MarySue Posted January 28, 2023 Report Share Posted January 28, 2023 I found these growing in my flower bed when I was mulching it with leaves this past fall. I used only organic soil and mulch from Home Depot in the Sacramento area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHNY Posted January 28, 2023 Report Share Posted January 28, 2023 Was there a lot of woody mulch already in/on the ground? I'd like to see a pic showing if the gills are attached or free. Lots of mulch and free gill in urban area....might be Pluteus petasatus Quote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 I'd say Pluteus species, although seeing the underside straight on so that gill attachment (presumably "free") would be helpful. Pluteus petasatus is found in a variety of habitat including on the ground (probably from buried wood). Usually, the caps of P. petasatus feature a pale ground color with dark scales concentrated near the disc. The ones seen here look to be dark for this species. There are quite a few Pluteus species; many are not generally featured in field guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarySue Posted January 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 8 hours ago, JOHNY said: Was there a lot of woody mulch already in/on the ground? I'd like to see a pic showing if the gills are attached or free. Lots of mulch and free gill in urban area....might be Pluteus petasatus By free gills, if you mean there is space between the gills, there was. These pictures were taken on December 9 and are all that I have. The original ground had two year old wood chips from a bay tree. I put organic mulch and potting soil on top of that. I thought maybe it came from the mulch I bought. I’ve had a variety of other little mushrooms pop up but nothing remotely similar to this or of this size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 "Free gills" means that the gills do not reach the stalk. Thus, the gills are "free" of the stalk rather than "attached." There are various categories of attachment, including a few that are often difficult to distinguish from free. For example, "sinuate" gills are tapered near the stalk and attached thinly, sometimes by only a threadlike portion of the gill. "Seceding" gills means the gills had originally been attached but the attachment broke making the gills appear to be free of the stalk. Pluteus gills are rounded/tapered and terminate 1 or more mm away from the stalk. There's usually a thin smooth annular region on the underside of the cap between the rounded gill-ends and the stalk. But with a young unexpanded cap the annular region may not be evident and the "attachment" may be difficult to assess. The photo shows gills of a mature Pluteus mushroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarySue Posted February 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 Thank you for the explanation. Next time I know what camera angles to get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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