Horak describes the cap of Pluteus hispidilacteus as small, 5-12 mm and conspicuously covered in white hairs.
Description: This small cream-white Pluteus has non-pigmented fibrils lying flattish on the cap surface. It has been observed growing up to 1.2 cm in diameter. The gills are cream-pink with a concolorous gill edge. The stipe is white-cream to pale yellow. Microscopically the most distinctive character is the non-pigmented pileipellis cap cells which are like fine 'hairs' on the cap surface.
Abundance: Rarely observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Acknowledgement: J.A. Cooper
I have observed different variations of this species in the Mangemangeroa Reserve, some with convex, very dark brown fruit bodies and others which tends to be lighter in colour, larger and flatter in appearance. There are no differences in microscopic characters between these observations and DNA sequencing confirms they are both variations of Pluteus microspermus. Sequences for this species do not match Horak’s Pluteus concentricus.
Horak describes the fruit bodies of Pluteus microspermus as similar to those of Pluteus concentricus with the same concentric bulges. The caps are described as large, 60-100 mm.
Description; The cap of this species is brown to dark brown in colour and is convex to flat when mature. There are raised concentric rings or low ridges in concentric rings towards the outer margin of the cap with bumps further in towards the centre. The cap of this species has been observed growing up to 9 cm in diameter. The appearance of the cap is relatively smooth with fibrils lying flat on the cap and there may be some splitting of the cap at the margin. The gills are cream-beige to beige-pink with a darker brown edge. The stipe is brown and fibrous along the entire length with a bulbous base. It may be longitudinally ridged especially towards the base.
Abundance: Frequently observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Acknowledgement: J.A. Cooper and P.R. Johnston
From Biota of NZ - Pluteus hubregtseorum f. horakianus is considered a synonym of Pluteus minor G. Stev. (1962), see https://biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz/scientific-names/6b8dffa1-7708-41cd-adc6-7ae8e87e477e.
This species is one of the more variable Pluteus species in both colour, size and shape. All have a velvety cap with pigmented squamules in various shades of brown more or less evenly covering the entire cap surface. The cap shape is typically convex to hemispherical but may expand to become flattish. Microscopically all variations have clavate cap terminal cells and clavate caulocystidia.
cf. Horak's interpretation of Pluteus minor. Horak describes the cap of Pluteus minor as pale brown or brown without the distinctive net-like pattern as seen in Pluteus readiarum. Microscopically he describes the cells of the pileipellis and caulocystidia as distinctly clavate.
Description: The cap of this Pluteus is evenly covered with squamules which are light brown, brown or tan in colour. It has been observed growing up to 5 cm in diameter. There may be some wrinkling in the centre of the cap and the margin of the cap is typically marked with striations. The gills are cream-pink. The stipe is white-cream in colour becoming more yellow to tan with age and it is pruinose with a light powdery covering.
Abundance: Frequently observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Acknowledgement: J.A. Cooper.
Published Ševčíková, Hana, Borovička, Jan & Gates, Genevieve, 2021, Pluteus hubregtseorum (Pluteaceae), a new species from Australia and New Zealand, pp. 147-158 in Phytotaxa 496 (2).
Description: The cap of this small species is golden-brown in colour with a wrinkled surface and a slightly raised centre. The cap size is typically about 2 cm in diameter but can be up to 3.5 cm. The gills are pink with yellow tones. The stipe is yellow.
Abundance: Occasionally observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
This medium sized species is easily identified by the dark brown velvety cap surface and very pink gills with a fine dark edge. The stipe is covered in brown fibrils and has a distinctive appearance.
This species has not been observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve but has been observed in the Hunua Ranges and elsewhere in Auckland.
Horak describes the stipe of Pluteus readiarum as being at first whitish but becoming pale yellow or buff in aged specimens and many of the images of this species available in the New Zealand Fungi and Bacteria (NZFungi) website do have a whitish stipe including some Horak images. The variety that I see in the Mangemangeroa Reserve always has a light tan stipe and the cap margin extends beyond the gills (although occasionally this is not obvious).
Description: The fruit bodies of this species can be quite variable in size. The cap is typically 3-6 cm in diameter but can grow up to 8 cm in diameter. The cap has yellow tones and dark squamules radiating outwards typically in a reticulated network pattern but not always. The young cap is convex becoming flat when mature and generally has a raised centre. The gills are cream-pink and the cap margin extends beyond the gills. The stipe is light tan, may be longitudinally ridged and is pruinose with a light powdery covering.
Microscopically the terminal cap cells are cylindrical, with a tapered apex or rounded apex and with brown pigment. These can be variable between individual fruit bodies, some with a mostly tapered apex and others with a mixture of rounded and tapered apex. Pleurocystidia are fusiform in shape overall, with a conical apex, thin-walled and appear lightly pigmented. Some pleurocystidia have a constriction below the apex with a single projection (as illustrated by Greta Stevenson). I have looked at the gills of many fruit bodies of this species and I have never seen any pleurocystidia with more than one projection.
Abundance: Commonly observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Acknowledgement: J.A. Cooper
Description: The cap of this large species is dark brown in colour with tiny pyramidal-spinose scales on the cap surface. Mature fruit bodies can have a cap size up to about 10 cm in diameter. The gills are beige-pink with a dark edge. The stipe has dark fibrils covering the entire length.
Abundance: Rarely observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Horak’ describes Pluteus terricola from soil.
I have observed two species with a pileipellis of subglobse to ellipsoid cells however they differ in appearance in the field, in substrate preference and in microscopic features. This species which is found on wood more closely matches the described Pluteus terricola but it is unlikely that it is this species.
Description: The cap of this species is a uniform rich-brown colour with a slightly raised centre and with wrinkling in raised ridges over the cap surface. It grows on wood and can be up to 2.5 cm in diameter. The gills are cream-pink with a concolorous gill margin. The stipe is cream with tan hints.
Abundance: Occasionally observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Acknowledgement: J.A. Cooper
Description: This small Pluteus species grows on soil and has a velvety, wrinkled cap which is a warm-brown colour. The cap is less than 2 cm in diameter. The margin of the cap is marked with parallel grooves or striations and can appear sulcate in larger fruit bodies. The gills are cream-pink with a concolorous gill edge and the stipe is smooth and cream in colour with tan or grey hints.
Abundance: Frequently observed in the Mangemangeroa Reserve.
Acknowledgement: J.A. Cooper
