SPECIES FACT SHEET
Scientific Name: Phaeocollybia oregonensis A.H. Smith & Trappe (p. 123
Castellano 1999)
Synonym: Phaeocollybia carmanahensis Redhead & Norvell Mycotaxon 46:
343-359. 1993
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Order: Agaricales
Family: Continariaceae
Conservation Status:
Global: G2?
National: N2?
State: OR S2? WA No ranking
Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) List: 1
(Ranks from ORBIC, http://orbic.pdx.edu accessed August 16, 2013)
Type: A.H. Smith 28420 (MICH) October 20, 1947, Larch Mountain,
Multnomah County Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon.
Technical Description: Cap 30-80 (110) mm broad, conic convex when young
with incurved margins becoming plane with acute umbo and straight margin,
glabrous, viscid to occasionally glutinous (under wet conditions), some shade of
drab-gray or purplish-brown, reddish- to orange-brown when dry. Flesh
creamy to pink-white, stipitipith generally firm and dense, unchanging or
staining slightly brown. Gills narrowly attached to free, ventricose, narrow to
broad (3-10 mm) crowded, thin with edges even when young to serrulate or
eroded in age, polydymous with 3-7 teirs of truncate lamellulae regularly to
irregularly imterspersed, smokey gray-white, becoming more drab yellowish
buff in age, obscured with light yellowish brown spores. Stem including
pseudorhiza to 210 mm, stuffed, aerial portion 40-85 x 7-16 mm, usually equal
to narrowing downwards, rarely swollen from proliferating pith, longitudinally
striate, dry, color generally grayish pink or drab at apex, turning to grayish
reddish brown upwards, 1-2 mm thick cartilaginous cortex surrounding firm to
fibrous whitish or pinkish buff stipitipith. Odor farinaceous, or cucumberslike, developing unpleasant pungent tones when dry. Taste usually farinaceous
and bitter. Cheilocystidia 12-36 x 3.3-4.1 µm, generally narrowly clavate
(filamentous) emanating from lamellar trama on slightly narrower (2-4 µm)
pedicels with penultimate elements often swelling below terminal septa, thinwalled, smooth, hyaline. Clamp connections none, although tramal hyphae do
produce occasional pseudo-clamps (small branchlets or balloon-like diverticula
noted close to or well away from the septa). Pileipellis bilaminate ixocutis with
(30) 100-200 µm thick suprapellis, composed of 2-5 µm wide repent hyaline
hyphae with refractive septa embedded in a gelatinous matrix overlying a 501
200 µm thick dull brownish to brownish orange (in KOH) subpellis composed of
slightly thicker walled wider (6-10 µm) elements with incrusting and
intraparietal pigments. Spores ellipsoid, 6.8 x 4 ± 0.2 µm, asymmetrical in
profile, bullet shaped in face view, virtually smooth to sparsely punctate
roughened, in KOH golden-brown, young spores (with thinner exosporium)
visibly dextrinoid in Melzer’s. Spore print color dull yellowish cinnamon.
Distinguishing Features: Key field characters include a fairly robust stature, a
cartilaginous, slender, smoky-tan, stuffed stem extending well below ground
level as a pseudorhiza, a viscid drab-brown to gray-brown cap, gray-white
lamellae, and a dark red-brown spore print. This species is easily mistaken in
the field for P. kauffmanii but the spores readily distinguish them.
Life History
This taxon is a solitary to gregarious gilled mushroom that emerges above the
soil surface at maturity in coniferous forests under Abies, Tsuga, and
Pseudotsuga. It is presumed to be ectomycorrhizal with Pinaceae and has been
observed associated with the roots of Abies amabilis, Picea sitchensis,
Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Tsuga heterophylla. It is dependant on wind for
dispersal of spores, but animal, especially arthropod, dispersal is also possible.
It fruits from late September through early January.
Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Rare. Known only from approximately
within the range of the northern spotted owl from western Oregon to British
Columbia (Upper Carmanah Valley and Mt. Seymour) Canada. In Oregon
known from approximately 16 sites (0 in Washington).
