Psilocybe chionophila Lamoure,
Bull. Soc. Linn. Lyon 46: 215. 1977.
macroscopy:
Pileus 3-13 mm, plano-convex with low umbo, hygrophanous, obscurely translucently striate at margin, dark chocolate brown when moist (K&W 7F8), pallescent from centre to margin to pale cream-bornw, dry, glabrous, smooth. Lamellae, L = 20, l = 3, rather distant, broadly adnate, up to 5 mm broad, rather dark brown (6E5) with pale, whitish edge, especially near attachment to stipe. Stipe up to 12 x 1 mm, cylindrical to compressed, pale brownish, striate, with pale grey basal tomentum. Context concolorous with surface, darker in basal part of stipe. Smell faint, when cut slightly fungoid.
microscopy:
Spores 7.5-9.0 x 5.5-6.0 x 5.0-6.0 µm, distinctly flattened, Qf = 1.25-1.3-1.55, ovoid to mitriform, rarely somewhat angular in frontal view, Qs = 1.45-1.55-1.7, ellipsoid to oblong, sometimes subamygdaliform in side view, with grey-brown, thickened walls and moderately large apical germ-pore. Basidia (17-)21-30 x 4.0-7.0 µm. Lamella edge sterile. Cheilocystidia 21-27 x 4.5-7.5 µm, Q = 3.0-3.8-4.5, lageniform, often with broad basal part and rather long, tapering neck with 1.0-2.0 µm wide apex.
Pleurocystidia absent. Hymenophoral trama regular, made up of cylindrical to strongly inflated elements, 17-70 x 4.0-20 µm, with pale yellow-brown parietal pigment, rarely also finely incrusted. Pileipellis a narrow cutis of cylindrical, 2.0-5.5 µm wide hyphae with colourless walls; subpellis compact, made up of short inflated elements, 15-70 x 6.0-22 µm with strong, red-brown parietal and incrusting pigment, gradually passing into pileitrama. Pileitrama regular, made up of cylindrical to inflated, often very irregularly shaped elements, 5.0-20 µm wide, with practically colourless walls. Stipitipellis a compact cutis of cylindrical, 2.0-5.0 µm wide hyphae. Caulocystidia present at apex, singly or in clusters, subcylindrical to sublageniform, 11-27 x 3.0-5.5 µm. Clamp-connections abundant in all tissues.
ecology:
Parasitic on mosses (Polytrichum norvegicum) in snow-bed vegetations in the alpine zone
distribution:
in the alpine zone, possibly widespread all over northern and Central Europe.
comment:
P. chionophila predominantly has an alpine distribution, but is occasionally found in the lowlands as well. The differences with P. montana are very small.
