Created: 2008-03-24 14:21:56
By: (CureCat)
Summary: .

I agree that observation 4251 is Panaeolina foenisecii. But these are Psathyrella, I am 100% certain. If not Psa. gracilis, then some species macroscopically similar. Panaeolina has more than one species residing in the genus, with habitat and macro descriptions that are pretty indistinguishable from Pan. foenisecii, though most people (myself included) call brown spored Panaeolus growing in grass Pan. foenisecii rather than Panaeolina sp. .
I feel the same way about calling these Psa. gracilis rather than Psathyrella sp. until there is good documentation of alternate species with such similar morphology. One thing to do would be to take many collections of Psa. gracilis and compare micro structures, and do sequencing to figure out if what we have is all one species, species cluster, or multiple distinct species. I’m not in a position right now where I can focus on such an endeavor (and it would be a chore to convince any sane mycologist to take on the project), but maybe some time in the future i will be able to put more focus on the group.

Created: 2008-03-24 12:47:16
By: Douglas Smith (douglas)
Summary: Yeah, I'm not sure here.

This was found in the same lawn that I found lots of others that look the same. Take a look at obs. 4251. Ok, this one was from a year later, but that one I got under the scope, and the spores are clearly warted, making it a Panaeolina not Psathyrella.

Also taking a look at Smith’s monograph on Psathyrella, Psatherylla foenisecii (subsec. Panaeolina) is on page 32, and Psathyrella gracilis is on page 330. The main difference is of course the warted spores, separating the subsec. of Paneolina and Psathyrella, but there are other differences. They are about the same size, but P. gracilis is lighter in color, with a light brown cap, translucent striate most of the way to the center, palid gills when young, and a white to off-white stipe. P. foenisecii is brown to dark brown, only sometimes striate at the margin, brown gills, and a brown stipe. The spores colors are about the same, unless you can tell the difference between “dark vinaceous brown” and “dark chocolate-brown”. I agree I saw a really black spore print here, so I’m not sure about that.

But I’m not sure these look like P. gracilis.

Created: 2008-03-23 20:07:40
By: (CureCat)
Summary: .

Those are Psathyrella gracilis.
I’ve picked more Panaeolina foenisecii and Psathyrella gracilis than I want to admit. (why?? I wish I knew..)
The fragile stipe and gill attachment are the key differences.
100% sure they are Psathyrella, rather than Panaeolina or Panaeolus.
Also, the spores pictured are black. Psa. gracilis, as well as all Panaeolus species have black spores, however, Panaeolina species all have brown spores.

Created: 2006-11-30 20:12:31
By: Nathan Wilson (nathan)
Summary: I'd say Panaeolus

Looks like they have the mottled gills typical of Panaeolus.