Collared Parachute

Collared Parachute is a very common, tiny to small, pinwheel mushroom. It is sometimes called Pinwheel Mushroom, but that common name also applies to the fungus family Marasmiaceae to which it belongs. It occurs in Europe and North America. In the United States and southern Canada, it occurs east of the Great Plains and in the Pacific Northwest.

Collared Parachute is found from spring through fall, alone, in groups, or clustered, in deciduous and mixed forests and woodlands, in thickets, and around shade trees. It is especially abundant after rain. It grows on fallen twigs, branches, and woody debris of hardwoods, rarely on coniferous wood. It does not grow on fallen leaves. It gains its nutrients from decaying wood (saprobic).

In dry weather, the collared parachute mushrooms shrivel into a dried, almost invisible state. However, with the first drop of rain, they spring back to life, regaining their full size and shape. This "resurrection" ability often misleads people into thinking that new mushrooms have suddenly appeared, when in fact, they've been there all along, patiently waiting for the moisture they need to rehydrate.

The cap is white or whitish, it has a central depression, and it is deeply, radially pleated, parachute-like. This is the feature that gives the species the second part of its common name. It can be ⅛″ to ¼″ (4 to 20 mm) wide, but it is usually no more than ⅜″ (10 mm) wide. It is broadly convex at first, but at maturity, when viewed from the side, it appears flat with squarish sides. The surface is hairless and dry.

The gills are white or whitish and they are very widely spaced. They are not attached to the stem but to a tiny collar that encircles the stem. This is the feature that gives the species the first part of its common name.

The stalk is wiry, hollow, 1⁄16″ to 5⁄16″ (1.5 to 8.0 cm) long, and 1⁄32″ to 1⁄16″ (1 to 2 mm) thick. It is pale at first, but it soon turns mostly dark brown to black, remaining pale just at the top. There are sometimes stiff hairs at the base.

The flesh is thin. Edibility is unknown, but it is too tiny to be of value, and it sometimes leaves a bitter aftertaste.

The spore print is white or whitish.

Fungus (Marasmius capillaris) is very similar but it grows of decaying leaves, not decaying wood.