Mycena kuehneriana A. H. Smith - a rare
species of Mycena
In his tentative subdivision of the genus
Mycena in the northern hemisphere, R. A. Maas Geesteranus
(1980) includes six species in the section Calodontes
(Fr. ex Berk.) Quél. They are placed in three subsections.
- Subsect. Marginatae J. E. Lange:
M. pelianthina (Fr.) Quél., M. rutilantiformis
(Murr.) Murr.
- Subsect. Purae (Konr. & Maubl.) Maas G.:
M. kuehneriana A. H. Smith, M. pura
(Pers. ex Fr.) Kumm., M. subaquosa A. H. Smith.
- Subsect. Violacella Sing. ex Maas G.:
M. pearsoniana Dennis ex Sing.
Some authors recognize M. rosea at the level of
species, and the recent years even some new species in the
section have been suggested: M. diosma (Krieglsteiner
& Schwöbel, 1982), and M. lammiensis (Harmaja,
1985).
In Europe M. pelianthina, M. pura, and
M. pearsoniana are all well-known species, and
M. subaquosa has been reported from West-Germany (Krieglsteiner,
1982). M. kuehneriana has not been found in Norway
earlier, and is here probably reported for the first time
from Europe.
Description based on one single collection:
Pileus 21 mm broad, rather flattened with
a somewhat depressed center, striate, moist, pale brown
with a distinctly paler margin.
Lamellae ca 28 reaching the stipe, tender,
horizontal, broadly adnate, long decurrent; white with a
pink shade.
Stipe ca. 40 x 3 mm, hollow, minutely
puberulous above, somewhat paler than the pileus; the base
covered with coarse, whitish fibrils.
Odeur and taste of radish.
Basidia
slender-clavate, 4-spored, clamped, 22,5-27 x 6,5-7 um;
with sterigmata 5,5 um long.
Spores
pip-shaped, almost cylindrical, smooth, amyloid, 7,2-9,0
x 3,6-4,5 um.
Cheilocystidia
cylindrical, utriform, subfusiform, clamped, smooth, 36-75
x 9-18 um, forming a sterile band.
Lamellar trama vinescent in Melzer's reagent.
Hyphae of the pileipellis
4,5-9 um wide, smooth.
Hyphae of the cortical layer of the stipe
2,7-4,5 um wide, clamped, smooth; terminal cells more or
less pronouncedly curved outwards, forming the caulocystidia
50-70 x 10-14,5 um, fusiform, clavate.
Habitat solitary on the ground under Fagus
(one single Picea abies near by).
Norway, Vestfold, Sem, Gullkrona, 4 Nov. 1984. Leg. A.
Aronsen, M 49/84, det. A. Aronsen / R. A. Maas Geesteranus
Smith (1947: 190) indicated that his M. kuehneriana was
identical with M. pseudopura sensu Kühner
(1938) non Cooke. The latter is a well-known species in
Europe - now called M. pearsoniana Dennis ex Sing.
(see Pearson, 1955) - and clearly differentiated from the
former by having inamyloid spores.
My material fits well with Smith's description, characterized
by the colour of the gills and the way they are attached
to the stipe, the radish-like smell and taste, and the amyloid
spores.
Smith has measured the spores of his M. kuehneriana
to 5-6 x 2,5-3 um, i. e. both shorter and narrower
than my measurements, and this should give some doubts concerning
the identity ogf my material. But the measurements are -
in his English description - probably due to an error. In
the Latin description he has the spores as 5-7,5 x 2,5-4,5
um. Dr. R. A. Maas Geesteranus, who has examined the holotype
of M. kuehneriana, measured the spores to 7,9-9,0
x 3,8-4,5 um. This corresponds very well with his measurements
on my material. The other features of my material also correspond
with the holotype.
M. kuehneriana and M. pearsoniana are
extremely close, the only certain difference being in the
spores which are amyloid in the former and inamyloid in
the latter. Perhaps another difference is that M. pearsoniana
is not common in Europe and unknown in North America while
M. kuehneriana is rare both in Europe and North
America. The habitat may also prove to be different.
M. pura, of the same section, also with amyloid
spores, is a very variable species, but the gills will never
be attached as in M. kuehneriana (Smith, 1947).
M. pearsoniana has also been collected in in Vestfold;
the spores were distinctly inamyloid (G. Gulden, pers. comm.).
Such finds must always be microscoped. Perhaps some of them
will turn out to be M. kuehneriana. This was also
emphasized by Krieglsteiner & Schwöbel (1982) who
mentioned finds of M. pearsoniana from central
Europe,
Acknowledgements.
My sincere thanks go to Dr. R. A. Maas Geesteranus, Leiden
for providing me with microscopic drawings and notes on
microscopic features, and for the informaton about the holotype
of M. kuehneriana. I will also thank Mr. Ø. Weholt,
Fredrikstad for helping me with microscopic features.
Sammendrag.
Mycena kuehneriana er ikke tidligere funnet i
Norge, og er her trolig også rapportert for første
gang fra Europa. Den er svært lik M. pearsoniana,
som her også blir rapportert for første gang
fra Norge (G. Gulden). Den viktigste forskjellen mellom
de to artene er at M. kuehneriana har amyloide
sporer mens M. peartsoniana har inamyloide sporer.
References:
Harmaja, H., 1985: Studies on white-spored
agarics. Karstenia 25: 41-46.
Krieglsteiner, G. J., 1982: Über neue,
seltene, kritische Makromyzeten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
IV. Z.Mykol. 49: 73-106.
Krieglsteiner, G. J. & H. Schwöbel,
1982: Mycena diosma spec. nov. und der Mycena-pura-Formenkreis
in Mitteleuropa. Z. Mykol. 48: 25-34.
Kühner, R., 1938: Le Genre Mycena
Fries. Encycl. Mycol. 10.
Maas Geesteranus, R. A., 1980: A tentative
subdivision of the genus Mycena in the northern Hemisphere.
Studies in Mycenas -15. Persoonia 11: 93-120.
Pearson, A. A., 1955: Mycena. Naturalist
2: 41-63.
Smith, A. H., 1947: North American species
of Mycena. Ann Arbor.
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