When: 2007-11-06
Collection location: Whitemarsh, Gloucester Co., Virginia, USA [Click for map]
Who: Jason Hollinger (jason)
No herbarium specimen

Notes: small mushroom, clustered in wood mulch of mostly coniferous clearcut
ST: 50×3-5mm, curved near base, fine white fuzz at base, shiny, fibrous, not breaking readily, same color as cap, hollow, paler inside, not changing, thickens gradually to base
CAP: 15mm wide, hemisphere, small depression at top, unusual rather deep pinkish or purplish brown, lustrous due to v min whitish curled-up fibers, solid color, not changing in age
FLESH: ~1mm thick, fairly tough for its size, paler than cap or gills but similar hue
VEIL: no evidence of any
GILL: sl decur, odd pale lilac greyish hue, somewhat distant, unbranched, somewhat thick
SPORE: print white

Tried to key out using Demystified, but remained mystified. Basing genus ID on white spore print, purplish tint, thin tough also-colored stalk, thick well-spaced gills.

Darvin suggested L. proxima and L. bicolor. I found this page by Gregory Mueller on the web which describes the difference between these species in great detail (L. proxima vs L. bicolor) . No way mine is purple enough to be L. bicolor. However, reliably distinguishing L. proxima from L. laccata apparently requires microscopic study of spores, which I will do as soon as I have access to a microscope again in January, hopefully. (I have the spore print saved, but have no way to dry a full specimen, unfortunately.)

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Proposed Name		User		Community Vote
Laccaria proxima (Boud.) Pat.		jason		(no votes)

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Created: 2007-11-11 20:53:01 By: Darvin DeShazer (darv) Summary: Laccaria proxima See if it will key to Laccaria proxima. This species only grows under pines in CA, but in VA you could easily have a different species local to your area. Also could be L. bicolor if the mycelium at the base of the stipe has FADED to white but was purplish pink when fresh.

Observation Created: Sat Nov 10 20:50:46 -0800 2007
Last Modified: Mon Nov 12 11:47:35 -0800 2007 by Jason Hollinger (jason)
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