Mycena

Small, white-spored, saprophytic little mushrooms that often can be found growing in clusters. Sometimes brightly colored and easy to ID, but often brown or gray and quite unnassuming

Mycena atkinsoniana - One of this author's favorite local mycenas. These guys are part of the bleeding mycena group and fresh specimans should bleed a yellow-to-orange liquid when cut. Convex to conical cap with brownish red tones towards the center and edges paler tan or yellowish. The edge of the cap and edges of the gills will usually display a dark red line. Gills & stipe are pale yellow to tannish, with tiny purplish brown hairs visible on the stipe with a hand lens. Can be found growing under beeches and oaks

Mycena atkinsoniana photos © Jessica Williams

Mycena "epipterygia-NY01" - One of a larger group of similar looking species. These guys have long, viscid stems, are pale yellow in coloration with a paler cap margin, and have bell-shaped caps that don't seem to fully flatten in maturity. Probably conifer associated

Mycena "epipterygia-NY01" photos © Heather Clark

Mycena leaiana - Very common in the midwest, and very eye-catching, these guys can be found growing in attractive clumps on hardwood (or occasionally leaf litter.) They have bright orange bell-shaped caps that flatten with age and are viscid and sticky when wet, and the gills are marginate with a thin line of orange on the edge of the gills that doesn't quite match the rest of the mushroom

Mycena leaiana photos © Mycogeekyohio

Mycena PNW10 - Widespread and quite variable in ITS, this group of sequences has been found in both the west coast and the midwest. Color varies from gray to tan to almost white. More details can be found on Danny Miller's PNW project page

Mycena PNW photos © Jessica Williams

Mycena "sp-IN10" - This is one of the most common Mycena species encountered in our area. In a broad sense, this goes under M. galericulata but it does not closely match European sequences of M. galericulata and probably needs its own name (see Michael Kuo of Mushroom Expert's commentary on the M. galericulata and M. inclinata in the states here.)

These guys are quite variable, with bell-shaped caps, usually with a small central bump. They start out dark brown and usually fade to a greyish-brown to yellowish-brown with age, with a darker center and a paler margin. The odor can sometimes, but not always, be slightly mealy. They can grown in clusters or scattered, and can be found abundantly on well-decayed hardwood logs.

Mycena "inclinata-IN01" - This is the other extremely common Mycena species in our area. Similar to "sp-IN10", it is broadly known under the name M. inclinata, but the sequences are not a close match for European sequences, and this probably deserves its own name. These tend to grow with a very gregariously clustered habit, though it is possible to find them singly or scattered. The bell-shaped, usually ubonate, caps begin brown or grayish-brown and usually fade with age. The stipe when fresh fade from yellow near the cap to an orangish-brown near the base, and yellow staining and brown marks may be present on the cap; yellow marks fluoresce green under UV. The odor on these when fresh is usually strongly mealy, farinaceous, even foul. Saprophytic on well-decayed hardwood logs

Mycena vitilis - This is a widespread species with American sequences matching European sequences. Tan to gray and fading with age, they have a long, thin stipes that tend to grow on buried detritus.