Ant clamped onto base of Pawpaw (1-3 inches off of the ground). Did a fungus cause this?
Photo 16-3311 ~9-inch cap of mushroom; 2nd ph stem.
Some kind of spider being carried under ground
Pileus: (3) - (57)mm, hemispheric when young, rarely subplane in age, hygrophanous, staining strongly bluish. gills attached, sets of short gills of differing lengths.
Stipe: exannulate, staining bluish to blackish, hollow in age, base strongly rhizomorphic.
Spores: ellipsoid to mango shaped (9.2)10-13(14.6) x 5.7-7.3(9.7) microns. dark purple-brown in deposit.
Cheilocystidia: 19-31 x 5.3-8.6 microns occasionally bifurcate, very rarely trifurcate.
Pleurocystidia: absent or very rare. a few bifurcate structures observed that might be pleurocystidia.
Basidia: 26-32 microns. all basidia appear to be 4 spored.
Bioassay: strongly active.
Found under a holly bush in man-made mulch at the edge of a lawn. The spores are slightly larger than what has previously been described for Psilocybe baeocystis.
Microscopy photos by Alan Rockefeller. Additional microscopic measurements and photos by Workman (sporeworks) in 2007.