Oregon: Clackamas, Multnomah, Tillamook, Lane, Polk, Douglas, and Coos
Counties.
FS/BLM lands in Oregon and Washington: Mt Hood NF, Columbia River Gorge
National Scenic Area, Siuslaw NF, Coos Bay BLM, Medford BLM, Eugene BLM,
and Salem BLM.
Habitat Associations: Closely gregarious in moist locations in mid to late
autumn Associated with the roots of Abies amabilis, Abies procera ,
Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Tsuga heterophylla. Understory associates include:
Vaccinium sp., Polystichum munitum, and Rhytidiadelphus loreus or other dense
mosses. Elevation range: 721-3916 ft. Fruits in October and November.
Threats: Threats to ectomycorrhizal fungi include disturbances that damage
mycelium and host, such as severe fire, removal of host plants and
consequential loss of canopy cover, loss of large woody debris and soil
compaction.
2
Conservation Considerations: Revisit known sites and localities to confirm
persistence and extent of populations. Buffer known sites from management
activities. When conducting vegetation management activities in area with good
habitat potential, consider leaving scattered and clumped host trees and ample
large woody debris, while minimizing soil compaction and severity of prescribed
fires; avoid broadcast burning and pile burning in prime habitat.
Other pertinent information (includes references to Survey Protocols,
etc): The survey protocol for fungi is located on the ISSSSP website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/documents/inventories/inv-sp-fuver1-2008-12.pdf.
The survey protocol for Survey and Manage fungi is located on the Survey and
Manage website: http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/protocols/
Prepared by: Jenifer Ferriel, Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa Whitman
National Forests
Date: April 2013
Edited by: Rob Huff, BLM/FS Portland, Oregon
Date: February 2014
ATTACHMENTS:
(1)
References
(2)
Map of Species Distribution
(3)
Photographs of Species
3
ATTACHMENT 1:
References
Aurora, David. 1986. Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley, CA.
Castellano, Micahel A. and Thomas O’Dell. Management Recommendations for
Survey and Manage Fungi, V. 2.0. 1997.
Castellano, Michael A.; Smith, Jane E.; O’Dell, Thom; Cázares, Efrén; Nugent,
Susan. 1999. Handbook to strategy 1 fungal taxa from the Northwest Forest
Plan. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-476. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 195 p.
Dewey, R. and J. Ferriel. 2013. Habitat Summary for Sensitive Fungi Species.
Unpublished. Available from the ISSSSP Fungi Working Group.
Ferriel, Jenifer and Katie Grenier. 2008. Annotated Bibliography of
Information Potentially Pertaining to Management of Rare Fungi on the Special
Status Species List for California, Oregon and Washington. R6 USFS and
OR/WA BLM Interagency Special Status/Sensitive Species Program (ISSSSP).
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/planning-tools/
Interagency Sensitive and Special Status Species List, December 1, 2011
available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/agency-policy/
Norvell, Lorelei L. and Ronald L. Exeter. Phaeocollybia of Pacific Northwest
North America. 2008.
Norvell, L.L. 1998. PhD Dissertation: The Biology and Taxonomy of Pacific
Northwest species of Phaeocollybia Heim (Agaricales, Cortinariaceae).
University of Washington.
Smith, A.H. and J.M. Trappe 1972. The Higher Fungi Of Oregon’s Cascade
Head Experimental Forest And Vicinity I. The Genus Phaeocollybia (Agaricales)
And Notes And Descriptions Of Other Species In The Agaricales. Mycologica
64: 64:1138-1153.
Trudell, Steve and Joe Ammirati. 2009. Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Timber Press, Portland, OR.
4
ATTACHMENT 2:
Map of Species Distribution in OR/WA
5
ATTACHMENT 3:
Photographs of Species
Figure 1. Phaeocollybia oregonensis Photo courtesy of L.L. Norvel
Figure 2. Phaeocollybia oregonensis Photo courtesy of Ron Exeter
6