Help for a Beginner

[HegoDamaskII]

These are some mushroom that began growing in a set of raspberry starts I got from a relative in southern Utah. I've looked through and can't find anything like them, granted I'm just taking my first steps into Mushrooms. 

The caps and stems are a dark violet that lighten as the age. When the mushroom spores the caps

The gills start an almost dandelion yellow that grows into an orange color as it matures. 

When the mushrooms spores it is a vibrant orange color.

Any guesses as to what it is?

[Dave W]

Very interesting! Orange spore print suggests genus Gymnopilus. But, no species names come to mind. And the "Gymnopilus" suggestion is not made with much confidence, just an idea. I'll re-visit this. 

[Dave W]

I think these may be a species of Tubaria. This large genus --globally, lots of species-- is seemingly represented by only a handful of species in North America. Tubaria mushrooms are generally fairly small. The "vibrant orange" spore color mentioned here is not much different than the typically yellow/ocher prints of the Tubaria I commonly see here in eastern NA (presumably mostly T. furfuracea). Online photos of Tubaria pallidispora look similar to the mushrooms seen here. My guess is that species of fungi native to southern Utah are not well-understood. Nice find! 

Hego, if you can dehydrate a few of these and mail the material to me, I may be able to get it sequenced (DNA). It would be very interesting to find out what species these represent. 

[HegoDamaskII]

That would be really interesting, thank you for your help, Dave. I'd be happy to send some your way. What would be the best way to do that?

[Dave W]

I just sent a PM to you via wildmushroomhunting.org. 

[Dave W]

Here's the MO observation  https://mushroomobserver.org/510860 .  I'm leaning toward Gymnopilus, partly based upon the orange spores.

[Dave W]

Looks like "Gymnopilus" has received some support on MO. (See link in last post here.)