Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Kuehneromyces lignicola var. lignicola

Kuehneromyces lignicola var. lignicola (Peck) Redhead

Clustered (many) on a fallen and decaying conifer log in forest dominated by Abies balsamea and Picea mariana. Kennedy Lakes Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (30-06-19]02)

Basidiospores reddish brown in spore print, amygdaloid, smooth, with a prominent apical germ pore, unchanging in Melzer’s Solution, darkening in KOH, 5.8-7.0 X 3.3-4.0 µm, Q = 1.63-1.98 (average[31]: 6.3 X 3.6 µm, Q = 1.74). Basidia 4-spores, clamed at base. Cheilocystidia forming a sterile margin, narrowly ventricose to cylindrical, usually irregularly lobed at apex, less frequently unlobed. Pleurocystidia lacking. Caulocystidia produced in dense fascicles at the apex of the stipe, irregularly ventricose, rarely lobed at the apex. Pileipellis a thin cutis.

Kuehneromyces lignicola fruits in the spring when mushrooms are generally hard to find. It grows in small clusters on conifer logs and is recognized by its brown pileus and thin brown stipe with no traces of a veil. Microscopically it is characterized by its basidiospores that have a large apical germ pore. The large cheilocystidia with irrgeularly lobed tips and clusters of ventricose caulocystidia are also diagnostic. A recent collection of K. lignicola var. conicus from the same locality as Collection 30-06-19/02 was similar to it macro- and microscopically, but differed in its paler pileus having a sharp umbo.

Photo: D. Malloch (30-06-19]02)