SPECIES FACT SHEET
Scientific Name: Stagnicola perplexa (Orton) Redhead & Smith
Division: Eumycota
Subdivision: Basidiomycotina
Class: Agraicomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Strophariaceae
Conservation Rankings and Status:
Global: G3G4
State: OR S1S2, WA Not ranked
Oregon Biodiversity Infromation Center (ORBIC) List 2
(Ranks from ORBIC, http://orbic.pdx.edu accessed August 16, 2013)
Type Locality: United Kingdom
Technical Description: Morphological habit Mushroom. Cap 4-25 mm
in diam., campanulate to convex with small broad umbo, marginally
translucent-striate when moist, silky when dry, smooth, darker tawny
over the disc paling to yellow-brown on the margins. Taste slightly to
intensely bitter. Gills narrowly attached to seceding, close to crowded,
even to minutely eroded edges, yellow-olive, pale olive gray to dull amber,
cinnamon brown in age. Stem central to slightly eccentric, 15-45 mm
long, 0.5-2 mm wide at apex, smooth, pale yellow-brown at apex,
darkening to red-brown to black at base, with yellow-brown mycelial
tomentum at base. Basidia 4 spored. Cheilocystidia 25-54 x 5-7 μm,
abundant, cylindrical to narrowly fusoid, sometimes forked or onceseptate, thin walled, hyaline. Clamp Connections present. Spores
ellipsoid to slightly reniform, 4.5-6 (-6.5) x 3-3.5 (-4) μm, smooth,
subhyaline to pale yellow, inamyloid, slightly thick walled, cyanophilic,
spore print brown. Other Stagnicola perplexa is extremely similar in the
field to the slightly taller Mythicomyces corneipes, which produces a
purple-brown spore print and is easily distinguished microscopically by
its lightly roughened spores with an apical beak and the absence of
clamp connections. It is also possible that S. perplexa could be confused
with the larger Phaeocollybia attenuata, which has a long, wirelike
pseudorhiza, larger, heavily ornamented, limoniform-subglobose spores
or Psilocybe physaloides, which has an apically enlarged fibrillose stem,
dark purple-brown, large spores with a germ pore, and fusoid to
lageniform short-necked cheilocystidia.
Life History: Saprophytic and gregarious on rotten wood, occasionally
buried deeply enough to appear “rooting” in wet or recently dried-up
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depressions in coniferous forests. Fruits in in the late summer to early
autumn.
Range, Distribution and Abundance: Known from the boreal forests of
North America and Europe. In Oregon and Washington, it is known from
approximnately 7 sites within the Northwest Forest Plan Area, in the WA
and OR Western Cascades and WA Eastern Cascades Provinces.
FS/BLM lands in Oregon and Washington: Detections in WA, Mt. BakerSnoqualmie NF, Gifford Pinchot NF, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF and
Spokane BLM District. Detectons in OR on Mt. Hood NF, Rogue RiverSiskiyou NF.
Habitat Associations: Stagnicola perplexa is saprophytic on very rotten
conifer wood in boggy or wet areas or recently dried depressions in boreal
coniferous forests. It is associated with Pacific silver fir and more moist
forest, but has also been documented in shrub-steppe habitat.
Threats: Whatever threatens the substrate, microclimate, and/or general
habitat can imperil the associated organism. All populations are at risk
to incidental catastrophic events, such as hot fires, and unmonitored
human interference. Unprotected occurrences are at risk from logging
activities such as brush clearing or removal of the substrate and
underlying soil. The rarity of known occurrences increases the scope of
the estimated threat at this time. This species is slow to mature,
reproduces infrequently, and/or has low fecundity such that populations
are vulnerable to removal of substrate and underlying soil, and
destruction of habitat through incidental catastrophic events (climate
change brought on by global warming, hot fires, drought) or human
interference. It is particularly vulnerable to alteration of microhabitats
and microclimate regimes caused by logging activities, stream diversion,
road construction, and development.
Conservation Considerations: As a wood saprobe, Stagnicola perplexa
probably does not extend beyond the available substrate (log, stump etc).
Retention of habitat patches across a landscape could provide possible
areas of refugia and potential areas for colonization. To provide a
reasonable assurance of the continued persistence of occupied sites
consider incorporation of patch retention areas (as described in
Standards and Guidelines 1994, C-41) with occupied sites wherever
possible.
Other pertinent information (includes references to Survey
Protocols, etc): The survey protocol for sensitive fungi is located on the
ISSSSP website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/documents/inventories/inv-spfu-ver1-2008-12.pdf.
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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: Helen Lau, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Date: April, 2013
Edited by: Rob Huff, BLM/FS Portland, Oregon
Date: January, 2014
ATTACHMENTS:
(1)
References
(2)
Map of Species Distribution
(3)
Photographs of Species
ATTACHMENT 1:
References
Ammirati, J. 1994. Endangered, threatened and sensitive macrofungi of
Washington State. Official Letter to C. Turley, Science team leader,
Washington State Dept. of Natural resources. Dated March 26, 1994.
Arora, David. 1979. Mushrooms Demystified - A Comprehensive Guide
to the Fleshy Fungi. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California. 959 pp.
Castellano, M.A. & T. O’Dell. 1997. Management Recommendations for
Survey and Manage Fungi. Version 2.0.
Castellano, M.A., J.E. Smith, T. O’Dell, E. Cazares, and S. Nugent. 1999.
Handbook to Strategy 1 Fungal Species in the Northwest Forest Plan.
PNW-GTR-476.
Cushman, Kathleen and Rob Huff. 2007. Conservation Assessment for
Fungi Included in Forest Service Regions 5 and 6 Sensitive and BLM
California, Oregon and Washington Special Status Species Programs. R6
USFS and OR/WA BLM Interagency Special Status/Sensitive Species
Program (ISSSSP).
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/planning-tools/
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
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USFS and OR/WA BLM Interagency Special Status/Sensitive Species
Program (ISSSSP).
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/planning-tools/
GeoBOB query (BLM Oregon/Washington database; also contains FS
Region 6 fungi information), Febuary 2012.
Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center. 2010. Survey and Manage
Assessments: Rank Assessments. Oregon Natural Heritage Information
Center, Oregon State University. Portland. http://orbic.pdx.edu/raremanage.html
Redhead, S.A.; Smith, A.H. 1986. Two new genera of agarics based on
Psilocybe corneipes and Phaeocollybia perplexa. Canadian Journal of
Botany. 64: 643-647.
Trudell, Steve and Ammirati, Joe. 2009. Mushrooms of the Pacific
Northwest. Timber Press, Portland, OR. p.255.
USFS Forest Service. 2012. Natural Resource Information System (NRIS).
http://fsweb.nris.fs.fed.us/
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ATTACHMENT 2:
Map of Species Distribution in OR/WA
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ATTACHMENT 3:
Photographs of Species
Photos by Paul Kroeger
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Spores and basidia
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