Inocybe

Inocybe is a large, complex genus of mushrooms. Members of Inocybe are mycorrhizal, and some evidence shows that the high degree of speciation in the genus is due to adaptation to different trees and perhaps even local environments.

Typical mushrooms of the genus are any of various shades of brown, although some lilac or purplish species exist. Caps are small and conical, though flattening somewhat in age, generally with a pronounced raised central knob. The cap often appears fibrous or frayed, giving the genus its common name of "fiber caps". Many species have a distinctive odor, various described as musty or spermatic.

Inocybe species are not considered suitable for consumption, although in some under developed countries certain species Inocybe mushrooms are eaten. Many species contain large doses of muscarine, and no easy method of distinguishing them from potentially edible species exists. In fact, Inocybe is the most commonly-encountered mushroom genus for which microscopic characteristics are the only means of certain identification to the species level. While the vast majority of Inocybes are toxic, seven rare species of Inocybe are hallucinogenic, having been found to contain psilocybin including Inocybe aeruginascens which also contains aeruginascine. (N, N, N-trimethyl-4-phosphoryloxytryptamine)

There are hundreds of species of Inocybe and a complete listing here is infeasible. Representatives of the genus include:

• Inocybe adaequata
• Inocybe aeruginascens (psychoactive)
• Inocybe calamistrata (psychoactive)
• Inocybe coelestium (psychoactive)
• Inocybe corydalina var. corydalina Quél. (psychoactive)
• Inocybe corydalina var. erinaceomorpha (psychoactive)
• Inocybe erubescens (= I. patouillardii) red-staining inocybe
• Inocybe geophylla
• Inocybe haemacta (psychoactive)
• Inocybe hystrix
• Inocybe lacera
• Inocybe obscura
• Inocybe rimosa (= I. fastigiata)
• Inocybe sororia
• Inocybe tricolor (psychoactive)
• Inocybe violaceocaulis. (prev. I. geophylla var. lilacina) In Western Australia, what represents I. violaceocaulis was earlier referred to as I. geophylla var. lilacina by some Australian taxonomists, which Matheny & Bougher (2005) point to as a misapplication of the name I. geophylla var. lilacina.

Footnotes

References

• Atkinson, G. F. (1918). Some new species of Inocybe. American Journal of Botany 5: 210-218.
• Cripps, C. L. (1997). The genus Inocybe in Montana aspen stands. Mycologia 89: 670-688.
• Stuntz, D. E. (1978). Interim skeleton key to some common species of Inocybe in the Pacific Northwest. Notes and species descriptions by Gibson, I. (2004).