Key to agaricoid members of the Agaricaceae, including Lepiotaceae, in California Based on both macroscopical and microscopical characters

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Key to genera in the Agaricaceae in California ~ Else C. Vellinga ~ May 2004

Key to agaricoid members of the Agaricaceae, including Lepiotaceae, in California

Based on both macroscopical and microscopical characters

Else C. Vellinga

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1.Spores brown, dark or black

2. Spores black, with a germ pore; pileus dissolving into ink

................................................................................... Coprinus comatus and C. sterquilinus

2. Spores red to brown, without a germ pore or with an inconspicuous germ pore; pileus never

dissolving into ink

3. Lamellae pink-red; pileus small (c. 1 cm), dark brownish, with granulose covering, made up

of round cells; spores rough and warted

.......................................................Melanophyllum haematospermum (in Redwood forests)

3. Lamellae pale pink at first, changing to dark brown with age; pileus small to very big and

fleshy, smooth or with fibrillose to scaly covering; spores smooth............................. Agaricus

1. Spores white or very pale, or green(ish)

4. Spores green ...............................................................................Chlorophyllum molybdites

4. Spores white

5. Spores with a germ pore AND clamp connections present at base of basidia

6. Spores with a truncate apex, without a hyaline cap over the pore; stipe smooth

................................................. Chlorophyllum, including Macrolepiota rachodes and allies

6. Spores with a rounded apex, and a hyaline cap over the pore; stipe with small flocks in

bands............................................................................ Macrolepiota (very rare in California)

5. Spores without a germ pore, or with a germ pore but then without clamp connections

7. Pileus with a granulose covering, made up of round cells; spores small; clamp connections

present  or absent................................................................................................. Cystolepiota

7. Pileus with a smooth or squamose covering, made up of elongated cells, rarely with round

cells; clamp connections absent or present

8. Clamp connections present (check in pileus covering or at base of basidia)  ........... Lepiota

8. Clamp connections absent

 9. Pileus covering made up inflated cells; spores small, without germ pore

.................................................................Cystolepiota pulverulenta/Lepiota petasiformis

 9. Pileus covering very variable, if made up of inflated cells, spores with germ pore and

relatively big ..................................................................... Leuoagaricus & Leucocoprinus

....(molecular data indicate that these two genera are intermingled, and can not be separated)

How to recognize a Lepiota species from a Leuocagaricus species

Lepiota - Stipe woolly or with material in bands as on cap. If stipe is smooth, without such

material, clamp connections are present, and the pileus covering is a hymeniderm.

Leucoagaricus - Stipe smooth, or at the utmost with the same colour as the pileus; pileus

covering mainly thin. If in doubt get the microscope out: clamp connections absent and spores

have a pink inner wall in Cresyl Blue.