Summary: Features include small size, white cap and stem that become tinged ochraceous orange, white gills that become pinkish brown from spores, and angular spores. The online Species Fungorum, accessed December 4, 2017, gives Alboleptonia ochracea as a synonym of Entoloma subochraceum Blanco-Dios Tarrelos, Revista da Federation Galera de Micoloxia 17: 37. 2015. There was a prior Entoloma ochraceum Hesler published in Beih. Nova Hedwigia 23: 23. 1967. Alboleptonia ochracea is common in the western United States (Largent(1)).
Cap: 1-3.5cm across, 0.4-1.5cm high, convex becoming broad, margin incurved becoming decurved [downcurved]; white, not hygrophanous, at first covered with fleeting whitish veil, "becoming uniformly orange white to light orange to greyish orange on handling and drying" (also said to "become ochraceous on bruising or with age"); dry, dull, quickly developing appressed fibrils or appressed fine scales, margin opaque
Flesh: up to 0.5cm thick; white, unchanging when bruised, in stem white, unchanging when bruised
Gills: adnate to uncinate, subdistant, moderately broad (0.2-0.4cm x 1-1.5cm); white, becoming pinkish
Stem: 2.5-9cm x 0.25-0.6cm at top, 0.3-1cm wide at base, equal to widened at base, round in cross-section "or at times flattened with longitudinal grooves or twisted or both", stuffed then hollow; white, becoming light orange to orange on handling and drying (also said to "become ochraceous on bruising or with age"); pruinose to squamulose [finely scaly] at top, appressed-fibrillose and longitudinally striate elsewhere; basal mycelium white and abundant
Veil: fleeting white superficial veil may be seen on cap
Odor: indistinct to at most radish-like or pungent
Taste: indistinct
Microscopic spores: spores 7.6-12.0 x 6.7-8.7 microns, 5-6 sided, angular, smooth, [inamyloid]; basidia 4-spored, 35-53 x 9-13 microns, easily separated; pleurocystidia absent, cheilocystidia in clusters, 54-64 x 16-24 microns, broadly clavate; pileocystidia cylindric to cylindroclavate, 40-100 x 10-20 microns; caulocystidia cylindric to cylindroclavate, 28-80 x 12.5-22.5 microns; clamps scattered on hyphae of pileipellis, stipitipellis, and at base of basidia, abundant to rare on hyphae of basal mycelium; pigmentation colorless, incrusted hyphae absent
Spore deposit: pinkish brown
Notes: Collections were examined from WA, OR, and CA, (Largent). There are collections from BC and OR at the University of British Columbia.
EDIBILITY
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Alboleptonia subsericella does not change color with bruising, and microscopically has no cheilocystidia but cylindroclavate caulocystidia, (Largent). Alboleptonia earlei is not noted to turn ochraceous orange and has spores averaging less than 9 microns in length and rare to absent cheilocystidia, (Largent). Alboleptonia sericella bruises yellowish rather than ochraceous orange and microscopically has cylindric to cylindroclavate cheilocystidia and caulocystidia, (Largent). See also Leptonia albida and L. albinella. See also SIMILAR section of Alboleptonia sericella var. lutescens.
Habitat
scattered to gregarious in grass or in needle humus or branchlet humus near trees especially Thuja plicata (Western Red-cedar), in Pacific Northwest September to October, (Largent), fall