| Leucocoprinus minimus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Agaricaceae |
| Genus: | Leucocoprinus |
| Species: | L. minimus |
| Binomial name | |
| Leucocoprinus minimus | |
| Synonyms | |
Hiatula minima Berk (1852) Contents | |
Leucocoprinus minimus is a species of mushroom-producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae. [1] [2]
It was first described in 1852 by the British mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley who classified it as Hiatula minima. [3]
In 1916, it was reclassified as Leptomyces minimus by the American mycologist William Murrill. [4]
This was reclassified as Lepiota minima in 1952 by the British mycologist Richard William George Dennis [5] and then as Leucocoprinus minimus in 1981 by the British mycologist David Pegler. [6]
Leucocoprinus minimus is a small dapperling mushroom with very thin white flesh that becomes pink and deliquesces with age. [5]
Cap: 2–3 cm wide. Hemispherical with a flat umbo. The surface is white and dotted with tiny dark purple-brown scales which are denser at the centre disc. It has striations (plicato-striate) running from the cap margins halfway to the centre of the cap. Stem: 2mm thick and equal in width across the length however no length is provided in Dennis' description. It is smooth, hollow and curved with a white surface that becomes purple-brown at the base. Gills: Thin, equal, crowded and remote from the stem. They are about 2mm wide. No colour is provided in the description. Spores: 6–10 × 5–7 μm. Elliptical and hyaline. They have a red amyloid reaction when mounted in Melzer's reagent. Basidia: 4 spored. [5]
Pegler provides more detail on the spores:
Spores: 7–9 × 5.5–6 μm. Ovoid to ellipsoid with a truncated, conspicuous apical germ pore. Dextrinoid. [6]
Pegler also notes that the species is fragile and lacks an annulus on the stem when mature but does not otherwise add to the description. [6]
L. minimus is scarcely recorded and little known. The specimens studied by Berkeley were collected in Santo Domingo by M. Augustus Sallé. [3] Murrill stated that the specimens were only known from this location. [4] Dennis made his study based on specimens collected in the Trinidad where they were found growing gregariously on stumps in the forest. [5] Pegler details a specimen collected on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos where they were found in the Miconia zone of the island on mossy roots amongst leaf litter. [6]
The specific epithet minimus (originally minima) is Latin for 'smallest'. [7]