About Inocybe geophylla P.Kumm.
Inocybe geophylla P.Kumm. has a cap 1โ4 cm (0.39โ1.57 in) wide, white or cream-coloured with a silky texture. It starts out conical, before flattening into a more convex shape with a prominent raised umbo at the center. The cap margins may split as the mushroom ages. The thin stipe is 1โ6 cm (0.39โ2.36 in) high, 0.3โ0.6 cm thick, has no ring, has a small bulb at its base, and often does not grow straight. The crowded gills are adnexed, cream-coloured when young, and darken to a brownish colour as spores develop. The spore print is brown. The smooth, almond-shaped spores measure approximately 9 ร 5 ฮผm. The faint odour has been compared to meal, damp earth, or even described as spermatic. The white or cream flesh has an acrid taste, and does not change colour when cut or bruised. The variety I. geophylla var. lilacina shares the same shape as the nominate form, but is tinted lilac all over, with an ochre-brown flush on the cap umbo and the base of the stem. It has a strong mealy or earthy odour.
Inocybe geophylla is common and widespread across Europe and North America. In western North America, it grows under live oak, pine and Douglas-fir. Both varieties are found in the Canadian Arctic regions of northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The nominate form grows in dryish tundra heath communities that include American dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa), Arctic willow (Salix arctica), dwarf willow (Salix herbacea), polar willow (Salix polaris ssp. pseudopolaris), snow willow (Salix reticulata), bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum var. alpinum), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minus), alpine bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina), alpine bistort (Persicaria vivipara), Arctic bell-heather (Cassiope tetragona) and northern white mountain avens (Dryas integrifolia). I. geophylla var. lilacina grows in moist mossy tundra heaths, alongside plants including American dwarf birch, snow willow, Arctic bell-heather and northern white mountain avens. This species forms mycorrhizal relationships, and produces fruiting bodies in deciduous and coniferous woodlands during summer and autumn. Within these habitats, fruiting bodies can grow in grassy areas and near pathways, or often on rich, bare disturbed soil along roadsides and near ditches. In Israel, I. geophylla grows under Palestine oak (Quercus calliprinos) and pines; mushrooms can still appear during periods of little or no rain due to their mycorrhizal lifestyle. In Western Australia, collections previously referred to I. geophylla var. lilacina by some Australian taxonomists were noted by Brandon Matheny and Neale Bougher to be a misapplication of the name; these specimens have been reclassified as the species Inocybe violaceocaulis.
Like many fibrecaps, Inocybe geophylla contains muscarine. Ingestion causes the symptoms of muscarine poisoning: greatly increased salivation, perspiration, and lacrimation (tear flow) within 15โ30 minutes. With large doses, these symptoms may be followed by abdominal pain, severe nausea, diarrhea, blurred vision, and labored breathing. Intoxication generally subsides within two hours, and delirium does not occur. The specific antidote is atropine. Inducing vomiting to remove mushroom contents from the body is also recommended, due to the fast onset of symptoms. No deaths have been recorded from consuming this species. It is often ignored by mushroom hunters because of its small size.
