Wrinkled Psathyrella

not listed

not listed

not listed

Wrinkled Psathyrella is a medium-sized gilled mushroom. It occurs in western Europe and eastern United States. It is uncommon in Minnesota, where it reaches the western extent of its range. From July through September, it appears alone, scattered, close together but not in clusters (gregarious), or in clusters, in forests and woodlands. It grows on dead and already decayed hardwood, on mulch, and on woody debris. It obtains its nutrients from dead wood (saprobic).

When it first appears, the cap is cone-shaped to bell-shaped, dark brown to dark reddish-brown, and lined (striate) on the margin. When wet it is opaque, but as it dries out the drier tissue becomes light yellowish-brown and unevenly transparent. When the edge of the cap dries the gills on the underside show through. The upper surface is sometimes covered with white hair-like fibers (fibrillose). There are often white tissue fragments, remnants of the partial veil, hanging from the margins. As it ages it first becomes convex then flattens out, sometimes retaining a broad raised knob in the middle (umbonate), and fades to brownish or tan. The mature cap is 1¼″ to 4″ (3 to 10 cm) in diameter. The upper surface is coarsely, radially wrinkled.

The gills are pale brown at first, becoming dark brown with age. They are broadly attached to the stalk (adnate) and medium-spaced apart. The edges become minutely fringed and sometimes whitish with age.

The stalk is 2⅜″ to 4″ (6 to 10 cm) long 3⁄16″ to ⅝″ (5 to 15 mm) thick. It is hollow and whitish when young, becoming brownish below. The upper part is covered with white powdery particles (pruinose), and the base is usually covered with long, white, thread-like fibers (mycelium). There is no true ring of tissue but there are sometimes remnants of the partial veil loosely clinging to the stalk.

The flesh is pale brown, thin, fragile, and watery. It is edible but the taste is not distinctive. Eating is not recommended due to the difficulty in accurately identifying this species.

The spore print is purplish-brown to purplish-black.

Forests and woodlands

Decaying hardwood, mulch, and woody debris

July through September

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30.

This species was formerly classified as Psathyrella delineata. A recent phylogenetic analysis (Örstadius, et al., 2015) determined that Psathyrella delineata and Psathyrella canadensis were the same. Both were transferred to the new genus Typhrasa and became the single species Typhrasa gossypina.

Wrinkled-cap Psathyrella found growing out of fallen oak tree.

Share your video of this fungus.

Location: Hennepin County

Wrinkled-cap Psathyrella found growing out of fallen oak tree.