Hebeloma syrjense (Photo: J. Vesterholt)

Taxonomy

Basionym:
Agaricus syrjensis P. Karst., Bidrag till kännedom av Finlands natur och folk 25: 371 (1876)

Types: FINLAND: Tavastia australis. Tammela, Mustiala (approx. 60.82°N, 23.77°E, alt. approx. 110 m a.s.l.) on mossy soil in boreal, coniferous woodland under Pinus sp., 23 Sep. 1876, P.A. Karsten (4004) (Lectotype. held at herbarium H, HJB1000158). Lectotype designated by Vesterholt, Nord. J. Bot. 9 (3): (1989) page 318.

Heterotypic synonyms:

• Hebeloma subsaponaceum P. Karst., Meddelanden af Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica 11: 3 (1884)
• Hebeloma lubriciceps (Kauffman & A.H. Sm.) Hesler & A.H. Sm., Sydowia 37: 274 (1984)
• Naucoria lubriciceps Kauffman & A.H. Sm., Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters 17: 187 (1933)
• Hebelomatis subsaponaceum (P. Karst.) Locq., Flore Mycologique Vol III - Text. Cortinariales A: 146 (1979) ["1977"]

Homotypic synonyms:

• Derminus syrjensis (P. Karst.) Henn., Hymenomycetineae: 243 (1898)

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upEtymology
  Named after the location in which it was originally collected, a pine forest in Syrjöås near Mustiala.

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upOriginal diagnosis
  Hatten lergul; foten pipig, skrufvriden, hvit, slutl. umbrabrun, upptill fjällmjölig; lamellerna blek. Barrskog, r. 9. Finl. (Mustiala). Hatten n. köttig, först kullrig, sedan utbredd, trabbig, torr, slät, glatt, i början beströdd med et fint, hvitt, n. glänsande puder, 4–6 cm. bred; foten jämntjock, flerböjd, hvit, snart vid based, slutl. helt och hållet, äfven inuti, umbrabrun, omking 12 cm. hög; lamellerna vidfästade, tättsittande i eggen fint luddnaggade; sporerna elliptiska, 10–11 mmm. långa, 5–6 mmm. tjocka. Lukten n. ingen. Bilder små, täta grupper. Denna och de följ. arterna af detta slägte hafva storlek och utseende af Simocybe eller Naucoria.

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upEnglish translation
  Pileus clay brown; stipe hollow, twisted, white, finally umber brown, finely squamulose-mealy at apex; lamellae pale. Coniferous forest near Mustiala, Finland, September. Pileus somewhat fleshy, hemispherical at first, then expanded, blunt, dry, smooth, glabrous, at first covered with a fine, white, somewhat shiny bloom, 4–6 cm broad; stipe equal, flexuose, white, soon turning umber brown at base, finally over whole length, even inside. About 12 cm high; lamellae adnate, crowded, finely fluffy along edge; spores elliptical, 10–11 μm. long, 5–6 μm broad. Odour more or less none. Makes small, dense groups. This and the following species of this genus have the size and habit of Simocybe or Naucoria.

Description

Description of Hebeloma syrjense based on 30 collections

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upMacroscopic description
  Pileus: (10) 23–44 (60) mm diameter; shape often convex, occasionally umbonate or broadly umbonate; characters rarely hygrophanous, remains of universal veil or spotting; margin characters often smooth, occasionally eroded, involute, sulcate or wavy; viscosity tacky when moist; colour variation unicolour; colour at centre occasionally cinnamon, yellowish brown or ochraceous, rarely honey or umber.

  Lamellae: attachment often emarginate or adnate, rarely decurrent tooth; maximum depth 4–5 mm; number of complete lamellae 32–54; presence of tears absent; white fimbriate edge occasionally absent, present or weak.

  Cortina presence: no.

  Stipe: (28) 45–105 (120) x (2) 3–5 (8) {median} x 3–5 (8) {basal} mm; stipe Q 8.8–24.0; base shape usually cylindrical, occasionally clavate; floccosity often pruinose at apex, rarely fibrillose, floccose at apex, weakly floccose, none, pruinose or velute; rooting often no, occasionally yes; thick rhizoids at base absent;

  Context: Texture firm; stipe interior often stuffed, occasionally hollow; stipe flesh discolouring yes; slenderness measure 16.2–79.2; smell often odourless, rarely cocoa, fruit, soap or tea; taste often bitter, occasionally mild or raphanoid where recorded.

  Spore deposit colour: Not recorded.

  Exsiccata characters: often pileus blackening.

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upMicroscopic description
  Spores: shape amygdaloid, rarely limoniform; colour in microscope often yellow brown, occasionally brown or very pale, rarely brown yellow; guttules often yes, occasionally no. papilla often no, occasionally weak, rarely yes; Spore Code: O2 O3; P1 P2; (D2) D3 (D4).

