Early June seems to be filled with lots of smallish, non-descript mushrooms (watchers?) in the Twin Cities area. Part one will be the really plain ones. Part II will feature a number of Inky Caps, plus some of the stand outs. I've divided the post up by spore print color for future reference.
Spring Agrocybe - Agrocybe praecox species cluster - dark brown spore print
Unknown mushrooms - dark brown spore print
The whitish material along the margin of the cap are remnants of the tissue the covered the gills before the cap fully opened (called a partial veil). A lot of species in the genus Psathyrella show this feature. They were also pretty tough, becoming even tougher upon drying. Mushrooms in the genus Psathyrella tend to be fragile. Maybe a species of Psilocybe. Though the genus name, Psilocybe, refers to the lack of a veil on the cap. Plus no blue staining which many species show.
They were growing in wood chips in the front lawn of a duplex down the street. I brought Adele with to photograph them. A guy poking around your yard with a kid looks fairly harmless; a guy by himself poking around your yard looks (with a camera) looks really suspicious.
Entoloma sp? - Pinkish Brown spore print
Growth on the ground and gills attached to the stem separate mushrooms in the genus
Entoloma from another pink-spored genus,
Pluteus.
Unknown Mushroom - White spore print
Unknown mushroom - no spore print obtained
These mushrooms have been in wood chips for about a week, without the caps opening. The gills, which are a gray-tinged whites are covered by a thick, fleshy veil. A species of
Stopharia perhaps?
These two were growing nearby. The same mushroom, just well aged, or a different species?
Lesson for the day - quality, not quantity; too many mushrooms, too few field notes.
