Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Kuehneromyces marginellus

Kuehneromyces marginellus (Peck) Redhead

Clustered (3) on a highly decayed and moss-covered conifer log in a fairly mature spruce-fir forest, 1.8 km SE of Letang, New Brunswick (07-06-16/02)

Basidiospores orange brown in spore print, ellipsoidal to ovoid, smooth, with a prominent apical germ pore having a convex hyaline cap, unchanging in Melzer’s Solution, 5.8-7.4 X 3.6-4.2 μm, D/d = 1.50-1.81 (average[28]: 6.2 X 3.9 μm, D/d = 1.60). Cheilocystidia forming a continuous sterile margin, lageniform, usually subcapitate and with apex often lobed. Pleurocystidia lacking. Pileipellis a thin cutis of brown encrusted hyphae (the thin gelatinous epicutis described by Smith & Hesler (1968) not found in sections revived in 5% KOH).

Kuehneromyces marginellus fruits in the spring when mushrooms are generally hard to find. It grows in small clusters on conifer logs and is recognized by its light brown pileus and by its stipe with a thin annular ring. Microscopically it is characterized by its basidiospores that have a large apical germ pore and resemble nothing more than pitted olives. The large cheilocystidia with swollen tips that are sometimes lobed are also diagnostic.

Photo: D. Malloch (07-06-16/02) )