Mycena inclinata - Clustered Bonnet

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Nearly always found on stumps, fallen branches or dead parts of standing oak trees, the Clustered Bonnet has (depending on your nose!) either a spicy or a rancid odour that helps distinguish it from the many similar bonnet mushrooms.

The crenelate (scalloped) cap margin and white woolly base of the stem are features that help separate this bonnet from several others of similar size and equally varied range of colours.

Identification Guide

Cap	2 to 3.5cm across; conical, becoming bell shaped and eventually broadly umbonate; smooth with striations almost to centre; margin scalloped or sharply toothed;various shades of grey or greyish-brown, becoming darker towards the centre.
Gills	Adnate; white turning pinkish-grey.
Stem	5 to 10cm long and 2 to 4mm in dia.; white at the apex, progressively darker red-brown towards the downy base; no ring.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	Nearly always on dead oak.
Season	June to November.
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	There are many other small, bell-shaped fungi in the Mycena genus including Mycena polygramma and Mycena arcangeliana; however, the iodine odour of the Mycena arcangeliana and the grooved stems of Mycena polygramma help to distinguish them from Mycena inclinata.