Plants and animals of Pointfield

Cap 36 mm in diameter; a dull fawn in colour drying to a straw colour; low domed in profile with prominent striations in outer third. Gills adnate, with rather a long attachment to stem; pale fawn initially and mottled, with a slightly purple hue in maturity; rather dense with several cyclical lengths. No trace of a veil. Stem 6 cm in length but only 3.2 mm in diameter; hollow; surface smooth and white to off-white; brittle (on bending the stem quickly snaps with an audible crack); with fine with fibres only close to the base; no ring.

Spore print dark brown. Spores oval, smooth-surfaced with a large germ-pore at one end (somewhat truncated appearance to spore)and a tiny nipple at the opposite end; 7.6-9.1 x 4.2-4.8 um (mean 8.5 x 4.4 um; n= 16); very few containing large lipid inclusions. A rather strong brown colour in NaOH but amyloid and staining orange in Melzer's reagent. Gill edge composed of dense spherical cells with occasional utriform cistidiae. Pleurocystidia sparse, utriform with rounded head. Pilleipellis of fine densely packed cells.

In grass under the walnut trees. An early spring species. Also found in late October/November, under cut-leaf beech tree.