LONG ISLAND MYCOLOGICAL CLUB http://limyco.org Available in full color on our website VOLUME 21, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2013 FINDINGS AFIELD P. Brandon Matheny talks about Inocybe uni- color and other North American Inocybes n Oct 2, deep into the (Part 1 of 2) An interview by Joel Horman, editor, LI Sporeprint O GURXJKWDELUGHU·VUHSRUW of a possible Cauliflower mushroom led Peggy and me to the Pine Neck Brandon Matheny is an assistant professor in ecology Sanctuary, E. Quogue, which had re- P. and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennes- cently received a bit of rain. There we see in Knoxville, where he pursues research in fungal systematics were happy to find a small flush of and evolutionary biology as head of the Matheny Lab http:// species, including the pictured Lac- www.bio.utk.edu/matheny/Site/Home.html He is internationally caria, growing known for his expertise in the family Inocybaceae, a large cosmopoli- amongst Sphag- tan group with probably as many as 700 species worldwide. num, which struck At the Wildacres Foray in North Carolina in Autumn 2012 me as different during a lecture, Brandon than the species I mentioned that Inocybe cae- was familiar with. sariata, a species Joel had Using Bes- no doubts about, was more VHWWH·V NH\ DPRQJ properly called Inocybe uni- those species with color Peck and that I. cae- white basal myce- sariata was a hazy Euro- lium, L. longipes pean concept. In subsequent stood out, due to Laccaria longipes discussions, it was decided its longer stipe and growth among that a good way to dissemi- Brandon in the field in Malaysia. Sphagnum moss. Examination of the nate this information to the spores clinched this tentative I.D. as amateur community would they are relatively small, 7-9 X 6-8, be an interview in a widely read amateur publication.* A transcrip- subglobose to broadly ellipsoid and tion of this interview is presented below: echinulate, that is, with small spines, as contrasted with the more common Joel: I think that, like most amateurs, I was happy to find a extended spines of this genus. distinct enough species of Inocybe to identify on sight without resort- First described by Mueller in ing to keys and microscope, and which was agreed upon by all the 1991, this species is more commonly popular guidebooks, not to look further. As a professional with a spe- collected in the Great Lakes region cial interest in the genus, your take was of course different. Can you (Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin) but describe for us the scenario by which you were led to doubt the valid- has been reported from NY and NJ. ity of Inocybe caesariata in North America, and where it led? Only twice has it been found on %UDQGRQ)LUVWRIDOOLW·VD(XURSHDQQDPHILUVWLQWURGXFHG NEMF forays, in Maine and Quebec. by Fries as Agaricus caesariatus in 1838. Karst then transferred it We will gladly add it to our LI to Inocybe 1879. Kaufman included I. caesariata in his NA Flora checklist, and will continue to visit treatment of Inocybe in 1924. Hesler applied the name I. caesariata the Pine Neck Sanctuary, in the hope in 1936, Lincoff in 1981, and Phillips follows them in 1991. that other novel species will be en- *(To be published simultaneously in the Mycophile) countered here. (Continued on page 3) 2 LI SPOREPRINT PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE For the past several years, the amount of you all for making the Long Island Mycological edible and other mushroom fruitings has been go- Club what it is today. ing down hill. When is the last time you found so Our board members really help to lighten many boletes that it took all day to prepare them? the load when it comes to planning, new ideas and This year has been the worst mushroom year that everything else we do as a unit. This year we have I have ever experienced in recent history here on two new members: Maria Saffiota and Rich /RQJ,VODQG-RHOLQKLV(GLWRU·V1RWHPHQWLRQV Cataldo who have graciously volunteered to help low rainfall as one of the reasons for the poor fruit- out on our board. (We need all the help we can ings. I think that drought like conditions at times get!) Thanks to Joel, Jacques, Cathy, Dale, Bruce, in addition to very high temperatures did us in. Bob, Tony, and Roger. What would I do without For 2014, I hope things will change for the better. you? Count me as a person that cannot live by crust I wish you all a very happy, healthy 2014. fungi alone! May the mushrooms abound! This is the time of year that I get to thank (',725·6127( We speak glibly of the balance of nature, tle, too late. little realizing what a thin knife edge that balance Although Long Island was among the rests upon. This year, it has dramatically been worst