Psilocybe philipsii (Berk. & Br.) Vellinga et Noordel. Persoonia 16: 129. 1995.

macroscopy:

Basidiocarps pleurotoid with eccentric, when young with central, stipe. Pileus 1.5-11 x 1.5-6 mm, when seen from above when very young circular with central stipe, then reniform and irregularly lobed, with eccentric to lateral, rarely central, stipe, plano-convex and applanate with age, pale pinkish-brownish, orange-tinged pinkish brown or yellowish ochre (Mu. 7.5 YR 4/8, 7/7, 7-8/4-6; 10 YR 6.5/4, 8-7/8) with white margin when young, irregularly wrinkled, glabrous to aeriferous or tomentose, especially at centre and when young at margin, (vaguely) translucently striate with age up to 3/4 of radius, and glutinous when wet and with old age. Lamellae, L = 9-13 up to 35 in specimens with central stipe, l = 1-9, moderately crowded, emarginately adnate or broadly adnate to slightly decurrent, up to 1 mm wide, segmentiform to slightly ventricose, pale yellowish to pale brown (slightly paler than pileus), without purplish tinge, with entire, white and eroded or finely flocculose edge. Stipe absent or very short, 1-3 x 0.5-1 mm, cylindrical, curved, concolorous with or darker and more red-brown than pileus (e.g. Mu. 7.5 YR 5/6), covered with hyaline fibrils and at base with white tomentum. Context very thin, concolorous with surface. Smell indistinct. Taste not known. Spore print grey red-brown (c. 5 YR 5/3).

microscopy:

Spores 5.0-7.0 x 2.5-4.5 x 3.0-4.0 µm, Q = 1.6-2.45, Qav = 1.7-2.2, narrowly amygdaliform to oblong or subcylindrical in side-view; Q = 1.55-2.2, Qav = 1.65-2.0, oblong, subcylindrical or ovoid in frontal view; with thickened wall and germ pore which varies in width, very pale brown or pale yellow in ammonia. Basidia 12-22 x 4.0-6.5 µm, 4-spored. Lamella edge sterile. Cheilocystidia 15.5-29 x 3.0-7.0 µm, narrowly lageniform to cylindrical, rarely lageniform, with 1.5-3.0 µm wide, sometimes branched, neck, hyaline. Pleurocystidia absent. Pileipellis a thin suprapellis of irregularly branched and interwoven hyphae, 3.0-7.0 µm wide, with pigment incrustations in bands, on top of a 60-90 µm thick layer, with 2.0-5.0 µm wide colourless hyphae embedded in a gelatinous matrix; the suprapellis of incrusted hyphae sometimes disappearing with age. Clamp-connections present in all tissues.

ecology:

Solitary to gregarious on grasses, Juncus and Carex species in grasslands and marshes.

distribution:

Probably not rare in temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. June up to Nov.

comment:

This taxon shows a remarkable variability in size, shape and color of the spores as seen under the microscope, and size of the germ pore. The latter can vary considerably within the spores of one fruitbody. Various authors have distinguished Psilocybe caricicola from Ps. phillipsii on the basis of the spore size, color of the spores, presence or absence of a gelatinous layer, and habitat, but no such segregation of characters could be found.