Cystoderma fallax
Cystoderma fallax © Fred Stevens
(Photo: © Fred Stevens)

Cystoderma fallax Smith & Singer
Pap. Mich. Acad. Sci. Arts and Letters 30: 116. 1945.

Common Name: none

  • Pileus

    Cap 1.5-4.0 cm broad, convex, expanding to plano-convex, sometimes with a low umbo; margin at first slightly inrolled and fused to a sheathing stipe, then decurved, occasionally appendiculate, finally nearly plane; surface covered with superficial granules or small erect scales, most of which weather away in age leaving only a scattering of powdery granules; color: rusty-brown to yellow-brown; flesh thin except at the disc, colored like the cap; odor and taste mild.

  • Lamellae

    Gills adnexed, close, narrow, white, cream to pale yellowish.

  • Stipe

    Stipe 2-6 cm long, 3-7 mm thick, more or less equal, solid to stuffed; the apex smooth to appressed fibrillose, cream to pale yellow; below the ring, a sheathing, granulose, rusty-brown to ochraceous-brown veil, at maturity forming a persistent, membranous, median to superior, flaring ring, pallid on the upper surface, the lower surface like the cap and lower stipe.

  • Spores

    Spores 4-5.5 x 3-4 µm, broadly elliptical, smooth, amyloid; spore print white.

  • Habitat

    Solitary, scattered, or in small clusters on moss, rotten logs, and needle duff in conifer woods; fruiting after the fall rains.

  • Edibility

    Unknown, insignificant.

  • Comments

    One of our prettiest small mushrooms, Cystoderma can be fairly common in our area, although in many years it is an exceptional find. Distinctive with its rusty-brown to ochraceous-brown cap, adorned with easily rubbed off granules, it is unlikely to be confused with any other white spored fungi except other Cystoderma species. A close relative, Cystoderma amianthinum, is similarly colored and ornamented, but lacks a well-developed veil and persistent ring.

  • Other Descriptions and Photos

    • Michael Boom: Cystoderma fallax (CP)
    • Michael Boom: Cystoderma fallax (CP) -- closeup of cap surface
    • Page perso de JJ.Wuilbaut: Cystoderma fallax (CP)
    • Page perso de JJ.Wuilbaut: Cystoderma fallax (CP)
    • Arora (1986): p. 199 (D & P)
    • Lincoff: p. 511 (D), plate 191 (CP)
    • Orr & Orr: p. 228 (D), plate 82 (CP)
    • Phillips: p. 34 (D), p. 35 (CP)
    • Smith (1975): sp. 97 (D & CP)

    (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)

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