Psilocybe phyllogena (Peck) Peck, New York State Mus. Bull. 157: 99. 1912.

macroscopy:

Pileus 5-25(-35) mm, convex with involute or deflexed margin, expanding to applanate, sometimes with small umbo, usually with slightly depressed centre, with deflexed to straight margin, hygrophanous, translucently striate at margin, when moist moderately dark red-brown to pinkish brown, pallescent on drying to pinkish yellow-brown or ochraceous, slightly to distinctly viscid when moist, with or without peeling pellicle, becoming dull on drying, sometimes breaking up on small patches, margin appendiculate with white to yellow velar remnants. Lamellae, L = 10-20, l = 3-5, moderately crowded, adnate, emarginate with slight decurrent tooth, segmentiform to ventricose, up to 5 mm broad, sordid yellow-brown to violaceous grey, with fimbriate, almost concolorous or white edge. Stipe 20-40 x 1-3 mm, cylindrical, fistulous, pale yellow-brown at apex, reddish brown to almost black towards base, entirely silvery fibrillose, becoming more woolly-fibrillose towards base. Context yellow-ochre in pileus and upper part of stipe, dark brown in stipe base. Smell weak. Taste sligh-tly rancid. Spore print brownish-violaceous.

microscopy:

Spores (5.5-)6.0-7.5(-8.0) x (4.5-)5.0-6.5(-7.0) x 4.0-4.5 µm, strongly flattened, F/I larger than 50%, Qf= 1.0-1.5, Qfav. 1.15-1.25, rhomboid to mitriform in frontal view, Qs = 1.6-1.9, Qsav. 1.6-1.7, ellipsoid to oblong in side-view, with thick, brown walls, with large apical germ-pore. Basidia 14-23 x 3.0-7.5 µm, 4-spored, clamped. Lamella edge sterile. Cheilocystidia 28-46 x 3.0-10 µm, irregularly fusiform to lageniform with tapering, 1.5-3.0 µm wide neck. Hymenophoral trama regular, made up of inflated elements, 22-95 x 3.0-11 µm with pale yellow walls. Pileipellis a cutis or thin ixocutis, made up of cylindrical, 2.0-7.0 µm wide hyphae with finely incrusted walls; subpellis compact, made up of inflated elements, 15-95 x 3.0-8.0(-12) µm with yellow-brown, incrusted walls. Stipitipellis a cutis of cylindrical hyphae, 2.5-4.0(-7.0) µm wide with yellow-brown walls. Caulocystidia 24-50 x 3.0-7.0 µm, subcylindrical to fusiform with rather blunt apex, abundant at apex of stipe. Clamp-connections abundant.

ecology:

Saprotrophic, gregarious, sometimes caespitose on woody remnants, sawdust etc. of deciduous and coniferous trees (e.g. Fagus, Picea) in parks and woods on various soil-types.

distribution:

Rare, but widespread in Europe and North America, also recorded from South America (Chile).

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