Mycena galericulata - Common Bonnet

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Larger than most of the other tuft-forming bonnet mushrooms found on stumps, the Common Bonnet (the type species of the Mycena genus) shows a distinct preference for decayed stumps and fallen trunks of deciduous broadleaf trees. Only very occasionally is it found on conifer stumps.

Look out for these pretty mushrooms in damp Beech and oak woods, where they are often at their most prolific in deep shade. Photographing mushrooms in such situations can be tricky, but provided there is room to use a tripod a long exposure is often preferable to using flash - unless of course you want the background to disappear into inky blackness, which can be very flattering for pale fungi such as the various woodland 'bonnet' species.

Identification Guide

Cap	2.5 to 6cm across; conical, becoming bell shaped and eventually almost flattening with a shallow umbo; smooth with marginal striations; pallid greyish-brown fading to white at the margin.
Gills	Adnate; white or light grey turning pinkish-grey with age.
Stem	5 to 10cm long and 3 to 8mm in dia.; white at the apex, beige towards the finely woolly base; no ring.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On trunks, stumps and on wood of deciduous broadleaf trees buried among mosses on the forest floor.
Season	June to November.
Occurrence	Very common.
Similar species	Mycena polygramma is usually darker and has grooved stems. Mycena arcangeliana is distinguishede by its iodine-like odour.