A slender, fragile little brown mushroom with a conical, striate, orange-brown cap and a long hollow stem without a ring, common on lawns and disturbed ground. It is the type species of Conocybe. The name is probably applied to several similar species, and identification needs a microscope.
Inedible; possibly poisonous. Do not eat. Related conecaps such as Conocybe rugosa and C. filaris contain deadly amatoxins, and small brown look-alikes include amatoxin-bearing Galerina species.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.
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Saprobic on lawns, parks, golf courses, grassy areas, gardens, trails and other disturbed nutrient-rich ground; occasionally on wood-chip mulch or leaf litter. Scattered, solitary or in small groups; late spring to fall.
Distribution
Widespread and common in Europe and in many parts of North America; reported worldwide.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-3 cm, conical to bell-shaped becoming convex; hygrophanous, striate nearly to the center; ochre-brown to cinnamon or rust-brown, fading to dull buff when dry. Gills: adnexed to adnate, close, pale ochre to cream-buff becoming cinnamon to rusty brown, edges paler. Stem: 3.5-9 cm long, 1.5-4 mm thick, equal or slightly swollen at the base, hollow, fragile, pruinose at the apex, pale to cap-colored; no ring. Spore print: rusty brown. Spores: about 11-16 x 6-8.5 µm, elliptical, smooth, with a germ pore (Mykoweb). Microscopic: lecythiform (bowling-pin-shaped) cystidia.
