Summary:
The main fieldmarks of this group as described by Arora(1) are 1) a brown to grayish cap that is so thin as to be translucent-striate when moist, 2) the absence of veil remnants on the cap margin or stem, 3) a long, thin, straight, whitish stem, 4) dark spores, and 5) terrestrial fruiting. The description here is derived from Arora(1). Miller(14) says that Psathyrella gracilis is one of a complex of species with long, very thin stems, conic caps, that decompose various kinds of litter, that Coprinopsis uliginicola (as Psathyrella uliginicola) is gray, more robust, and also under aspen, and that Smith(5) describes a number of species in this complex that are hard to identify.
Psathyrella gracilis (see that entry) has been found at least in BC, WA, OR, ID, AK, CA, MI, WY, and NS.
Cap:
1.5-3.5(5)cm across, obtusely conic when young, becoming broadly bell-shaped, convex or nearly flat, sometimes remaining obtusely conic, the margin appressed against the stem at first; hygrophanous, pale buff to clay color when young, gradually becoming pallid and then lead-color as spores mature, "fading to whitish or pallid, the disc often retaining a buff tinge", when old "frequently developing a pinkish hue at least along the margin"; somewhat lubricous when young, bald, smooth, polished, "margin translucent striate when moist and frequently becoming crenate or sulcate-striate, sometimes scalloped", the surface often more or less rugulose [finely wrinkled] when old, (Smith), margins typically translucent-striate when young, fading and becoming opaque as they dry, (Trudell)
Flesh:
thin, soon fragile; colored as surface
Gills:
adnate but often seceding, close, broad; "pallid becoming grayish to brown and then dark brown"
Stem:
6-12cm x 0.1-0.3cm, more or less equal, usually at least twice as long as cap width, straight, thin, fragile; "white or stained darker by spores"
Veil:
absent or rudimentary (and quickly disappearing)
Microscopic spores:
spores 10-15 x 6-8 microns, elliptic, smooth
Spore deposit:
"dark purple-brown to nearly black"
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