Galerina graminea

Galerina marginata

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Strophariaceae

Galerina graminea (synonym Galerina laevis), with its widely-spaced gills and tiny orange caps, is a common and very welcome sight in garden lawns and parks. This is one of the very few Galerina species that can survive and in moss-free grass, although it is much more commonly encountered in mossy lawns.

Identifying with certainty the many small Galerina and Mycena mushrooms that appear on lawns requires microscopic examination (preferably assisted by chemical testing!).

Identification guide

Cap

Initially convex then bell-shaped or umbonate with a striate margin; orange; 5 to 15mm diameter when fully expanded.

Gills

Widely spaced. orangel; adnexed, sometimes almost free.

Stem

  

1 to 2mm in diameter and 2 to 5cm tall; cylindrical, paler orange than the cap.

Spore print

Brown.

Odour/taste

Odour not significant; taste faintly bitter.

Habitat

On grassy ground in coniferous and deciduous woods and in short-cropped or mown grassland.

Season

June to December.

Occurrence

Infrequent.

Similar species

Kuehneromyces mutabilis, a much larger mushroom, is similar in colour range but has a pale cap centre and a darker margin; it does not grow in grass but is confined to mainly hardwood substrates.