Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Pluteus leucoborealis

Pluteus leucoborealis Justo, E.F. Malysheva, Bulyonkova & Minnis

Solitary on a rotting log of Betula alleghaniensis, Canoose Flowage Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (15-08-17/03).

Basidiospores pink in spore print, ellipsoidal to short-cylindrical, smooth, 5.3-7.8 X 4.2-5.3 µm, D/d = 1.19-1.53 (average[28]: 6.7 X 4.9 µm, D/d = 1.38). Cheilocystidia forming a continuous sterile margin, cylindrical to clavate, often subcapitate, thin-walled. Pleurocystidia abundant, metuloid, ventricose to utriform, thick-walled, with two to four well-defined apical hooks.

Described in 2014, P. leucoborealis is common in eastern North America according to its authors (Justo et al., Phytotaxa 180:1-85. 2014). The species appears to occur on dead wood of Betula species and occasionally on Alnus species. It is characterized by its nearly white pileus and cheilocystidia bearing prominent unforked apical hooks.

Photograph: D. Malloch (15-08-17/03).