Alcohol Inky Cap
Coprinus atramentarius
Description: A fleshy grey-brown mushroom with a radially lined egg-shaped to bell shaped or convex cap with a pleated margin and free crowded inky gills that are whitish at first but become lavender-grey and then blackish. Stalk is 7-15cm long, 1-2cm thick and silky-fibrous, white and hollow.
Ecology: found from May to early October in clustered groups in grass and woody debris. Found throughout North America.
Notes: This is an edible mushroom but cannot be eaten in conjunction with alcohol as this could result in a transient illness that may result in vomiting. C. micaceus is similar but it has a tawny cap. This one was found at Chapman Creek in an open grassy area that had recently been disturbed by man. It was October 7, 2001.
Bitter Pholiota
Pholiota astragalina
Description: A pretty little mushroom with a 2.5-5cm wide slimy bright orange bell shaped cap that becomes broad, with a knob. Margin covered with shaggy veil remnants. Gills are almost free, close and orange-yellow in colour.
Ecology: They are found scattered or clustered on dead coniferous wood from late August to late October.
Notes: This one was found on rotting coniferous log at Chapman Creek, BC, October 8, 2001
Witches' Hat
Hygrophorus conicus
Description: A pretty little mushroom with a 2-9cm wide sticky reddish orange conical cap that may be smooth or streaked with small fibres. Flesh bruises black. Gills are nearly free, close, and pale yellow, also bruise black. Stalk is 2-20cm long 0.5-1.5cm thick and is not sticky like the cap, it is longitudinally lined and twisted and it is orange-yellow to whitish at the base, and it too bruises black.
Ecology: Found in coniferous woods, singly or scattered, from August to November.
Notes: Any look-alikes do not bruise black. Though it apparently has been eaten this is not suggested as they may be mildly poisonous. This one was found October 5, 2001, Chapman Creek.
Pink Mycena
Mycena pura
Description:A rose or purplish mushroom with a 2-5cm wide cap that is egg-shaped becoming convex or flat, sometimes has a knob. It is smooth, moist and radially lined, with a radish-like odour and taste. Gills are attached and close to almost distant, white to grey or pinkish. Stalk is 2-10cm long, thin but enlarging towards the base and it is white to pink or purplish.
Ecology: Found from July to October scattered in woods.
Notes: This one was found on the side of a trail at Chapman Creek BC, October 5, 2001.
Bleeding Mycena
Mycena haematopus
Description:A small reddish brown mushroom with a bell shaped 1-5cm wide cap and a brownish stalk 2-10cm long. Gills are attached and close to almost distant, whitish but staining reddish brown. Stalk exudes a dark blood-red juice when cut.
Ecology: Found from June-October clustered or singly on decaying wood. It is common and found throughout North America.
Notes: This group was found growing on a decaying log at Cliff Gilker Park October 9, 2001.
Western Blue Mycena
Mycena amicta
Description:0.5-2.5cm wide cap is pale blue cap with slightly darker edges. It is bell-shaped becoming broadly convex, margin is noticeably radially lined. Gills are attached to nearly free, close or crowded and whitish grey. 2-8cm long stalk is very thin and may be slightly hairy, bluish to greyish.
Ecology: Found from July-October single or scattered on decaying coniferous trees. May also be found in the spring.
Notes: This one was found growing in woody organic debris and moss at Chapman Creek October 5, 2001. Note the tiny little Blue Mycena Button in the background on the right hand side.
Spotted Mycena
Mycena maculata
Description: A small mushroom with a 2-5cm wide cap that is bell shaped, becoming convex or almost flat, margin is flared or upturned with age; radially lined, moist to tacky. Gills are attached, close to nearly distant, whitish to pale greyish and becoming stained with reddish spots. 0.5-1cm long hollow stalk is thin and brittle with dense white hairs at the base where it also stains reddish brown.
Ecology: Found clustered on coniferous woods throughout Northern North America. Very common in BC.
Notes: This group was found in coniferous woods not far from Chapman Creek October 5, 2001.
Dispersed Nematoloma
Naematoloma dispersum
Description: Cap is 1-4cm wide, tawny, bell-shaped, with a central knob when expanded. Gills are attached, close, off white becoming purplish brown. 5-10cm long, thin stalk is tough and silky. Partial veil leaves a cobwebby zone on the upper stalk.
Ecology: Found from August November singly, scattered or in groups on coniferous debris. Found in the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountains.
Notes: This group was found on a rocky bluff beneath some Shore Pine and Douglas Fir November 15, 2001.
Sulfur Tuft
Naematoloma fasciculare
Description:A yellowish mushroom with a 2-8cm wide smooth convex to flat cap with a small central knob. Gills are attached, narrow and crowded, sulfur yellow becoming greenish and purplish tinted. Purple brown spore print.
Ecology: Found scattered to clustered on stumps and logs and on the ground near buried wood, from late August to November. Very common in our lowland woods.
Notes: N. capnoides has grayish gills, N sublateritium has a red cap, Armillariella mellea has a well formed ring and a white spore print and the deadly Galerina has a rust grown spore print. This is a poisonous mushroom not causing death as the European variety does but it can cause severe intestinal upset.
Fringed Tubaria
Tubaria furfuracea
Description: A small brownish mushroom with a 1-3cm wide convex or flat cap that is moist and cinnamon brown, often with small white patches on cap margin. Gills are broadly attached or slightly descending the stalk, light yellow. 2-5cm long stalk is silky at the top but covered with dense cottony mycelium at the base. Partial veil fibrous, evanescent.
Ecology: Found in both spring and fall throughout North America along paths and in humus and wood debris.
Notes: May require microscopic examination for a positive identification.
Conifer Psilocybe
Psilocybe pelliculosa
Description:This mushroom has a 0.5-2cm wide sticky smooth dark brown conical cap that fades to a tan, it bruises blue. Gills are attached, close and narrow and cinnamon brown. 6-8cm stalk is whitish but darkens and is covered with small greyish fibres.
Ecology: Found from September to November singly or in clusters on coniferous debris in wooded areas. It is found all along the Pacific Coast of North America from BC to California.
Notes: P. semilanceata is found in manured grass. This is a hallucinogenic species. This one was found at the edge of a dense coniferous forest at Carlson Lake BC at middle elevation, it was June 30, 2001.
