Panaeolus subbalteatus

This 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.

Fruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)

Spore print black, very dark brown, purplish black, or dark purplish brown, but not fitting the Gomphidiaceae
Gills usually light grey, becoming black from spores only when very mature

Gills with a mottled appearance, since the spores mature (and hence darken the gills) in clumps, not evenly
Cap usually rounded, like half of an egg, and colored some shade(s) of gray and/or brown
Growing on manure or compost

Panaeolus subbalteatus     (Broome & Berkeley) Saccardo

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

• Gills brown (not grey) before becoming black
  
• Cap about penny-sized; surface becomes black near the margin in age
  
• Usually growing in small clusters

Microscropic Characters

• Spores 10-14 x 7-9 µm

Comments

This is actually a photograph of Coprinus micaceus, but the darkening around the margin of the three (in a row) mushrooms in the center is the way this feature looks in Panaeolus subbalteatus
The big difference is that Panaeolus subbalteatus is not striate
This feature (dark margin of the cap) is present in several Black Spored agarics


 

 

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