''Psathyrella piluliformis'' is a species of agaric fungus in the family

Psathyrellaceae The Psathyrellaceae are a family of dark-spored agarics that generally have rather soft, fragile fruiting bodies, and are characterized by black, dark brown, rarely reddish, or even pastel-colored spore prints. About 50% of species produce frui ...

Description

It produces fruit bodies (

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 ...

s) with broadly convex caps measuring in diameter. The caps are chestnut to reddish brown, the color fading with age and with dry weather. Fragments of the

partial veil In mycology, a partial veil (also called an inner veil, to differentiate it from the "outer", or universal veil) is a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some Basidiomycota, basidiomycete fungus, fungi, typically agarics. ...

may remain on the cap margin, and as a wispy band of hairs on the stipe. The closely spaced gills have an adnate attachment to the stipe. They are initially tan until the spores mature, when the gills turn dark brown. The stipe is 2–7 cm tall and 3–7 mm wide, white, smooth, hollow, and bulging at the base. The spore print is dark brown, sometimes purplish.

Similar species

Similar species include ''Psathyrella carbonicola'', '' P. longipes'', ''P. longistriata'', ''P. multipedata'', '' P. spadicea'', and '' Parasola conopilus''.

Habitat and distribution

Fruiting occurs in clusters at the base of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

stumps.

Uses

The species is considered edible but of low quality, with fragile flesh and being difficult to identify.

References

External links