Conocybe tenera
Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Ser. 7, 9: 357. 1889.
Common Name: none
Pileus 10-25 mm broad, bell-shaped, becoming convex with a decurved margin; surface smooth, hygrophanous, striate, obscurely so in age, at first light-brown, fading to dull, buff-brown or ochraceous-brown; flesh thin, cream-buff; odor and taste mild.
Gills adnate, close, relatively narrow, pallid to cream-buff, becoming rusty-brown in age, edges paler than the faces.
Stipe 3.5-7.0 cm tall, 1.5-4.0 mm thick, equal to slightly enlarged at the base, fragile, hollow, surface pruinose at the apex, otherwise smooth or faintly longitudinally striate, colored like the cap or darker; veil absent.
Spores 11-16 x 6-8.5 µm, elliptical, smooth, thin-walled, with an apical pore; spore print rusty-brown.
Solitary, gregarious to clustered on disturbed ground, e.g. grassy areas, in gardens, or along trails.
Unknown; a related species, Pholiotina filaris (=Conocybe filaris), contains toxins similar to those in the Death Cap, Amanita phalloides.
Conocybe tenera is a poorly known taxon. Our material matches reasonably well with the literature, but it is likely that the epithet is being applied to a number of similar Conocybes and further study is needed. Typical of the genus, Conocybe tenera is a relatively small, fragile mushroom with a bell-shaped, hygrophanous, striate cap, rusty-brown, attached gills and spores. A microscope is needed to make a species identification. Conocybe tenera has relatively large, smooth, elliptical spores with an apical pore plus lecythiform caulocystidia; pleurocystidia are lacking.
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