Portal:Fungi/Selected species/112

Collybia cirrhata is a species of fungus in the family Tricholomataceae of the order Agaricales (gilled mushrooms). The species was first described in the scientific literature in 1786, but not validly named until 1803. Found in Europe, Northern Eurasia, and North America, it is known from temperate, boreal, and alpine or arctic habitats. It is a saprobic species that grows in clusters on the decaying or blackened remains of other mushrooms. The fruit bodies are small, with whitish convex to flattened caps up to 11 mm (0.43 in) in diameter, narrow white gills, and slender whitish stems 8–25 mm (0.3–1.0 in) long and up to 2 mm (0.08 in) thick. C. cirrhata can be distinguished from the other two members of Collybia by the absence of a sclerotium at the base of the stem. The mushroom, although not poisonous, is considered inedible because of its insubstantial size.