Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Mycena atroalboides

Mycena atroalboides (Peck) Sacc.

Gregarious in a deep Sphagnum carpet, associated with Picea mariana, Campobello Island, New Brunswick (25-09-16/07).

Basidiospores 6.4-8.0 X 3.0-4.2 μm, Q = 1.68-2.54. Cheilocystidia broadly clavate, 26-31 X 9-16 μm, covered on the upper part with simple or (more commonly) branched processes 1.0-8.0 X 1.0-1.5 μm. Pleurocystidia not found

This seems to agree with Smith's (North American Species of Mycena, 1947) concept of M. atroalboides, at least to what he called the short-stiped form. It is said to be common in the northeastern United States. Although the carpet of Sphagnum moss supporting the basidiomata was quite deep, the stipes were attached to the tops of the gametophytes. The clavate cheilocystidia with finger-like and sometimes branched processes, and the narrow basidiospores, are diagnostic.

Photograph: D. Malloch (25-09-16/07).