Lepiota rubrotincta
Key to Gilled Mushrooms KeyThis is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.
Agaricales OrderFruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)
White Spored SuborderSpore print "light-colored": white or buff, sometimes tinged with pink or tan. Greenish and (except for the Russulales) yellow spore prints also go here
Stalk fibrous, not fracturing like a piece of chalk
Lepiota GenusGills free
Annulus usually present (on some small species, the partial veil may remain instead as scraps of tissue on the edge of the cap)
Cap often umbonate, often with a concentric design of scales that are an intrinsic part of the cap (not easily peeled off without taking part of the cap with it)
The cap is also usually egg-shaped or completely round (like a globe) at first - - it doesn't start to open until the stem is almost fully grown
Big Lepiotas SectionCap can reach more than 2-3" across at maturity
Flesh sometimes changing color if cut or bruised
Ring often thick-edged and can be slid up and down the stalk
If the size of your collection is borderline, try this choice first
Lepiota rubrotincta Peck
Here are the characters that distinguish this species from the others in its group. For its more general characters, see higher up on the page.
If there's just a few words or a microscopic feature here, a more thorough description can be found above.
Diagnosis
- Cap up to 3 1/4" across; umbo very slight, gently sloping; margin splitting in age
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Cap cuticle coral to pinkish orange, breaking up into scales as the cap expands; the flesh that shows between the scales is white at first; the umbo remaining solid, darker than the rest of the cap: deep red to reddish brown
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Growing on the ground in hardwood forests, in leaf litter and in compost
- In most of the other Big Lepiotas, the breakup of the cap cuticle is accompanied by splits in the cap of the mushroom, making the cap look scaly and/or raising the colored bits above the surrounding context. In Lepiota rubrotincta, however, the cuticle just pulls apart (even seeming to stretch in places) and the cap surface stays quite smooth
Microscropic Characters
