Psathyrella
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| Psathyrella | ||||||||||||
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 Psathyrella candolleana
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Psathyrella is a genus of mushrooms and is similar to the genera Coprinellus and Coprinopsis, usually with a thin cap and white stem. But the caps do not self digest as do those of Coprinellus and Coprinopsis. Some also have brown spores rather than black.
These fungi are often drab-coloured, difficult to identify, and inedible, and so they are sometimes considered uninteresting. However they are quite common and can occur at times when there are few other mushrooms to be seen.
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[edit] Characteristics
In order to identify the species it may be necessary to take into account the presence and nature of any veil remnants on cap (which may only be visible on very young fruiting bodies), the colour of young fruiting bodies, which is often more vivid than with older ones, whether the cap is hygrophanous (it can well be a translucent brown or ochre colour in a humid state but a pure opaque white on drying out), and the spore size and the presence and nature of cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia.
[edit] Symptoms of Poisoning
In the BBC series "Ray Mears' Wild Food", Gordon Hillman related an incident where he was accidentally given a sample of Psathyrella instead of edible mushrooms. After consuming the mushrooms, Hillman drank a beer & suffered an adverse reaction, suffering blue-and-white monochrome vision followed by memory problems and breathing difficulties. Hillman recovered after having his stomach pumped.
[edit] Species
- Psathyrella ammophila (dune brittlestem)
- Psathyrella candolleana (pale brittlestem)
- Psathyrella corrugis (red edge brittlestem)
- Psathyrella longipes
- Psathyrella piluliformis = P. hydrophila (common stump brittlestem)
[edit] References
- Marcel Bon : The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-Western Europe (Hodder & Stoughton, 1987). ISBN 0-340-39935-X
- Contu, M. and G. Pacioni. 1998. Amanita cistetorum and Psathyrella liciosae, two new Mediterranean species. Mycotaxon 69: 437-446.
[edit] External links
- The North American species of Psathyrella by Alexander H. Smith, 1972. (Full text of monograph.)
