Marasmius.
Basidiomycota > Agaricomycetes > Agaricales > Marasmiaceae.
About 500 species which grow on leaf litter and wood debris.
Most species are small with flat or convex caps.
Caps come in white or many colours – yellow, orange, red, pink, purple or brown.
Gills can be free or attached to various degrees but rarely run down the stem.
Spore print is white, cream or yellowish.
Tough, thin stems are central, all dark or with a paler top.
Microscopic features are commonly needed for identification and to distinguish from other genera
of small mushrooms such as the Mycenas.
They may be hard to indentify from a single specimen.
Those occurring in Australia include M. alveolaris, M. crinisequi (crinis-equi), M. elegans,
M. haematocephalus, M. hypophaeus and M. oreades.
Many specimens are simply labelled as Marasmius sp., or a brown or orange cap Marasmius.
J.F.
