Mycena section Cinerellae in the Northern Hemisphere is rather small, comprising only ten species, but surprisingly enough six of these are little known or only known from the type locality. Some mycologists have also recognized Mycena cineroides Hintikka as a separate species. Maas Geesteranus (1991: 386), however, states that it must be considered as a synonym of M. cinerella. I am inclined to follow his view.

1995 I collected a species belonging to sect. Cinerellae, but not matching any of the known species in the section. Because so many of the species in this section are poorly known, I am reluctant to propose another unsufficiantly known species. I will, however, present the characters of the "species" so that they can be seen by others who might have collected similar material.

Pileus 5-16 mm across, conical to broadly campanulate, pruinose, glabrescent, translucent-striate, sulcate, pale brown to greyish brown when young, paler towards the margin, which is whitish, with age becoming dark brown in the centre, beige or pale brown at the margin. Lamellae 18-20 reaching the stipe, arcuate, decurrent far down the stipe, pale grey, turning brownish with age, some are forked. Odour farinaceous, taste not recorded. Stipe up to 85 x 1.5 mm, very long, greyish when young, later with grey apex, turning dark brown below, pruinose, hollow, terete, straight, widened towards the lamellae, the base covered with long, white fibrils far up the stipe.

Basidia (19-)23-39 x 6.5-8 um, clavate, 4-spored, clamped, with sterigmata up to 6 um long. Spores 7.2-9.0 x 4.1-4.8 um, pip-shaped, smooth, amyloid. Cheilocystidia 15-28 x 6-15 um, forming a sterile band (the lamellar edge homogeneous), clavate, obpyriform, or more irregularly shaped, clamped, apically covered with few to very few, unevenly spaced, simple, straight to curved excrescences up to 9.5 um long. Pleurocystidia not seen. Hyphae of the pileipellis 1.5-4 um wide, clamped, densely covered with excrescences, forming dense masses. Hyphae of the cortical layer of the stipe1.8-4.2 um wide, diverticulate, caulocystidia variously shaped, diverticulate.

Gregarious, deep in the moss under Juniperus communis in a coniferous forest.

Torød, Nøtterøy, Vestfold, SE-Norway 8 Oct 1995, leg. A. Aronsen A 32/95.

Mycena cinerella (P. Karst.) P. Karst. differs from the present taxon in several features:

Mycena inopinata Maas Geest. has similar looking cheilocystidia, but differs in:

Mycena madronicola A.H. Sm. also has similar-looking cheilocystidia, but differs in:

Mycena winterhoffii Maas Geest. has 2-spored basidia and much larger spores. The lamellae reaching the stipe are fewer (11-14), and not far decurrent. In addition the cheilocystidia are differently shaped.

The present taxon seems to be somewhat intermediate, but the differences from M. cinerella, although being easily perceptible, are hardly sufficient to separate a new species. For the time being I am prepared to wait and see if I can find some more collections from the same locality.

Hypha of the pileipellis

More microscopic figures