86 
THE LARGER FUNGI 
**Gills decitwrcnt. 
OMPHALIA (Pers.) Fr. 
(Gr., omphalos, the navel.) 
“Pileus fleshy ur submembranaceous, often umbilieate. Stem central, cartila- 
ginous. Gills decurrent. Spores white, rarely yellowish; elliptical, reniform, pip- 
shaped, boat-shaped, subglobose or oblong elliptical; smooth, punctate, verrucose, 
or echinulate; continuous. Cystidia present or absent. Growing on the ground 
or on wood; solitary, caespitose, subeaespitose or fasciculate.” — Rea. 
The species are mostly small and often delicate, characterised by the white 
spores, the cartilaginous stem differing in texture from the flesh of the pileus and 
the decurrent or adnato-decnrrent gills. In ClUocybe, also with decurrent gills, 
the fleshy stem is similar in texture to the substance of the pileus, and the plants 
are usually large. When the pileus is at first incurved, a relationship to Collybia 
is seen, and when its edge is straight with Mycena, but' OmphaUa differs from 
both in its decurrent gills. 
Our beautiful little orange-coloured OmphaUa chromaeea is common on bare 
soil in the Mount Lofty Ranges after rain. Otherwise species are rare with us. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES. 
Yellow plants. 
Whole plant yellow ochre to deep chrome. Stem up 
to Jin. Frequent on bare soil 85. 
0 mphatia oh romacea. 
Pileus and stem yellow ochre to oehraceous tawny. 
Gills white. Stem J to liin. Often amongst 
•moss 86. OmphaUa fibula. 
Whitish plants. 
Pileus and stem pale brownish white. Gills distant, 
few, white. In a bog 87. OmphaUa puludicola. 
Pure white or with creamy tint. Pileus about jin. 
Stem 1 (in. At bases of olives 88. OmphaUa olearis. 
Brownish or drab-coloured plants. 
Whole plant near pinkish buff. Edges of gills 
thick, often forked 272. Cantharellus 
brim neus. 
85. OmphaUa chromaeea Clel. (Gr., chroma, colour). — Whole plant near Deep 
Chrome (ill.) or a little yellower when moist, or Yellow Ochre (xv.), drying to 
an opaque pale Orange Yellow (in.) to Light Orange Yellow (in.), the gills 
and stem remaining nearer deep chrome. Pileus up to Jin. (1.8 cm.), rarely 
reaching lin. (2.5 cm.), convex, then sometimes plane, slightly umbilieate, 
irregularly rugose. Gills decurrent, edges rather thick, a few short ones inter- 
posed, distant, sometimes forked or anastomosing or with buttressing folds. Stem 
up to Jin. (1.8 cm.), slender, equal or slightly attenuated upwards, tough, surface 
dull, solid, flesh yellow, spores narrow, pear-shaped, oblique, 6 to 9.5 xf 3 to 5 p. 
Cystidia not seen. Gregarious on bare sandy loam or amongst low moss. South 
Australia — Adelaide, Mount Lofty, Waterfall Gully, National Park. Kuit-po. New 
South Wales. April to September. (Figure 15 B.) 
86. Omphalia fibula (Bull.) Fr. (L., fibula , a pin). — Pileus J to nearly Lin. 
(6 to 11 mm.), convex with a prominent umbilicus, sometimes when young eonieo- 
convex and umbonatc, smooth, slightly striate, between Yellow Ochre and 
Oehraceous Tawny (xv.). Gills deeply decurrent, rather thick, rather distant, 
rarely forking, whitish. Stem f to ILin. (18 to 37 mm.), slender, pruinose when 
young, then smooth, cartilaginous, equal, solid, colour of the pileus. Amongst 
moss on shady banks. Spores 4.S to 6.5 x 2 to 2.5 p. South Australia — Near 
Coromandel Valley, Mount Lofty. June. 
Distinguished by the colour of the pilous approaching yellow ochre, the white 
gills, slender appearance and association with moss (with us). Omphalia 
chromaeea is more chrome-coloured, the gills are not whitish and it prefers 
growing on bare ground. 
