Clustered Bonnet

Clustered Bonnet - Mycena inclinata

Description

A medium-sized Mycena, growing in clusters ('fasciculate') on decaying hardwood.  It has a conical/campanulate cap and broad umbo, pale greyish yellow darkening to brown as it ages, with a paler edge.   The cap is striate and sticky when wet, with a scalloped edge.  The gills are whitish darkening to grey or brown as it ages.  The stem is initially grey, becoming yellowish or ochre with a reddish-brown base, then then dark brown as it ages.  The smell is variously described as 'spicy-rancid', wet paint, cucumber or floury.     

Similar Species

Other medium-sized Mycena on decaying wood; the clustered habit and ochraceous stem of older specimens help identification

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Cheilocystidia clavate, irregular, with a few uneven simple or branched projections. 

Recording advice

Photograph the whole clump to show fasciculate habit; also from top down, in side view and from underneath to show gills; note habitat and substrate

Habitat

Hardwood stumps and decaying wood, usually of oak

When to see it

Late summer to autumn.

UK Status

Widespread and fairly frequent in Britain.

VC55 Status

Common and widespread in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records