Bonfire of the rarities

I saw some information on Twitter about Multiclavula vernalis the other day and wondered if the wet heathy habitat at Sussex Wildlife Trust's Graffham Common reserve might be a good place to look for it...

During the #LAFF100 🍄 project, the 2 records you have sent us of the moss club (Multiclavula vernalis) come from opposite ends of the UK - N. Ebudes & S. Hampshire!

Please continue to look out for it in damp peaty environments & send us your records. https://t.co/BOT87VrOtG pic.twitter.com/rzby7moR5f

— Lost & Found Fungi (@LostFoundFungi) March 4, 2019

... So I went and had a good poke around in the wet bits yesterday. Didn't find any M. vernalis.

I did find these though, some very small young fruit-bodies emerging from a lichen- and algae-covered bank. 

The larger one at the top had a slightly striate cap...

... and beautiful decurrent gills.

I felt fairly certain this would be Heath Navel Lichenomphalia umbellifera, which I recorded at Graffham Common in 2017 (here), and thought I'd just take a quick look at the spores to confirm.

Now I'm confused.

This is what the spores (from a spore print) look like at 400x magnification, mounted in water.

Spores in water. 400x magnification.

My measurements came out at 7.5-9.5 x 4.5-5.5 microns {based on 10 spores}; which is the right sort of ball park for L. umbellifera.

But I looked at the spore images on Malcolm Storey's bio-images site (here) and in his collections of L. umbellifera the spores are hyaline with big oil droplets (like this).

Spores in water. 1000x magnification.

My collection doesn't have any conspicuous oil droplets. I'm wondering if I might have a different 'omphaloid' species here, such as Omphalina pyxidata...? (Apologies about the darkness of the images, my microscope and angle-poise lamp are not cooperating today).

Moving on up the hill, I came across an old fire site.

I remembered that this was where I found an interesting-looking Clitocybe specimen in 2017 which – after much deliberation – I ended up calling Clitocybe sinopica (read all about it here).

Looking closely, I saw this area was dotted with clusters of mushrooms with reddish-tan caps. Could this be my Clitocybe again?

Looking back at my notes from 2017, I saw that one of the features of C. sinopica which I was not able to detect then was a "strong mealy, farinaceous smell". I gave these fresh mushrooms a sniff and immediately recognised the mealy smell.

The fruitbodies produced a white spore-print, and masses of spores.
 

Spores in water. 400x magnification.

My measurements came out at 7.8-9.1 x 4.4-5.8 microns {based on 10 spores}. Looking closely at the spores, they are mostly ellipsoid.

Spores in water. 1000x magnification.

Spores in water. 1000x magnification (+ digital zoom).

My collection seems to fit the description of C. sinopica reasonably well (?), but would be nice to get it confirmed by someone who knows their Clitocybes...

Finally, while I was photographing the Clitocybe, I noticed some other mushrooms popping up across the fire site.

Some kind of Inkcap, with a wooly ('tomentose') white base.

There were some younger specimens as well...

These showed distinctive fibrillose veil remnants covering the cap.

My best guess with these is Bonfire Inkcap Coprinopsis jonesii (=Coprinus lagopides), based on descriptions in Phillips and here. The elliptical to subglobose shape of the spores would seem to support this. And I see Malcolm Storey recorded this speces down the road, at Lavington Common, in 2000 (here)...

Spores in water. 400x magnification.

... But then I am never very confident identifying 'inkcaps'.

An interesting little haul, even if I am left a little uncertain on the identifications.

For the record
Date: 9 March 2019
Location: Graffham Common
Grid reference: SU9319