text: mycena arcangeliana mycena arcangeliana ( commonly known as the angel 's bonnet or the late - season bonnet ) is a species of mycenaceae fungus . it has been known by a number of scientific names , and its taxonomy is still somewhat disputed . it produces small mushrooms with caps varying in colour from whitish to a darker grey - brown , and stems of an olive - greyish that fade with age . the mushrooms can be mistaken for the similar mycena flavescens . they have a mild taste , but a strong smell of ; they are not edible . the species grows on dead wood in autumn months , and can be found throughout europe . taxonomy , naming , and classification mycena arcangeliana was first described by giacomo bresadola in 1904 ; the species was listed along with 41 others found in pisa , in an article by egidio published in the della societa botanica italiana ( bulletin of the botanical society of italy ) . authors roger phillips and paul both describe the name mycena oortiana as synonymous ; m. oortiana was a name given by hora in 1960 based on robert kühner 's 1938 name for the variety mycena arcangeliana var. oortiana , an invalid name . phillips had earlier considered m. arcangeliana var. oortiana to be a synonym of m. oortiana , and mycobank lists it as a synonym of lucien quélet 's mycena olivascens . however , index fungorum lists both m. olivascens and kühner 's mycena vitilis var. olivascens as synonyms of m. arcangeliana . the specific epithet arcangeliana may be in honour of giovanni , who collected the species in the orto botanico di pisa . m. arcangeliana is commonly known as the angel 's bonnet , or the late - season bonnet . within the genus mycena , it is found in the section , on account of the cheilocystidia covered with evenly spaced , short cylindrical excrescences , and its size and occurrence on wood . it can be separated from the other members of the section on account of a cap with yellowish to olive shades , gills with pinkish hints and stems with vaguely violet colouration . description mycena arcangeliana mushrooms have caps of between 1 and 5 centimetres ( 0 . 4 and 2 in ) in diameter which are conical in shape in younger mushrooms , becoming bell - shaped with a broad umbo in older specimens . the oldest mushrooms have caps which are almost completely flat . the colouration varies from a whitish to a darker grey - brown , sometimes with tints of olive or yellow , and it has furrows on the typically translucent surface . however , it is hygrophanous , and dries to a much paler colour . the cylindrical stem measures between 20 and 40 millimetres ( 0 . 8 and 2 in ) in length , by 1 and 2 mm ( 0 . 04 and 0 . 08 in ) in width . in young mushrooms , it is an olive - greyish colour , tinted with lilac , though it fades as the mushroom ages . the very top of the stem is a whitish colour , while the base is covered in white hairs . it is smooth and silky in texture , and there is no ring . the crowded gills are adnexed , that is , connected to the stem by only part of their depth , and are white in colour , turning pinkish as the mushroom ages . the gill edges are somewhat toothed . the flesh has a mild taste , but a strong smell of . in the cap , it is white , while in the stem , it is grey . the mushrooms are not edible . microscopic characteristics mycena arcangeliana mushrooms leave a whitish spore print , while the spores are shaped like apple seeds and amyloid , meaning that they stain a dark colour in melzer 's reagent or lugol 's solution . the basidia are four - spored . they measure from between 7 and 8 micrometres ( µm ) by 4 . 5 and 5 µm . there are a large number of hyaline cheilocystidia ( cystidia on the edge of the gills ) which are club - shaped or ovate . they have thin cell walls , and are covered in grain - like warts . the pleurocystidia ( the cystidia on the face of the gill ) are similar in appearance . the pileipellis is made up of wart - covered hyphae measuring between 2 and 4 . 5 µm wide and up to 30 µm long . the outermost layer of the stem is made up hyphae with short , cylindrical hairs . the hyphae have clamp connections . similar species mycena arcangeliana is somewhat similar to the less common mycena flavescens , a species found in both hardwood and softwood forests on the floor among leaf or needle litter or grassland . m. flavescens typically has a whiter cap and a smell reminiscent of radish . m. , known from algeria , has a similar cap colour to m. arcangeliana , but has a yellow stem . m. , known from the netherlands , has a lemon - yellow cap and stem and more gills . another species similar in appearance is m. , which has a sweet taste . habitat and distribution mycena arcangeliana grows on dead deciduous wood , favouring beech and ash , where it grows in " small troops " . it has also been recorded less frequently on conifers , bracken and japanese knotweed . there have been reports from grassland , but these are probably a misidentification of m. flavescens . it is infrequently to commonly found in late summer to autumn months in the british isles , though it is more commonly encountered in the south . its distribution is fairly widespread elsewhere in europe , though it is less common . it has been listed as vulnerable on the red list of threatened fungi in norway . " mycena oortiana " , which was rarely found in mycological literature , was described as a predominantly west - european species ; however , m. arcangeliana has also been recorded in scandinavia , greenland , and italy , from where it was first described .