''Clitocybe marginella'' is a species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

-forming

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

formally described by the Finnish mycologist Harri Harmaja in 1967. The fungus produces

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

with thin, moisture-sensitive

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

that often display a distinctive whitish, powdery marginal band and emit a faint fruity odour reminiscent of strawberries that intensifies as they dry. It grows as a

decomposer Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organisms and release the nutrients from the dead matter into the environment around them. Decomposition relies on chemical processes similar to digestion in animals; in fact, many sources use the word ...

on forest floor

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...

, typically under

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

trees, and is often associated with

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es such as ''

Pleurozium ''Pleurozium'' is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Hylocomiaceae. The genus has almost cosmopolitan distribution. Species: * '' Pleurozium flagellare'' (Schimp.) Kindb. * '' Pleurozium quitense'' (Mitt.) B.H.Allen & Magill * ''Pleurozi ...

'' and ''

Dicranum ''Dicranum'' is a genus of mosses, also called wind-blown mosses or fork mosses. These mosses form in densely packed clumps. In general, upright stems will be single but packed together. ''Dicranum'' is distributed globally. In North America th ...

''. The species occurs in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

to northern

boreal Boreal, northern, of the north. Derived from the name of the god of the north wind from Ancient Greek civilisation, Boreas (god), Boreas. It may also refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernand ...

zones of southern Scandinavia and Finland, where it is considered uncommon, typically appearing from late August to late November.

Taxonomy

''Clitocybe marginella'' was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

as a new species by the Finnish mycologist Harri Harmaja in 1967. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was collected on 17 September 1967 in a coniferous wood near Suoniini,

Somero Somero () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southwest Finland regions of Finland, region in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland, located nort ...

, in the province of Etelä‑Häme, Finland; an isotype (duplicate) is preserved at the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Description

The fruit bodies (

basidiocarp In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do no ...

s) of ''C. marginella'' bear a thin,

hygrophanous The adjective hygrophanous refers to the color change of mushroom tissue (especially the pileus surface) as it loses or absorbs water, which causes the pileipellis The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fr ...

cap ( pileus) measuring 2–6.5 cm across that, when moist, often shows a whitish, pruinose marginal band 1–2 mm wide and becomes translucent‑striate up to halfway to the disc; with age the cap flattens and may develop a shallow central depression. The slender stipe is 3–10 cm long and 2.5–8 mm thick, initially whitish but maturing to match the cap colour; it often hollows out, occasionally narrows toward the base, and bears sparse whitish

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