Hohenbuehelia grisea
Lilloa 22: 255. 1951 [1949].
Common Name: none
Synonyms: Pleurotus atrocaeruleus var. griseus Peck; Pleurotus griseus Peck; Resupinatus griseus (Peck) Murrill; Hohenbuehelia atrocaerulea var. grisea (Peck) Thorn & G.L. Barron
Cap sessile to substipitate, dorsally to laterally attached, 1.0-2.5 cm broad, at first inverted-cupulate, then shell-shaped or pleurotoid; margin incurved, then decurved, occasionally wavy; surface greyish-black, to dark greyish-brown (bluish-black in one variety) fading to medium-brown; upper surface distinctly hairy at the attachment point, elsewhere patchy-tomentose; context thin, two-layered, upper layer gelatinous, greyish-blackish, lower layer, soft, watery-white; fruiting body capable of reviving after drying; odor and taste slightly farinaceous.
Gills radiating from the attachment point, fairly well-spaced, relatively broad, pale-grey in youth, becoming whitish, then cream-colored in age; lamellulae in up to three series.
Spores 6.0-9.0 x 3.0-4.0 µm, cylindrical-elliptical in face-view, bean-shaped in profile, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid, white in deposit; metuloid cystidia present.
Scattered to clustered on the undersurface of rotting hardwood branches and logs, occasionally with conifers; frequently found with bush lupine, Lupinus arboreus, otherwise uncommon; fruiting from mid to late winter.
Too small to have culinary value.
Resembling an oyster mushroom, but much smaller, Hohenbuehelia grisea is recognized by a greyish-black, sparsely tomentose cap, and gills which become cream-colored in age. Characteristic of the genus, the cap context of Hohenbuehelia grisea is partially gelatinous, a feature that can be seen by sectioning the cap and examining with a hand-lens. Similar to Hohenbuehelia grisea is Hohenbuehelia mastrucata, a small greyish species that differs in possessing gelatinous spines near the cap margin and broader spores. Compare also with Resupinatus applicatus and Panellus spp. Resupinatus applicatus forms grey-brown, diminutive shelves on the undersurface of downed hardwoods, but is smaller, seldom larger than 5.0 mm broad, and remains inverted cupulate throughout development. Microscopically it is distinguished by the lack of metuloid type cystidia. Panellus species can be separated by their amyloid spores.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1991). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 3: Boletes and Agarics (1st Part). Strobilomycetaceae, Boletaceae, Paxillaceae, Gomphidiaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Tricholomataceae, Polyporaceae (lamellate). Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 361 p
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Knudsen, H. & Vesterholt, J. ed. (2008). Funga Nordica: Agaricoid, boletoid and cyphelloid genera. Nordsvamp: Copenhagen, Denmark. 965 p. (PDF)
Knudsen, H. & Vesterholt, J. ed. (2012). Funga Nordica: Agaricoid, boletoid, clavarioid, cyphelloid and gastroid genera. Vol. 1. Nordsvamp: Copenhagen, Denmark. 511 p.
Gonsiglio, G. & Ledo, S. (2018). I Generi Hohenbuehelia e Resupinatus in Europa. A.M.B.: Italy. 448 p.
Peck, C.H. (1891). Report of the State Botanist 1890. Ann. Rep. NY State Mus. 44: 115-195. (Protologue)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Singer, R. (1949). The Agaricales (Mushrooms) in Modern Taxonomy. Lilloa 22: 1-832.
Thorn, R.G. & Barron, G.L. (1986). Nematoctonus and the tribe Resupinateae in Ontario, Canada. Mycotaxon 25(2): 321-452. (PDF)
