Summary:
Leratiomyces ceres is distinguished by 1) a bright reddish orange cap that is slightly viscid or dry, the cap margin often hung with veil remnants, 2) a whitish stem that bruises reddish orange, 3) growth on wood chips, sawdust, or humus rich in lignin, often in lawns or gardens, and 4) a dark spore deposit. It may have originated in Australia and traveled to the Pacific Northwest on wood or sawdust.

Cap:
1.5-5.5cm across, convex becoming broadly umbonate or flat; bright scarlet to red-orange or orange, or at times brick red to rusty reddish to reddish brown; "slightly viscid or dry, smooth", "margin often hung with whitish veil remnants", (Arora), 1.6-5.6cm across, "convex then expanded-convex, margin remaining incurved for some time, sometimes broadly obtusely umbonate"; 'red-lead' or 'crimson-lake' to deep wine-red, "sometimes slightly paler at margin"; viscid when moist, wrinkled-rugulose round center and slightly paler in places when dry, "margin with dentate scales from white or whitish, later slightly yellowish, veil at first", (Watling)

Flesh:
pallid (Arora), "in cap concolorous, yellowish or ochraceous in stem, often red in places where cut, drying pale ochraceous or slightly reddish", (Watling)

Gills:
adnate or notched (sometimes seceding), close; pallid or yellowish when young, then grayish brown or grayish olive and finally purple-brown to purple-black when old, (Arora), "adnate, sometimes slightly emarginate", rather crowded; "whitish then pale olivaceous or clay-olive, finally olive-umber, edges white flocculose at first, later sometimes with reddish stains (also sometimes in places on faces of gill)", (Watling)

Stem:
(2)3-7(10)cm x 0.2-0.6(1)cm, equal or with base slightly swollen or narrowed; white or tinged yellow in upper part, developing bright orange to reddish orange stains over lower half, "base sometimes with white to yellow mycelial threads", (Arora), 1.6-10cm x 0.2-0.8cm, up to 1.5cm at base, "equal with clavate-bulbous or slightly thickened base", stuffed then hollow; "whitish then pale yellowish or ochraceous, sometimes flushed with colour of cap or crimson-lake in places when handled, sometimes fading again when dry"; "apex white pruinose, whitish or slightly yellowish fibrillose-floccose veil forming ring-zone and patches below this, sometimes later disappearing and leaving stem streaky-striate", base white-tomentose, (Watling)

Veil:
"membranous but very thin, whitish, soon disappearing" or forming a slight, easily obliterated ring on stem, (Arora), whitish or slightly yellowish fibrillose floccose veil forms ring zone on stem and leaves patches below it, veil sometimes later disappearing, veil also leaves white to whitish, later slightly yellowish, dentate scales on cap margin, (Watling)

Odor:
none (Watling)

Microscopic spores:
spores 10-14 x 6-9 microns, elliptic, smooth; chrysocystidia present on gill faces, (Arora), spores 11-13 x 6-7.5 microns, elliptic with germ pore; basidia 4-spored, 34-38 x 10-11 microns; pleurocystidia "clavate with or without pointed appendage, chrysocystidia (contents yellow in alkali)", cheilocystidia 30-40 x 5-8 microns, apex 3-6 microns, "cylindric-fusiform or slightly lageniform, often flexuose"; cap cuticle of filamentous clamped hyphae, 6-12 microns wide; clamp connections present, (Watling)

Spore deposit:
dark purple-brown (Arora), purplish brown (Watling)

Notes:
It is found at least in BC (Paul Kroeger, pers. comm.) WA (Andrew Parker, pers. comm.), and CA (Arora). There are collections from BC and WA at the University of British Columbia.

EDIBILITY

unknown (Arora)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Stropharia aurantiaca sensu auct.