Redlead Roundhead

Redlead Roundhead Stropharia aurantiaca (Cooke) M. Imai (illustrated 40% life size) Cap 1.5–5.5cm across, convex then expanded; orange-red with paler patches when dry, viscid when moist; margin often with whitish velar remnants. Stem 20–100×2–10mm, slightly thickened at base; whitish, becoming streaked ochraceous or orange-red below. Flesh pale buff to concolorous. Gills whitish at first then olivaceous-clay. Spores 11–13×6–7.5¼, elliptical. Spore print dark purplish-brown. Cheilocystidia variable in shape, mostly thin-walled and lageniform, often with flexuous necks, sometimes irregularly cylindrical or clavate with a swollen or even capitate apex. Pleurocystidia lanceolate with a sharp-pointed apex, thin-walled, with yellowish contents. Habitat on rotting sawdust, usually in parks or gardens; autumn. Occasional; it used to be a rare mushroom but is now quite common in bark mulch. Unknown edibility, avoid.