Zoned Crinipellis

Appearance

''Crinipellis zonata'' is a little brown mushroom with a cap of 1 to 2.5 cm in diameter, which is convex in shape. Typically, it has a small, distinctive depression in the centre, while the whole cap is densely hairy and dry. There are often concentric zones of both color and texture. The cap is tawny or cream, while the hairs are tawny. The white gills are close and narrow, and free or nearly free from the stem. The gills do not discolor. The stem is between 25 and 50 mm in height, by 1 to 2 mm thick. Like the cap, it is densely covered in tawny hairs. Although the stem is hollow, the cap has an insubstantial layer of white flesh.

The spore print is white, and the smooth, elliptical spores are 4–6 by 3–5 µm in size. The basidia are four-spored, club-shaped, and measure 25–30 by 6.0–6.5 µm. ''C. zonata'' has ''basidioles''—basidium-like cells in the hymenium that lack the slender projections known as ''sterigmata'' that attach to spores. The basidioles are 15–28 by 3.0–8.0 µm, and range in shape from club-shaped to cylindrical to fusoid . The cheilocystidia are 20–45 by 5.0–9.0 µm, cylindrical, club-shaped or fusoid, irregular, and branched or coral-like. Pleurocystidia are absent. The "hairs" on the cap surface are about 50–800 by 4.0–10 µm, and roughly cylindrical with an irregular base; the hairs on the stem are similar to the cap hairs. The cap and stem hairs are ''dextrinoid'', meaning that they are stained yellowish-brown or reddish-brown by the iodine of Melzer's reagent. Clamp connections are present in all tissues.

Naming

Though similar in appearance to other members of ''Crinipellis'', such as ''C. stipitaria'' and ''C. piceae'', ''C. zonata'' has a slightly larger cap. The Ghanaian species ''Crinipellis ghanaensis'' is also similar, but may be distinguished by its lighter-colored cap without a "corrugated appearance", and its distribution.

Distribution

''Crinipellis zonata'' is saprobic, living on the debris or roots of hardwoods; it contains wood-decaying enzymes that can break down the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pyrene. The mushrooms grow individually or in small clusters, and can be found between August and September. In North America, it is distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, and has been recorded as far west as Indiana and Texas. In Europe, it has been collected in Portugal. It has also been collected in South Korea.

Habitat

''Crinipellis zonata'' is saprobic, living on the debris or roots of hardwoods; it contains wood-decaying enzymes that can break down the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pyrene. The mushrooms grow individually or in small clusters, and can be found between August and September. In North America, it is distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, and has been recorded as far west as Indiana and Texas. In Europe, it has been collected in Portugal. It has also been collected in South Korea.