Small agaric, growing on the ground or rarely on litter or around vertebrate animal carcasses, with a white spore print. Pileus brown, grey or black, not viscid. Lamellae adnexed, sinuate or notched, rarely free. Stipe central. Partial veil remnants absent. Spores hyaline, non-amyloid, warty or spinose; germ pore absent. Cheilocystidia absent. Lamellar trama regular. Pileipellis a cutis. Clamp connections present.

Mycenella has similarly ornamented spores, but the pileipellis hyphae are nodulose, there are cystidia on the lamellae, pileus and stipe, and fruit-bodies occur on wood. Laccaria has spinose spores, but has pink or reddish lamellae at maturity. Some species of Gymnopus and Mycena have fruit-bodies with similar stature and colours, but in the first genus fruit-bodies are usually tough, the stipe surface is often velvety and the spores are smooth. Mycena invariably has smooth and often amyloid spores, and the pileipellis hyphae are usually nodulose. The Lyophyllum anthracophilum group differs in the smooth spores, and its occurrence on burnt ground.

Basidia of Lyophyllum are unusual in possessing siderophilus granulation when stained in a solution of iron and acetocarmine. Cleménçon (2004) and Largent et al. (1977) provided details of the specialised reagents required to detect siderophilous granulation.

One or a few species: reported as Lyophyllum tylicolor (= Tephrocybe) or L. tesquorum. This group is keyed out separately from other species of Lyophyllum due to its ornamented spores.

Lyophyllum tylicolor (Fr. : Fr.) M.Lange & Sivertsen, Bot. Tidsskr. 62: 205 (1966).

W.A. (and possibly also S.A., N.S.W., Vic. and Tas.).

In native forests.

On the ground, or rarely in litter or mulch. Often associated with vertebrate animal remains, and will appear after the application of nitrogen (as urea).

Saprotrophic.

Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (eds) (1991), Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 3. Boletes and Agarics 1st part. Edition Mykologia, Lucerne. [Illustration, Description and Microcharacters of L. tesquorum and L. tylicolor from Europe]

Suzuki, A., Tommerup, I.C. & Bougher, N.L. (1997), Ammonia fungi in the jarrah forest of Western Australia and parallelism with other geographic regions of the world. Software in systematics & Systematics: advancing knowledge and conservation of Australia's biodiversity. 1997 joint national conferences Australian Systematic Botany Society, Society of Australian Systematic Biologists and Australasian Mycological Society. Adelaide. Abstract. p. 89. [reports of Lyophyllum tylicolor from Western Australia after application of urea]