pale yellowish brown in alkali, giving rise to a scant vesture of caulocystidia, up to 55 µm long, cylindric contorted, smooth and thin walled. Clamp connections present in all tissues.

    Habit, habitat, and distribution: Gregarious on blackened fungous remains, in rich humus, or well decayed wood of mixed conifer-hardwood forests. Appearing during July through September and into early October.

    Discussion: Collybia cookei, originally described as a variety of Collybia cirrhata (Bresadola 1928), was determined by Arnold (1935) to be a distinct species after performing exhaustive cultural studies. In her experiments, she discovered that C. cookei had tetrapolar sexuality and was not compatible with cultures obtained from collections of C. cirrhata. Furthermore, Arnold reported that sclerotia were formed in culture which closely resembled those found in nature. Collybia cirrhata never formed sclerotia in culture. Macroscopically, C. cookei can be separated from C. tuberosa by the differently shaped and paler-colored sclerotium. Occasionally, the sclerotia can be overlooked as they are sometimes buried in the substrate. In addition, pileocystidia are absent in C. tuberosa but are present in C. cookei, although these structures are not always present in every section of the pileipellis.



    Collybia tuberosa (Bull.:Fr.) Kummer, Führ. Pilzk. 116. 1871. Micro features

    Agaricus tuberosus Bull.: Fr., Syst. Mycol. 1: 133. 1821.

    Microcollybia tuberosa (Bull.:Fr.) Lennox, Mycotaxon 9: 196. 1979.

    Pileus 2-7(-10) mm broad, obtusely convex to pulvinate with an incurved margin when young, becoming planoconvex to plane in age, with a decurved to straight margin, sometimes shallowly depressed on the disc; surface dry to moist, glabrous to pubescent, subhygrophanous, occasionally plicate striate at margin, pinkish buff (SA3,2; pinkish buff) on the disc, whitish elsewhere, becoming more or less whitish overall with age; context thin, whitish to light buff; odor and taste none. Lamellae adnate, somewhat subdecurrent with age, close to subdistant, thin, narrow to moderately broad, whitish to pinkish buff (5A2); edges even and straight. Stipe 10-50 mm long, usually 1 mm or less in thickness, rarely 2 mm thick in robust basidiocarps, generally equal, often flexuous, filiform, fibrous pliant; surface dry, furfuraceous to pruinose at the apex, pubescent to strigose at the base, whitish to pinkish buff (5A2), somewhat darker after handling; interior pithy, becoming hollow; arising from a dark red brown (8,9,10E-F8) sclerotium, lacrymoid to fusoid ventricose, occasionally subellipsoid to subglobose, 3-12 x 2-5 mm; surface even, becoming wrinkled or furrowed with age; interior solid, white.

    Spores 4.2-6.2 x 2.8-3.5 µm, ellipsoid to lacrymoid in profile, obovoid to ellipsoid or cylindric in face or back view, smooth, inamyloid, acyanophilous. Basidia 15.4-21 x 3.5-5 µm, clavate to cylindric, not siderophilous. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia scattered to infrequent, inconspicuous, 17.5-31.5 µm long, cylindric contorted, subclavate to irregularly diverticulate. Lamellar trama interwoven, inamyloid; hyphae 2.8-6.4 µm in diam, smooth and thin walled. Pileus trama interwoven below the pileus disc, radially oriented over the lamellae, inamyloid; hyphae 2.8-7 µm in diam, smooth, thin walled. Pileipellis a thin layer of more or less radially oriented, repent, cylindric and somewhat subgelatinous hyphae; cells 2-5 µm in diam, smooth, thin walled, occasionally diverticulate. Stipitipellis a layer of parallel, vertically oriented hyphae; cells 2-4.2 µm in diam, pale yellowish brown in alkali, smooth, thin walled, giving rise to a tangled vesture of caulocystidia, 3.5-7 µm in diam, flexuous cylindric to somewhat contorted, moderately thin walled, smooth, hyaline in alkali. Clamp connections present in all tissues.

    Habit, habitat, and distribution: Gregarious on blackened fungous remains, occasionally on humus of conifers and hardwood. Common and widely distributed in the northeast during summer and autumn.

    Discussion: Collybia tuberosa is distinguished mainly by the presence of a reddish brown sclerotium which strongly resembles an apple seed in size and shape. Typically, C. tuberosa can be found growing on the blackened remains of old agarics, polypores, hydnums, and boletes. However, it will occur on leaf and needle humus in mixed forests. In addition to the sclerotium characters, ancillary diagnostic features are the presence of cheilocystidia and a lack of pileocystidia. These distinguish it from C. cookei and C. cirrhata.

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