Weeping Widow

Weeping Widow Lacrymaria lacrymabunda (Bull.) Pat. syn. L. velutina (Pers.) Konrad & Maubl. (illustrated 40% life size) Cap 1.5–10cm across, convex with a broad umbo, becoming more flattened; ochre-brown to tan at first and covered in woolly fibrils, but then smooth; veil remnants often adhering to margin, giving a fringed cottony appearance. Stem 40–80×5–10mm; whitish at the apex, becoming flushed with cap colour towards the base; covered in small, fibrous scales below cottony, fibrillose ring zone, which is often made more prominent by the almost black spores which are trapped in it. Flesh ochraceous to brownish; taste slightly bitter. Gills crowded; mottled, dark purplish-brown with white edge; ‘weeping’ when moist. Spores 8–11×5–6¼, lemon-shaped, with truncate germ-pore, warted. Spore print black. Cheilocystidia clavate, with rounded head, thin-walled. Habitat amongst tufted grass on woodland paths and roadsides; late spring to late autumn. Common. Edible but bitter.