Identification of the Larger Fungi. Roy Watling
Gills not attached to the stem (free), or with part attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent) 6
Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem 7
6. Gills remote to free from the stem Pluteus
Gills distinctly attached and descending down the stem Clitopilus (see also Eccilia p. 102)
7. Gills broadly attached to the stem (adnate) Entoloma
Gills narrowly attached to the stem (adnexed) Leptonia & Nolanea
8. Stem laterally attached to the cap Crepidotus
Stem centrally attached to the cap 9
9. Spore-print some shade of brown 10
Spore-print blackish to purplish black 18
10. Spore-print bright rust-brown 11
Spore-print dull clay-brown or ochraceous 16
11. Stem with the veil girdling the stem (ring), or cobweb-like (cortina) 12
Stem without the veil girdling the stem or when present then easily lost 13
12. Stem with distinct ring or ring-zone Pholiota & related genera
Stem with cobweb-like veil or faint filamentous ring-zone Cortinarius & Gymnopilus
13. Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem (adnexed to adnate) 14
Gills free of the stem, or distinctly attached to and running down the stem (decurrent), and then often joined together at the apex of the stem or at their base 15
14. Cap-surface composed of rounded cells Conocybe
Cap-surface composed of filamentous cells Galerina
15. Gills free of the stem and the whole fruit-body very fragile Bolbitius
Gills attached to and running down the stem (decurrent), easily separable from the cap-tissue and frequently veined at apex of stem Paxillus
16. Cap scaly, fibrillose and roughened Inocybe
Cap smooth, greasy or viscid 17
17. Cap-surface composed of rounded cells Agrocybe
Cap-surface composed of filamentous cells Naucoria & Hebeloma
18. Gills or complete fruit-body becoming liquefied Coprinus
Neither the gills nor fruit-body collapsing into a slurry of cells 19
19. Gills free to remote from the stem or attached and descending down the stem (decurrent) 20
Gills attached in some way to the stem but not descending down the stem (adnate to adnexed) 21
20. Gills decurrent; stem possessing a cobweb-like veil Gomphidius and Chroogomphus
Gills remote or free; stem possessing a usually persistent ring Agaricus
21. Gills distinctly spotted or distinctly mottled; stem stiff but breaking with a snap when bent; growing on dung or in richly manured areas Panaeolus
Gills not spotted or distinctly mottled; stem cartilaginous or not, and fruit-body growing on dung or not 22
22. Gills broadly attached to the stem (adnate) and with a veil girdling the stem Stropharia
Gills narrowly attached to the stem (adnexed) or with concave dentation near the stem (sinuate), or if adnate then lacking a ring 23
23. Gills with concave indentation near the stem (sinuate) and cap and stem with a cobweb-like veil Hypholoma
Gills attached to the stem but lacking a distinct concave indentation near the stem 24
24. Stem stiff but breaking with a snap when bent; edge of cap incurved at first and cap-surface composed of filamentous cells Psilocybe
Stem fragile; edge of cap straight even when young and cap-surface composed of rounded cells Psathyrella
25. Fruit-body fleshy and readily decaying, often firm but never tough 26
Fruit-body tough and not easily decaying 47
26. Parasitic on other agarics Nyctalis
Not parasitic on other agarics 27
27. Spore-bearing layer on fold-like often forked gills or simply on irregularities 28
Spore-bearing layer (hymenium), on distinct well-formed gills 29
28. Spore-bearing layer on fold-like gills Cantharellus
Spore-bearing layer on surface of irregularities Craterellus
29. Cap easily separable from the stem 30
Cap not easily separable from the stem 31
30. Stem with girdling veil (ring) and/or with a persistent cup-like structure at the base (volva); cap usually with warts or scales distributed on its surface Amanita
Stem with a ring but lacking a volva; cap surface powdery, hairy or scaly Lepiota & related genera
31. Cap, stem and gills brittle; stem never stiff and either exuding a milk-like juice or not; spores with spines or warts which stain blue-black in solutions containing iodine 32
Cap, stem and gills soft or if stem stiff then snapping when bent; gills never brittle 33
32. Fruit-body exuding a milk-like fluid Lactarius
Fruit-body not exuding milk-like fluid Russula
33. Gills thick, watery and lustrous (waxy) or with a bloom as if powdered with talc; often brightly coloured 34
Gills not waxy and rarely over 1·5 mm thick 36
34. Gills rather watery and lustrous (waxy); spores smooth 35
Gills rigid not watery, with powdery bloom; spores with distinct spines Laccaria
35. Fruit-body with a distinct veil and growing in woods; cap often viscid or pale coloured Hygrophorus
Fruit-body lacking a veil and usually growing in fields; cap usually brightly coloured and sometimes viscid Hygrocybe
36. Stem with girdling veil (ring) and/or stem not attached to the centre of the cap (eccentric) 37
Stem central and lacking a ring 38
37. Stem central and possessing a ring Armillaria
Stem not centrally attached to the cap members of the ‘Pleurotaceae’ (p. 74)
38. Stem fibrous 39
Stem stiff only in the outer layers 42
39. Gills with a concave indentation near the stem (sinuate) 40
Gills attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent) 41
40. Spores with warts which darken in solutions containing iodine Melanoleuca
Spores not so colouring in solutions containing iodine Tricholoma & related genera
41. Spores with warts which darken in solutions containing iodine Leucopaxillus
Spores not so colouring in solutions containing iodine Tricholoma & related genera
42. Gills thick and with rather blunt edges Cantharellula & Hygrophoropsis
Gills