Spring Conecap and Psathyrellas..

A few agarics around – Psathyrella tephrophylla on soil/woodchip,  a Conocybe sp on soil near the North Lodge and a group of Psathyrella conopilus in their usual spot..

Firstly, Mr Conocybe…Cap: 3cm, light brown, darker in centre. Stipe: 3.5cm with ring (striate above). SP: brown. Basidia 4 spored.

There are a lot of species of Conocybe with little to choose between them and poor data available. This was quite robust – FoS led me to arrhenii then to C. hadrocystis in the small print (capitate GEC). Unresolved.

Next up is the medium agaric … which is actually a Psathyrella…Spore print was dark brown, no ring, gills adnexed and stem brittle led to Psathyrella (using Nichol).

Cap:7cm, brown – drying pale

Stipe: 7 x 0.8cm, white

Robust fruitbody, large spores and distinct GEC lead to Psathyrella tephrophylla (FoS). A new species for the Dene (we have now identified 40 species here).