images/Mycena_nargan/Mycena_nargan.jpg
Diagnostic characters
Small agaric, growing on wood, with a white spore print. Pileus dark brown or black, not viscid, initially with white scales. Lamellae adnate. Stipe central, initially with white scales at the base. Partial veil remnants absent. Spores hyaline, amyloid, smooth; germ pore absent. Cheilocystidia present. Lamellar trama regular. Pileipellis a cutis. Clamp connections present.
Similar genera
The very characteristic white scales readily disappear with age, but they tend to persist at the stipe base a little longer than on the pileus. It is worth checking for immature specimens, since these can be hidden in cracks in the woody substrate. Once the white scales have disappeared, Mycena nargan cannot be differentiated from dark grey or brown species of Mycena without checking microscopic characters. Microscopically it differs from other Mycena by the smooth hyphae of the pileipellis. The cheilocystidia are unbranched.
Australian species
One species: Mycena nargan. This is the sole member of Mycena section Nargan. It is keyed out separately because it is very unusual in Mycena by virtue of the white squamules on the pileus and stipe base, especially visible on young fruit-bodies.
Citation of species
Mycena nargan Grgur., Austral. Syst. Bot. 8: 531 (1995).
Australian distribution
W.A., S.A., N.S.W., Vic. and Tas. (and probably also N.T. and Qld).
Habitat
In native forests. Also on timber in parks and gardens, such as old railway sleepers.
Substrate
On wood, typically stumps and fallen large timber, and also worked timber used as garden edging. Collected once from a standing palm trunk.
Trophic status
Saprotrophic.
References
Bougher, N.L. (2009a), Fungi of the Perth region and beyond: a self-managed field book, Western Australian Naturalists' Club (Inc.), Perth. [Description and Illustration of M. nargan]
Fuhrer, B. (2005), A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. Bloomings Books, Hawthorn. [Description and Illustration of M. nargan]
Grey, P. & Grey, E. (2005), Fungi Down Under. Fungimap, South Yarra. [Description, Illustration and Map for M. nargan]
Grgurinovic, C.A. (2003), The genus Mycena in south-eastern Australia. Fungal Diversity Press, Hong Kong and Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. [Description, Illustration, B&W Illustration and Microcharacters for M. nargan]