Appearance
The cap is initially convex when young, later becoming convex to flattened or slightly depressed in the center, reaching a diameter of 3–11 mm . The cap margin starts out rolled or curved inward, but straightens out as it matures. The cap surface ranges from dry to moist, smooth to covered with fine whitish hairs, and is mostly even with translucent radial grooves at the margin. It is subhygrophanous , becoming a grayish-orange when watery or old, and usually is white with a very faint pinkish flush when fresh. The flesh is whitish, quite thin, and has no distinctive taste or odor. The gills are adnate to slightly arcuate with a tooth . There are between 12 and 20 gills that extend completely from the cap edge to the stem, and three to five tiers of lamellulae . The gills are thin, narrow to moderately broad, and white to pinkish-buff. The gill edges are even, and the same color as the gill faces.The stem is 8–25 mm long and up to 2 mm thick, equal in width throughout to slightly enlarged downward, flexible and filamentous but not fragile. The stem surface is dry, whitish to grayish-orange, sometimes with tiny hairs on the upper portion that become coarser near the base. The stem base often has rhizomorph-like strands or copious whitish mycelia. The stem, unlike the other two species of ''Collybia'', do not originate from a sclerotium. The stem becomes hollow as it matures. Although it is not considered poisonous, ''C. cirrhata'' is too small and insubstantial to be considered edible.In deposit, the spores appear white. Individual spores are ellipsoid to tear-shaped in profile, obovoid to ellipsoid or roughly cylindric in face or back view, with dimensions of 4.8–6.4 by 2–2.8 µm. They are smooth, inamyloid, and acyanophilous . The basidia are roughly club-shaped, four-spored, and measure 17.5–21 by 4.8–5.6 µm. The gills do not have cystidia. The gill tissue is made of hyphae that are interwoven to roughly parallel, and inamyloid. The hyphae are 2.8–8.4 µm in diameter and smooth. The cap tissue is made of interwoven hyphae beneath the center of the cap, but radially oriented over the gills; it too is inamyloid. These hyphae are 3.5–8.4 µm in diameter, smooth, but have irregularly thickened walls. The cap cuticle is an ixocutis—a gelatinized layer of hyphae lying parallel to the cap surface. The hyphae comprising this layer are 2.8–6.4 µm in diameter, smooth, and thin-walled. They are covered with scattered, short pouch-like outgrowths. The cuticle of the stem is a layer of parallel, vertically oriented hyphae; the hyphae measure 3.5–4.2 µm, and are smooth, slightly thick-walled, and pale yellowish-brown in alkaline solution. They give rise to a covering of tangled and branched caulocystidia that have multiple septa. The caulocystidia are 2.8–4.8 µm in diameter, smooth, thin walled, and shaped like contorted cylinders. Clamp connections are present in the hyphae of all tissues.
Naming
''Collybia cirrhata'' is most likely to be confused with the remaining members of ''Collybia'', which have a similar external appearance. ''C. tuberosa'' is distinguished by its dark reddish-brown sclerotia that resemble apple seeds, while ''C. cookei'' has wrinkled, often irregularly shaped sclerotia that are pale yellow to orange. Other similar mushrooms include ''Baeospora myosura'' and species of ''Strobilurus'', but these species only grow on pine cones.Distribution
Like all species remaining in the genus ''Collybia'', ''C. cirrhata'' is saprobic, and is typically found growing on the decaying or blackened remains of other mushrooms; occasionally the fruit bodies may be found growing on moss or soil without any apparent connection to decaying mushrooms, although these observations may represent instances where the remnant host tissue—possibly from a previous season—has decayed to such an extent that it remains as buried fragments in the substrate. Known hosts include ''Lactarius'', ''Russula'', ''Meripilus giganteus'', and ''Bovista dermoxantha''.''Collybia cirrhata'' is known from temperate, boreal, and alpine or arctic habitats. The fungus is widespread in Europe, including Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Scandinavia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The mushroom is also common in northern montane regions of North America. In Asia, the fungus has been reported in Korea, and in Hokkaido, northern Japan. It is also known from Greenland. A 2009 publication suggested that based on the known evidence, the species' distribution may be circumboreal.
Habitat
Like all species remaining in the genus ''Collybia'', ''C. cirrhata'' is saprobic, and is typically found growing on the decaying or blackened remains of other mushrooms; occasionally the fruit bodies may be found growing on moss or soil without any apparent connection to decaying mushrooms, although these observations may represent instances where the remnant host tissue—possibly from a previous season—has decayed to such an extent that it remains as buried fragments in the substrate. Known hosts include ''Lactarius'', ''Russula'', ''Meripilus giganteus'', and ''Bovista dermoxantha''.''Collybia cirrhata'' is known from temperate, boreal, and alpine or arctic habitats. The fungus is widespread in Europe, including Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Scandinavia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The mushroom is also common in northern montane regions of North America. In Asia, the fungus has been reported in Korea, and in Hokkaido, northern Japan. It is also known from Greenland. A 2009 publication suggested that based on the known evidence, the species' distribution may be circumboreal.
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