Inocybe geophylla var. geophylla (Sowerby: Fries) Kummer
Der Führer in die Pilzkunde: 78. 1871.

Common Name: none

• Pileus

  Cap 2-4 cm broad, conic, then convex, finally nearly plane in age with a low umbo, the margin tending to split in dry weather; surface moist, innately (silky) fibrillose, white to pallid, often spotted brown in age; flesh thin, pallid, unchanging; odor spermatic; taste indistinct.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnate to adnexed, moderately broad, close, pallid turning drab light-brown in age.

• Stipe

  Stipe 2.5-5.0 cm tall, 0.3-0.6 cm thick, equal to tapering downward, sometimes with a small basal bulb; surface white to pallid, moist, finely tomentose at the apex, appressed fibrillose below; flesh pallid unchanging; veil fibrillose, forming a superior, hairy annular zone, soon disappearing.

• Spores

  Spores 7.5-9 x 4.5-5 µm, elliptical, smooth; spore print brown.

• Habitat

  Scattered to gregarious in hardwood/conifer woods, especially common under Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.

• Edibility

  Toxic, contains muscarine.

• Comments

  Inocybe geophylla is an exception to the rule that all small Inocybes are difficult to differentiate. With its silky-white, umbonate cap and stipe, only Inocybe pudica is similar, but it stains red when bruised. Although distinct within the genus, there are a number of other small white mushrooms that it could be confused with including Alboleptionia sericella, Marasmiellus candidus and some species of Hygrohorus. None, however, have the above combination of characters along with brown spores and a spermatic odor. Inocybe lilacina, also found in our area, is a lilac-colored cousin considered by some mycologists to be a variety of I. geophylla.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Inocybe geophylla (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Inocybe geophylla (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Inocybe geophylla (CP)
  • Na Grzyby: Inocybe geophylla (D & CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Inocybe geophylla (D & CP)
  • Page perso de JJ.Wuilbaut: Inocybe geophylla (CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Inocybe geophylla (CP)
  • Ammirata et al.: p. 149 (D), fig. 60 (I), fig. 71 (CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 5): sp. 21 (D, I, & CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 460 (D), p. 461 (P)
  • Jordan: p. 287 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 629 (D), plate 16 (CP)
  • Miller: sp. 243 (D & CP)
  • Phillips: p. 183 (D & CP)

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