A tough, thin-fleshed litter mushroom that grows in tufts, troops or rings, with a pale tan to pinkish buff cap and a tall, finely hairy, flexible stem. Its tight clusters and densely velvety stem help separate it from other collybioid species. It is still widely listed as Gymnopus confluens, but Index Fungorum now accepts it in Collybiopsis.
Saprobic on hardwood and conifer leaf or needle litter and woody debris, in loose clusters, tufts, troops or fairy rings. Summer and fall.
Distribution
Holarctic: Europe, northern Asia and North America. In North America reported from Pacific Northwest conifer forests, Rocky Mountain aspen forests and eastern oak-hickory forests; MushroomExpert notes the name may cover several North American species, since it formally applies to a European species.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-6 cm, convex with an inrolled margin, becoming broadly convex, bell-shaped or flat; bald or minutely silky; reddish brown when young, quickly fading to pale tan, pinkish buff or whitish. Gills: narrowly attached or nearly free, crowded, whitish becoming pinkish buff. Stem: 2.5-13 cm long, 2-9 mm thick, tough and flexible, finely hairy to velvety with whitish fuzz, buff to pale cinnamon or reddish brown; often fused at the base in clusters. Flesh: thin, whitish, tough. Odor: not distinctive (very rarely onion-like). Spore print: creamy white. Spores: 6-10 x 3.5-5 µm, smooth, teardrop-shaped to elliptical, inamyloid.