  Basidia: (18) 21–33 (38) x 5–8 μm; ave. Q 3.0–5.2; spore arrangement 4 spored;

  Cheilocystidia: main shape cylindrical, usually clavate-lageniform or clavate-ventricose, often clavate, occasionally gently clavate, rarely ventricose or tapering; special features observed often short, occasionally branching, bifurcate or septa, rarely yellow contents, irregular, many collapsed in exsiccata, median thickening or wavy; cheilocystidia ratios: A/M = 1.21–1.50; A/B = 0.89–1.22; B/M = 1.12–1.44.

  Pleurocystidia: usually none seen, rarely only close to lamella edge.

  Ixocutis: epicutis thickness (measured from exsiccata) up to 125 μm; ixocutis hyphae width up to 7 μm; ixocutis hyphae encrustation often no, occasionally yes; shape of trama elements beneath subcutis often cylindrical, isodiametric or thinly sausage-shaped up to 12 μm wide.

  Caulocystidia: Similar to cheilocystidia but larger, up to 70 μm.

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upSpore measurements

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upCheilocystidia measurements

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upHabitat and distribution
  Hebeloma syrjense's preferred substrate appears to be mossy soil. Where only one possible associate was recorded, the most commonly recorded associate was Picea (68.8%) but Cedrus (12.5%), Pinus (12.5%) and Abies (6.2%) were also recorded. In these cases the most commonly recorded family was Pinaceae (100.0%). We have additional records where Betula (18.5%), Alnus (11.1%), Salix (11.1%) and Populus (7.4%) were recorded as possible associates, but in these cases a number of possible associates were mentioned. Overall the most commonly recorded families are Pinaceae (96.3%), Betulaceae (29.6%) and Salicaceae (14.8%) The growth habit of our collections was often gregarious, occasionally scattered and rarely connate.

  According to our current collections, the species is predominantly found in Europe (86.7%) but also found in Northern America (13.3%). On these continents, collections has been found in the WWF biomes The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have divided the world into 867 terrestrial ecoregions. The ecoregion here is estimated by mapping from the GPS coordinates of the collection using data made available by Dinerstein et al (2017). Use this webtool to explore the ecoregions visually or see a full list of current ecoregions on Wikipedia. boreal forests/taiga (46.4%), temperate conifer forests (28.6%) and temperate broadleaf & mixed forests (17.9%), specifically including the ecoregions: Scandinavian and Russian taiga (46.4%) and Alps conifer and mixed forests (28.6%). From collector information, it appears collections have been found in the 1.1 Forest – Boreal (84.2%) and 5.4 Wetlands (inland) – Bogs, marshes, swamps, fens, peatlands (15.8%) IUCN habitats We map from the collector's description of the habitat to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s definition using a standardised set of rules. Please see this page for a full list of IUCN habitats..

  Within Europe we have records from the North (Finland, Norway and Sweden), the Southeast (Italy), the Southwest (France) and Eastern Europe (Estonia). Specimens have been collected from 45.0°N to 67.8°N.

  Within Northern America we have records from Subarctic America (Alaska) and Northeastern U.S.A. (Michigan).

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upMolecular results
  This species is molecularly distinct and intraspecifically rather homogeneus. Any of the tested loci can be used for identification. We obtained the complete ITS of the lectotype of H. syrjense and the ITS2 of H. subsaponaceum which support our species circumscription and the synonymization of the two species. Published ITS data of Tsuga heterophylla mycorrhiza from Canada could suggest that H. syrjense or a very close relative also occurs on the North American continent.

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upCommentary
  Hebeloma syrjense is a rather unusual Hebeloma sp. It has a very dry-looking pileus, a soapy smell and is very slender, indeed more like a Naucoria sp. The short irregular (clavate-lageniform to cylindrical) shape of the cheilocystidia and the often pruinose pileus indicate H. sect. Theobromina. However, the narrow spores (< 5.5 μm), which are P2 and many of which are O3, differentiate this species from other members of this section. Indeed, the slender basidiomes and the cylindrical shape of many of the cheilocystidia, and the occasional rooting nature of the stipe, might indicate H. sect. Scabrispora, which is where Vesterholt (2005) placed this taxon. From a molecular perspective, H. syrjense is unsupported at the ‘edge’ of H. sect. Theobromina in some results, but its position varies between different results none of which are generally supported. For these reasons, we have given this taxon a section of its own (H. sect. Syrjense), while acknowledging that there is some doubt and future authors may question this placement. This species can be separated from others with more cylindrical cheilocystidia based on the short spores (< 9.5 μm), O3 and at least D3 and not P3, together with the cheilocystidia, which are more hourglass-shaped than cylindrical, with average ratios A/M and B/M both greater than 1.2. The dry-looking pileus (with a very thin ixocutis) and slender basidiomes with clearly discolouring stipe are also good consistent characters, useful in the field. As mentioned above, because of the possible confusion with H. sect. Theobromina, we include this species in both the key for H. sect. Theobromina and the key to H. sects. Duracinus, Myxocybe, Naviculospora, Scabrispora, Syrjense. Hebeloma subsaponaceum is synonymous with H. syrjense. It appears that Karsten separated these taxa on the basis of the non-hygrophanous pileus of the former. Our experience is that this character is quite variable.

Geographic distribution

Phenology

• arrow_drop_downarrow_drop_upAdditional cited collections

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