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Thursday 10 August 2017

Marasmius androsaceus - Horse Hair Toadstool

Marasmius androsaceus - Horse Hair Toadstool


I recently went camping in the Derbyshire countryside near to Matlock  and when walking through a lovely wood near to the Cuckoostone Walk, I found this little clutch of Horse Hair Toadstool.  The climate being ideal for mushrooms - sunshine, showers and humidity.


Not easy to photograph owing to the small size of its cap and the hair like stem.
Amazing how that fine stem can manage to push through twigs and logs.

The characteristics are below:

Cap 0.5-1 cm. It is very wrinkled/crumpled.  Clay-pink with a darker reddish/brown centre.  The gills are also clay-pink and distant.  The stem is dark brown/black being only 1 mm in width.  It is smooth and stiff, but not brittle.  There is still some flexibility and it will bend a little.
To be found on twigs, leaves and small pieces of wood.  It is common but has to be searched for as is all too easy to overlook.




First image showing the perspective and the second image the gills