hit, this pattern was evident throughout the demonstrated to us, in a very negative way, as mid-Atlantic states, with many collectors bitterly VXFKWKLQJVXVXDOO\DUH´)RUHYHU\H[FHVVDGH complaining of one of the worst years in memory. IHFWIRUHYHU\GHIHFWDQH[FHVVµ(PHUVRQZURWH While one year does not establish a pattern, some and the defect in rainfall, while not dramatic in climate change models predict fewer but larger total, amounting to about 38 inches in Suffolk rainfall events, increasing the duration of dry soil County, compared to an average of 49. this was conditions. drastic enough to result in a depressing absence of Presently, rainfall has rebounded to nor- mycorrhizal mushrooms, especially since this de- mal so it is reasonable to expect a return to the fect was strongest in late summer and early au- mean, which gives us hope that the new year will tumn, with October the 2nd lowest on record with be a welcome contrast to the old and our forays a scant .2 inches. There was then no significant productive. rain until Nov. 27 when 1.75 inches fell³ too lit- Think Morels! MATERIAL FOR THE SPRING, 2014 EDITION SHOULD REACH THE EDITOR BY MARCH 1 (Submissions may be forwarded by email in any format or typed.) LI Sporeprint is published quarterly. Material herein may be freely copied by any non-profit organization if appropriate acknowledgements are made and a copy supplied to the editor. (All unsigned articles authored by editor.) President: Peggy Horman Sporeprint Editor: Joel Horman (631)744-4965 Vice-president: Jacques Brochard 11 Ramblewood Rd, Ridge, NY 11961 Treasurer & Membership Secretary: Peggy e-mail: [email protected] Horman Tel: (631) 744-4965 Junior Editor: Bruce Eberle [email protected] (GLWRULDO$VV·W Peggy Horman Recording Secretary: Cathy Cresko Board Members: Bob Cresko, Tony Mish, Foray Chairman: Jacques Brochard Roger Eklund, Richard Cataldo, Maria Saf- Webmaster: Dale Robins fioti Science Adviser: Benjamin Wolfe, PhD WINTER, 2013 3 Matheny on NA Inocybes (Continued from page 1) ing in front of museum buildings in grasses under Hickory (Carya). Both of these taxa are the same as Then it shows up again in another publication I. unicolor based on E\5REHUWVDQG(YDQVLQFDOOHG´7KH%RRNRI my studies of Atkin- )XQJLµ%XWZKDWDOOWKHVHDXWKRUVDUHFOHDUO\UHIHU VRQ·VW\SHDQGDX ULQJWRLV3HFN·VInocybe unicolor, a conclusion I came thentic collections WRDIWHUVWXG\LQJ3HFN·VW\SHDQGVHYHUDOIUHVKFROOHF labeled as I. lorillar- tions from the southeast U.S. When Stangl came out diana by Murrill. with his treatment of Inocybe in Bavaria in 1989 he Kauffman reported included I. caesariata in his key in a very cryptic all three names manner and without a description. Stangl may have (marmoripes, lorillar- been using the concept of I. caesariata as used by diana, unicolor) in Heim. This latter species was described in 1984 by the NA Flora not un- Bon as Inocybe heimii. Funga Nordica indicates that derstanding, of I. heimii is a coastal dune associate under Pines and course, they were all represents I. caesariata sensu R. Heim. the same. Smith in Inocybe lorrillardiana Murrill So the problem is, and this is fairly typical, 1939 reports I. uni- ZHGRQ·WNQRZZKDWH[DFWO\Agaricus caesariatus color as I. lorillardiana in Michigan. So it's pretty was. Evidently, neither do the Europeans. There is widespread, occurring in the southeast as well as the QRW\SHDQG)ULHV·RULJLQDOGHVFULSWLRQODFNVVXIIL northeast. At this point the species appears endemic cient detail for reliable identification. Therefore, it is to eastern North America, and its unusual for the somewhat group in which it belongs, subgenus Mallocybe or reckless to what I call the Mallocybe clade, in that it has long apply the cheilocystidia, which is atypical for the Mallocybe name to group. North Ameri- How far north it gets I don't know. It fruits can taxa. In- between June and Sept. and into Oct. in Tennessee. stead, we do Inocybe unicolor also occurs in my front yard under have a North native Quercus, and for those of you know Rytas Vil- American galys at Duke University it fruits in his backyard in name for Durham, North Carolina. I have seen similar dried Photo©P. Brandon Matheny what Hesler, specimens collected by David Lewis in east Texas Inocybe unicolor PeCk Lincoff, and that require confirmation. the others The good thing is the species is easy to iden- have suggested is I. caesariata, and that is I. uni- tify in the field, which is kind of unusual for an Ino- color. cybe,QRXWZDUGDSSHDUDQFHLW·VSKHQRW\SLFDOO\VLPL 7KHLQWHUHVWLQJWKLQJLVLW·VDYHU\FRPPRQ lar to I. subochrachea, another species endemic to fungus. I think all of my graduate students can now eastern North America, but they are quite different UHFRJQL]HLWRUDWOHDVWWKH\VKRXOG,W·VRQHRIWKH microscopically: I.