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Species Information
Summary: Section Calodontes (Smith), Section Rubromarginatae (Maas Geesteranus). Mycena purpureofusca is characterized by dark purplish rather than pale-rosy gill edges, a deep-purplish fuscous disc on the cap, a tenacious consistency, and very broadly elliptic spores, (Smith). The description derived from Smith(1) except where otherwise indicated.
Mycena purpureofusca has been found at least in WA, OR, ID, ON, CA, MI, MT, NC, NY, and TN, (Smith), and Europe (Maas Geesteranus). There are collections from BC at the Pacific Forestry Centre and the University of British Columbia.
Cap: 0.5-2.5cm across, obtusely conic with a slightly inbent margin, becoming broadly conic or bell-shaped or sometimes expanding to nearly flat when old; slightly hygrophanous, "dark purplish over the disc to pale lilac toward the margin, fading to purplish gray"; hoary at first but soon bald and moist, translucent-striate when moist and mature
Flesh: thin, pliant, cartilaginous; "purplish gray becoming pallid to white"
Gills: narrowly adnate, ascending, moderately close, narrow, equal; pallid to grayish with dark grayish purple edges; edges slightly fimbriate [fringed]
Stem: 3-10cm x 0.1-0.2cm, equal, hollow, round in cross-section, rather cartilaginous and tough, colored more or less like cap or paler in upper part, bald, base with white hairs and often prolonged into a pseudorhiza (rooting), (Smith), 3-10cm x 0.1-0.3cm (Arora)
Taste: not distinctive
Microscopic spores: spores 8-14 x 6-8.5 microns, specifically for 4-spored form 8-10 x 6-7 microns, for 2-spored form 10-14 x 6.7-8.5 microns, broadly elliptic, amyloid; basidia 2-spored or 4-spored; pleurocystidia not differentiated, cheilocystidia abundant and conspicuous, 30-50(64) x 7-12(15) microns, more or less fusoid-ventricose, the apices often becoming forked when old, filled with a dull-purplish sap, content granular or amorphous and dark sordid brown when revived in Melzer''s reagent, (Smith), spores 8-14 x 6-8.5 microns, broadly elliptic, smooth, inamyloid, (Arora)
Spore deposit: white (Arora)
Habitat / Range
single to cespitose [in tufts] on conifer wood and debris, (Smith), single or in small groups or tufts on conifer wood and debris, on old pine cones, (Arora), summer to fall (Buczacki)
Similar Species
Mycena elegantula usually has rosy to vinaceous brown gill edges and the dominant cap color is vinaceous brown. See also SIMILAR section of Mycena californiensis and Mycena rubromarginata.
