On the type of Coprinus epichloeus
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Original description
Coprinus epichloeus Uljé & Noordeloos, Persoonia 16: 300. 1997.
Pileus primo 3-6 x 2-5 mm latus, subglobosus vel ovatus, demum expansus, usque ad 15 mm latus; velum hirsuto-floccosum; lamellae liberae, albae demum griseo-brunneae vel atrae; stipes usque ad 30 x 0.5-1 mm, albidus vel griseo-albidus, glaber, basim versus leviter tomentoso-hirsutus.
Sporae 7.0-10.2 x 6.7-9.0 x 6.4-7.8 µm, medio rubro-brunneae, subglobosae apice conicae, inter-dum leviter quadrangulatae cum poro germinativo 1.3-1.5 µm lato; basidia 16-32 x 9-11 µm, 4-sporigera, 5-7(-8) pseudoparaphysibus circumcincta; Pleurocystidia 60-105 x 12-24 µm, elongato-ellipsoi-dea, utriformia vel subcylmdracea; cheilocystidia 45-100 x 15-30 µm, elongato-ellipsoidea, ellipsoidea, utriformia vel subcylindracea; velum e hyphis tenuitumcatis, hyalinis vel pallide griseo-flavidis sparse diverticulatis; fibulae praesentes. In graminis. Holotypus: 'C.B. Uljé 908, 5-VI-1988, Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (L)'.

Pileus 3-6 x 2-5 mm when still closed, subglobose or ovoid, veil at primordia sepia, soon paler grey to almost white when expanded; then pileus up to 15 mm wide. Veil breaking up in small, hairy flocks. Lamellae, L = c. 20, l = 1-3, free, first whitish, soon grey-brown to dark grey, finally blackish. Stipe up to 30 x 0.5-1 mm, white, greyish white, almost glabrous; base somewhat woolly hairy.
Spores [60,3,2] 7.0-10.2 x 6.7-9.0 x 6.4-7.8 µm, subglobose, often more or less conical to the apex, sometimes somewhat quadrangular, medium red-brown (about Mu. 2.5 YR 3/6; K. & W. 8E8) with central, c. 1.3-1.5 µm wide germ pore; Q = 1.00-1.18, av. Q = 1.08; av. L = 8.1, av. B = 7.5 µm. Basidia 16-32 x 9-11 µm, 4-spored, surrounded by 5-7(-8) pseudoparaphyses. Pleurocystidia 60-105 x 12-24 µm, oblong, (sub)cylin-drical or utriform. Cheilocystidia 45-100 x 15-30 µm, oblong, ellipsoid, (sub)cylin-drical or (narrowly) utriform. Elements of veil thin-walled, sparsely diverticulate, 2-10 µm wide; walls hyaline or slightly greyish yellow, less than 0.3 µm thick. Clamp-connections present.
Habitat & distribution. Solitary or a few together in small groups; in lawns, often on bare places. Probably not rare; found in one locality only, but there in several places.

Microscopically this species is close to Coprinus gonophyllus but differs in distinctly smaller, much more fragile basidiocarps and the more globose, slightly larger spores with rarely truncate apex. The habitat also is different, as it does not grow in burnt places, but in lawns among grass (though often also on bare places in the lawns). The spores of Coprinus epichloeus resemble somewhat those of Coprinus phaeosporus, but that species, like all other species in subsect. Alachuani with subglobose spores, has thick-walled velar elements.
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