Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Lentinellus inolens

Lentinellus inolens Konrad & Maubl.

Forming a dense cluster from a fleshy base on dead wood of Fagus grandifolia, Spednic Lake Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (17-08-17/05)- collected by Eleni Hines

Basidiospores white in spore print, subspherical to broadly ellipsoidal, finely roughened, with strongly amyloid ornamentation, 3.6-5.1 X 3.2-4.8 µm, D/d = 1.04-1.24 (average[24]: 4.2 X 3.8 µm, D/d = 1.13). Cheilo- and pleurocystidia not found. Pileipellis a thick compact cutis, composed of septate hyphae bearing clamp connections, with some short hyphal extensions. Pileal trama interwoven, not reacting with Melzer’s Solution or only very slightly darkening, comprised of very thick-walled and infrequently septate hyphae mixed with thinner-walled hyphae with clamp connections.

Lentinellus iolens is closely related to L. cochleatus, sharing its densely packed growth habit. It differs in lacking an odour of anise and in lacking chlamydospores in the pileipellis. It is treated by some authors as L. cochleatus var. inolens but we have chosen to maintain it in the NBM herbarium under its own name.