Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Gymnopus dryophilus

Gymnopus dryophilus (Bull.:Fr.) Murrill

Picture of Gymnopus dryophilus Picture of Gymnopus dryophilus Picture of Gymnopus dryophilus

1. Gregarious in leaf litter under Fagus grandifolia and Acer saccharum, Caledonia Gorge Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (14-08-12/01).

2. Gregarious in forest litter under Betula papyrifera and Abies balsamea, Caledonia Gorge Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (22-08-12/04).

3. Gregarious (3) amongst mosses at base of small boulder in beech-maple forest, Spednic Lake Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (17-06-18/01).

Basidiospores 4.6-5.8 X 2.5-3.1 μm, D/d=1.62-2.08 (average[17]: 5.2 X 2.8 μm, D/d = 1.85) (14-08-12/01): basidiospores 4.4-5.8 X 2.3-3.4 μm, D/d = 1.57-2.15 (average[10]:5.1 X 2.8 μm, D/d = 1.82) (22-08-12/04): basidiospores white in spore print, narrowly ellipsoidal to dacryoid, smooth, inamyloid, 4.4-5.9 X 2.5-3.4 μm, D/d = 1.57-2.10 (average[32]: 5.3 X 2.9 μm, D/d = 1.81); cheilocystidia not forming a continuous sterile margin, usually occurring in dense fascicles, variously lobed and branched; pileipellis composed of branched interwoven hyphae, not radially oriented, with elements often branched or lobed (17-06-18/01).

Our collections of Gymnopus dryophilus are very similar to those of G. cf. ocior as presented here. The caps in our collections of G. cf. ocior are dark brown and the stipes are quite bulbous compared to those of G. dryophilus. Its frequent occurrence on rotting wood and bark may also distinguish it from G. dryophilus, which is usually found in leaf litter.

Collection 17-06-18/01 seems rather unlike typical G. dryophilus. The fruiting bodies are small but rather tall and slender. The pilei lack the characteristic white margin, the stipe is paler in colour and there appear to be no rhizomorphs at its base. Nevertheless, we prefer to maintain this collection in G. dryophilus because it is microscopically a good fit. This particular collection was also notable for clearly showing nuclei in its basidia when stained in KOH plus Congo Red.

Photograph: D. Malloch (14-08-12/01, 22-08-12/04, 17-06-18/01).