Pa Mushrooms

 Psathyrella candolleana  (Fr.) Maire

Psathyrella candolleana

Cap:  Up to 5 centimeters wide, convex or bell-shaped, becoming somewhat knobbed, smooth, dry, golden-brown when damp to nearly white when dry, fragile, margin fringed with remnants of the inner-veil.

Gills: Attached, closely spaced, white, becoming light purplish-brown.

Stem:  Up to 8 centimeters in length by 6 millimeters wide, white, smooth, fragile.

Spore print:  Purple-brown.

Habitat: Grows on or near rotted wood or woody vegetative debris.

Season: Spring through fall.

Edibility: Edible.

Psathyrella conopilus (Fr.) A. Pearson & Dennis

 Psathyrella conopilus

Cap:  Up to 4 centimeters wide, conical or bell-shaped, brown to grey to tan to whitish, hygrophanous, radially striate, brittle.

Gills:  Attached, close, pale brown becoming blackish-brown.

Stem:  Up to 12 centimeters long, thin, white to yellowish, brittle. Gills are attached, close, pale brown becoming blackish-brown.

Spore print:  Blackish-brown.

Habitat: Found growing from soil and well rotted wood in grass or forests.

Season: Summer through fall.

Edibility: Unknown. Though this mushroom is likely to be edible as most Psathyrella probably are, mushrooms in this genus are not generally eaten whether for lack of taste/texture.

Psathyrella delineata  (Peck) Smith

Psathyrella delineata

Cap: 3 to 10 centimeters across, convex becoming broadly convex, sometimes becoming flat, smooth at first becoming wrinkled to nearly reticulate, finely hairy, reddish-brown at first becoming orange-ish tan or paler, whitish veil remnants hanging around the margin in younger specimens.

Gills:  Attached, close, light brown at first, turning dark brown.

Stem:  Up to 10 centimeters tall, by 2 centimeters wide, smooth to silky, whitish with brownish tones towards the base, fibrous, becoming hollow with age.

Spore print:  Dark purplish-brown.

Habitat: Grows on dead hardwood logs, stumps, and debris.

Season:  June through October.

Edibility: Caps are edible.

Psathyrella piluliformis  (Bull.) P.D. Orton

Psathyrella piluliformis

Cap:  2 to 5 centimeters wide, convex to nearly flat, tan to brown at first, discoloring reddish or yellowish at the center in older specimens.

Gills: Attached to the stem, close, light brown at first, turning grey to purplish-brown.

Stem:  Up to 8 centimeters long by 6 millimeters wide, smooth, whitish.

Spore print:  Purplish-brown.

Habitat: Fruits on rotten hardwood

Season: September through November.

Edibility: Caps are edible.

Psathyrella septentrionalis  A.H. Sm.

Psathyrella septentrionalis

Caps:  Up to 5 centimeters wide; conic to convex, becoming nearly plane in maturity; smooth; moist; reddish brown; frosted with whitish fibrils when young, particularly near the margin; margin adorned with tooth-like remnants of partial veil in young, margin becoming striate in age.

Gills:  Attached; close; pale brown at first, becoming dark brown.

Stems:  Up to 6 centimeters tall by up to 5 millimeters thick; fairly equal; nearly smooth; whitish, white and powdery at the apex, pale brown at the base in older specimens.

Context: Thin; brownish.

Spore print:  Brownish-black.

Habitat: In groups on hardwood logs and stumps.

Season: August through October.

Edibility: Unknown.