On the type of Coprinus
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Original description
Coprinus candidolanatus Doveri & Uljé in Persoonia 17(3): 465. 2000
Pileus primo ovoideus usque ellipsoideus, 3-6 x 2-4 mm, demum applanatus vel etiam revolutus, 6-12 mm latus, velo albo niveo, fibrilloso-lanato, in media parte denso, at in parte extrema in suberectas fibrillas dehiscente omnino obductus. Cuticula in primordiis albidula, postea cinerascens at in medio pileo castanea, radialiter fissurata. Lamellae ascendentes, densae, breves, ex albo nigricantes, cum albidiore margine. Stipes 20-60 x 0.8-1.2 mm, cylindratus, filiformis, alboniveus, fibrillosus, haud bulbosus, ad basim angustior at haud radicans. Odor nullus. Sporae 7.3-10.7 x 4.8-7.2 µm, in adverso visu ellipsoideae vel ovoideae, perraro subcylindratae, a latere subapplanatae, laeves, fuscobadiae, cum poro germinativo medio, 1.3-1.5 µm lato. Basidia 18-34 x 7-10 µm, tetraspora, trimorpha, a 4-5 pseudoparaphysibus cincta. Cheilocystidia 22-70 x 17-30 µm, (sub)globosa, ovoidea, ellipsoidea, oblonga vel (sub)utriformia. Pleurocystidia 40-90 x 18-30 µm, ellipsoidea, ovoidea, oblonga, (sub)utriformia vel subcylindrata. Pileipellis cylindratis, ellipsoideis vel subglobosis, 10-60 x 10-25 µm, parallelis hyphis instructa. Velum ex duplici specie se ostendens, et contextis, subtilibus, incrustantibus, haud diverticulatis, 25-150 x 15-45 µm, cylindratis vel ellipsoideis vel etiam subglobosis hyphis, et parvioribus, 2-10 µm latis, haud contextis, subtilibus, valde curtis atque diverticulatis, cylindratis vel etiam (sub)globosis hyphis compositum. Fibulae absentes. Ex fimo cervino atque ovino crescens. Holotypus: 'Italy, Ferrara, Mesola wood, on deer dung in culture, 13 Apr. 1999, A. Bizzi & G. Zecchin (L)'. Pileus 3-6 x 2-4 mm when still closed, 6-12 mm when expanded, ovoid to ellipsoid, turning applanate at maturity or even revolute at deliquescence; cuticle whitish in early stages, later on greyish with pale ochre to brown disc, slightly grooved up to the centre, fully covered with a fibrous-woolly, snow-white veil, which appears crowded at the disc but at the periphery splits up in separate fibrils, which are slightly upturned at their ends. Lamellae, L = 14-22, l = 0-3, ascending, free, narrow, rather crowded, white in the early stages, later on blackening, with a pale edge. Stipe 20-60 x 0.8-1.2 mm, cylindrical-filiform, often wavy, neither tapering towards the apex nor bulbous, slightly narrowed near the base but without a true pseudorhiza, snow-white, at first covered with many veil fibrils, later on smooth. Context inconspicuous, devoid of particular smell and taste.
Spores [120, 4, 2] 7.3-10.7 x 4.8-7.2 µm; Q = 1.25-1.75; av. Q = 1.45-1.55; av. L = 8.7-9.6 µm, av. B = 5.8-6.5 µm, ellipsoid or ovoid, exceptionally subcylindrical in frontal view, sometimes slightly flattened at one side in side view, rounded at the base and apex, smooth, dark reddish brown in water, with central, 1.3-1.5 µm wide germ pore. Basidia 18-34 x 7-10 µm, 4-spored, trimorphous: 1) claviform, 2) spheropedunculate, and 3) subcylindrical with a distinct median narrowing (the longest ones). Each basidium surrounded by (3-)4-5(-6) pseudoparaphyses. Pleurocystidia 40-90 x 18-30 µm, ellipsoid, ovoid, oblong, (sub)utriform or subcylindrical, with a short basal peduncle. Cheilocystidia 22-70 x 17-30 µm, abundant, (sub)globose, ovoid, ellipsoid, oblong or (sub)utriform, with a short basal peduncle. Pileipellis a cutis, made up of cylindrical, ellipsoid or subglobose, parallel, 10-60 long and 10-25 µm wide elements. Veil made up of two kinds of hyphoid elements: the former arranged in hardly separable chains of cylindrical, ellipsoid or even subglobose elements, mainly thin-walled and hyaline, sometimes slightly thick-walled (walls up to 0.5 µm thick), in part rather strong yellowish encrusted, 25-150(-250) x 15-45(-60) µm, not diverticulate, very rarely branched, with subglobose, ellipsoid, subcylindrical or fusoid terminal elements; the latter kind of veil made up of much narrower, 2-10(-15) µm wide elements, not arranged in chains, easily separable from each other, thin-walled, densely diverticulate, with up to 10 µm long, finger-like diverticula. Some to many of such elements very short and (sub)globose. Veil on the stipe made up especially of these diverticulate hyphae (diverticula up to 17 µm long, sometimes branched), but often also with remnants of 'Lanatuli'-veil. Clamp-connections absent.
Habitat & distribution: on pure dung of deer and sheep, solitary or subfasciculate. Very rare. Only known from one locality in Italy and one in the Netherlands.

Collections examined: ITALY: Ferrara, Mesola wood, at least one hundred gregarious or crowded or even fasciculate specimens on fallow deer (Dama dama) dung in culture, 13 Apr. 1999, A. Bizzi & G. Zecchin, to coincide with the A.M.B.( Bresadola Mycological Association) scientific committee, holotype (L), isotype (herb. MCVE nE 794); NETHERLANDS: prov. Limburg, Bemelen, Bemelerberg, 3 Aug. 1988, E.C. Vellinga (coll. Uljé 949, L).

The two kinds of veil elements, the small basidiocarps, the habitat on dung, the rather broad spores with an average quotient of 1.45-1.55 and the absence of clamp-connections are the main characters to recognize Coprinus candidolanatus. Coprinus pseudoradiatus Kühn. & Joss. ex Watl. and C. cinereus (Schaeff.: Fr.) S.F. Gray are the other two coprophilous species with up to c. 11 µm long spores, but the former has narrower spores with an average quotient >1.6, while the latter possesses larger basidiocarps. Moreover both these species in contrast to our own are provided with clamp-connections and only one kind of veil, that is to say with chains of sausage-shaped, non-diverticulate, elements.
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