Leucocoprinus fragilissimus (Fragile Dapperling)

FungaAseroe rubra (Anemone Stinkhorn Fungus) Podaxis pistillaris (Desert Shaggy Mane) False Shaggy Mane Leucocoprinus fragilissimus (Fragile Dapperling)

Known as the Fragile Dapperling, Leucocoprinus fragilissimus is a species of gilled mushroom in the family Agaricaceae. A small dapperling mushroom, Leucocoprinus fragilissimus with a thin, extremely fragile, yellow to white flesh cap. Proportionally, the stem of this mushroom is quite long and skinny (it will break with the slightest pressure). The cap begins to collapse and dissolve within a few hours of expanding.

In mycology, a lamella ( pl. : lamellae), or gill, is a papery hymenophore rib under the cap of some mushroom species, most often agarics. The gills are used by the mushrooms as a means of spore dispersal, and are important for species identification.

Source: Lamella (mycology), Wikipedia²

The Leucocoprinus fragilissimus cap is pale greenish-yellow with a darker centre, that fades to near white with a yellowish centre. The gills are a pale yellow to white in colour. The cap measures between 1.5 to 4.5 cm wide, convex and expanding to almost flat, with a small central disc or umbo.

An umbo is a raised area in the center of a mushroom cap. Caps that possess this feature are called umbonate. Umbos that are sharply pointed are called acute, while those that are more rounded are broadly umbonate.^{3, 4}

Source: see Footnote and References

The extremely fragile stem can be between 4 to 9 cm long and 1 to 2 mm thick, with a small, slightly bulbous base. It is pale yellow and smooth, to nearly white.

This species does have a confusing history of competing names, when it started appearing all over Europe, that is typical of many of the Leucocoprinus species, as a result of appearing in the soil of exotic plants brought back from the tropics.

As with all species in the genus Leucocoprinus, L. fragilissimus is a saprotroph, that is it lives on very decayed plant matter (humus or compost). They are found growing individually or sparsely in wooded areas, Australia and New Zealand, southern and eastern Asia, southern North America, South America, southern Europe and Africa,

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• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Fungi
• Phylum: Basidiomycota
• Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
• Class: Agaricomycetes
• Subclass: Agaricomycetidae
• Order: Agaricales
• Family: Agaricaceae
• Genus: Leucocoprinus
• Species: Leucocoprinus fragilissimus

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FungaAseroe rubra (Anemone Stinkhorn Fungus) Podaxis pistillaris (Desert Shaggy Mane) False Shaggy Mane Leucocoprinus fragilissimus (Fragile Dapperling)