Conocybe filaris

Pileus
Cap 1-2.5 cm broad, obtuse-conic to convex, expanding to nearly plane, sometimes with a slight umbo; margin decurved, plane to slightly upturned in age; surface glabrous to faintly wrinkled, striate when moist, otherwise obscurely so, butterscotch-brown to dull tawny-brown, the margin paler, fading when dry (hygrophanous) to cream-buff; context thin, 1-1.5 mm thick, cream-buff to tan-buff, unchanging or darkening only slightly when exposed; odor and taste mild.

Lamellae
Gills adnexed to notched, thin, close, moderately broad; at first cream-buff, becoming dingy light-brown, finally tinged dull rusty-brown from spores; lamellae up to 3-seried; gill edges lighter than the faces, fimbriate when young (use hand lens).

Stipe
Stipe 1.5-5 cm long, 1-3 mm thick, more or less equal, straight to slightly flexuous, fragile, hollow at maturity, surface fibrillose-striate, above and below, occasionally lustrous, apex pruinose, with gill edges sometimes evident; surface colored like the young cap, becoming darker in age, except for a pallid apex; partial veil fibrillose-membranous, cream-buff, separating early from the cap margin, upper surface striate-grooved, sometimes drab rusty-brown from spores, loosely attached, forming a superior ring that may shrivel and disappear with age.

Spores
Spores 7.5-9.5 x 5-5.5 µm, ellipsoid, moderately thick-walled, smooth, with an apical germ pore; spore print dull rusty-brown.

Habitat
Scattered, gregarious, to clustered on soil, often near woody debris; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.

Edibility
Contains deadly amanitoxins.

Comments
This uncommon little brown mushroom (LBM) is characterized by a tawny-brown, striate-margined cap which fades to buff-brown, minutely fringed gill edges, and a striate-grooved annulus. Though seemingly distinctive, it belongs to species complex, members of which are distinguished largely by microscopic characters. The above description is based on a small number of local collections.