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A striking addition to the British mycoflora
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A STRIKING ADDITION TO THE BRITISH MYCOFLORA ROY WATLING Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh EH3 5LR Planti ng up indoo r recreation areas. offices , etc , with exotic plants is a million pound indu stry an d seve ral now famili ar agarics have been spread by this activit y. egoLeucocoprinus birnbaum ii (Corda) Singer. No doubt we will see man y new introductions also in the years to come . On e addition to our agaric flor a is Ch loro phyll um mol ybdites (Meyer: Fr.) Mass .. a green- L ..1 spored member of the Lepiota-group , .indeed closely res embling Macrolepiota rhacod es (Vitt.) Singer except at maturity when the gills take on a lurid green colour. Th e appearance of this agaric, which occurred in hundreds of basidiomes amongst compost. caused great con cern to the manager of a recreation centre in Ed inbur gh . Further concern was aroused when it was learnt th at some isolates of th is fun gu s contain a toxi c com pound an d the bed of exotic orn amental plants in wh ich it wa s growing was clo se to a children' s swimming pool. Pileu s (60-) 130-200 mm minutely granu lar throughout at first with a smooth central area , whitish buff with a slight pinkish buff or even magenta tinge wh ere handled. th en either white with squamose. ragged. concentrically arranged . bro wn scales wh ich darken on handling (as in Phol iota squarros a ) on a whitish background and a ce ntral smoo th area irreg ular at its edge. or remain ing gra nular and veil sim pl y forming a peppering of greyish brown scales darker where handled whilst retaining a smooth . brownish buff to cho colate brown centre , on expand ing retaining th e smooth or slightly granular centre sur rounded by conc entric zones of upturned ± prominent cinnamon to fulvous scales separated by ivory white or pale creamcolour; margin fringed or rag ged for a long time with w hite fibril s or scale s. Stipe 120-160 x 11-14 (15-27 at bas e) mm , white. fibrillose-striate above . streaky fibrillose belo w . pal e cream or ivor y-colour at first . fibrils darkening wi th age or soon patch ily purple-date where handled and on drying. Ring cuff-like. 22-40 mm broad , double. white above, ivory white or cream-colour below with buff granules . pinkish buff to vin aceous pink at margin. Lam ellae white then becoming infused with bluish green th en greyish green throughout with buff margins which darken to reddish purple-brown. brown vinaceous or date-brown with age and wh ere placed on paper. Flesh white rapidly becoming an intense orange-red throughout. Spore-print pistachio green to heritage green with bluish green tints fading on drying to greenish buff or isabelline. Basidiospores 8-11 x 6-8 urn with thickened. complex 3-layered wall the inner of which in 50 % nitric acid takes on a purple pink colouration, dextrinoid, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid with broad germ-pore. smooth, hyaline or pale yellowish green. orthochromatic with cotton blue. Basidia 4-spored. Cheilocystidia variable. pyriform , clavate , ventricose to cylindric . hy aline. thin-walled forming a sterile margin and frequentl y aggregated into groups; pl eurocystidia absent. It is interesting to note that this sam e fungus has occurred in the Neth erlands (Vellinga, 1990) . the source of many of our house plants! VELLINGA. E. (1990) . Bijzondere waarnemingen e n Vondste n Coo lia 33 : 78-79 .
A STRIKING ADDITION TO THE BRITISH MYCOFLORA ROY WATLING Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh EH3 5LR Planti ng up indoo r recreation areas. offices , etc , with exotic plants is a million pound indu stry an d seve ral now famili ar agarics have been spread by this activit y. egoLeucocoprinus birnbaum ii (Corda) Singer. No doubt we will see man y new introductions also in the years to come . On e addition to our agaric flor a is Ch loro phyll um mol ybdites (Meyer: Fr.) Mass .. a green- L ..1 spored member of the Lepiota-group , .indeed closely res embling Macrolepiota rhacod es (Vitt.) Singer except at maturity when the gills take on a lurid green colour. Th e appearance of this agaric, which occurred in hundreds of basidiomes amongst compost. caused great con cern to the manager of a recreation centre in Ed inbur gh . Further concern was aroused when it was learnt th at some isolates of th is fun gu s contain a toxi c com pound an d the bed of exotic orn amental plants in wh ich it wa s growing was clo se to a children' s swimming pool. Pileu s (60-) 130-200 mm minutely granu lar throughout at first with a smooth central area , whitish buff with a slight pinkish buff or even magenta tinge wh ere handled. th en either white with squamose. ragged. concentrically arranged . bro wn scales wh ich darken on handling (as in Phol iota squarros a ) on a whitish background and a ce ntral smoo th area irreg ular at its edge. or remain ing gra nular and veil sim pl y forming a peppering of greyish brown scales darker where handled whilst retaining a smooth . brownish buff to cho colate brown centre , on expand ing retaining th e smooth or slightly granular centre sur rounded by conc entric zones of upturned ± prominent cinnamon to fulvous scales separated by ivory white or pale creamcolour; margin fringed or rag ged for a long time with w hite fibril s or scale s. Stipe 120-160 x 11-14 (15-27 at bas e) mm , white. fibrillose-striate above . streaky fibrillose belo w . pal e cream or ivor y-colour at first . fibrils darkening wi th age or soon patch ily purple-date where handled and on drying. Ring cuff-like. 22-40 mm broad , double. white above, ivory white or cream-colour below with buff granules . pinkish buff to vin aceous pink at margin. Lam ellae white then becoming infused with bluish green th en greyish green throughout with buff margins which darken to reddish purple-brown. brown vinaceous or date-brown with age and wh ere placed on paper. Flesh white rapidly becoming an intense orange-red throughout. Spore-print pistachio green to heritage green with bluish green tints fading on drying to greenish buff or isabelline. Basidiospores 8-11 x 6-8 urn with thickened. complex 3-layered wall the inner of which in 50 % nitric acid takes on a purple pink colouration, dextrinoid, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid with broad germ-pore. smooth, hyaline or pale yellowish green. orthochromatic with cotton blue. Basidia 4-spored. Cheilocystidia variable. pyriform , clavate , ventricose to cylindric . hy aline. thin-walled forming a sterile margin and frequentl y aggregated into groups; pl eurocystidia absent. It is interesting to note that this sam e fungus has occurred in the Neth erlands (Vellinga, 1990) . the source of many of our house plants! VELLINGA. E. (1990) . Bijzondere waarnemingen e n Vondste n Coo lia 33 : 78-79 .