Marasmius rotula - Collared Parachute

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

This widespread and very common little mushroom is the type species of the genus Marasmius. Its widely-spaced gills are attached to a collar encircling the stem – hence the common name. The reason for the specific epithet becomes obvious when you turn over a cap and see that the inner collar, the gills and the outer rim of the cap look so much like the hub, spokes and rim of a wheel – ‘rot’ (as in rotula) is a reference to wheel, as it is also in ‘rotate’.

Marasmius rotula is one of the most attractive of the many parachute mushrooms and quite the most distinctive. Its preferred habitat is dead deciduous hardwood roots and fallen trunks, branches and twigs – in hedgerows as well as in woodlands. Only occasionally is the Collared Parachute found on conifer wood.

Identification Guide

	Cap White or pale cream; convex initially, flattening at maturity; radially wrinkled at margin; 0.5 to 1.5cm across.
	Gills Pinkish-white turning ochre when old; adnate; narrow; distant.
Stem	Upper stem concolorous with cap, but darker brown towards base; shiny; 4 to 7cm long and less than 1mm dia; no ring.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On dead wood, usually from deciduous hardwood trees.
Season	June to November.
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	A similar species Marasmius androsaceus, known as the Horsehair Parachute, has its gills attached to the stem rather than to a collar.