Galerina pumila (Pers.) Singer - Dwarf Bell

Phylum: Basidiomycota - Class: Agaricomycetes - Order: Agaricales - Family: Strophariaceae

Distribution - Taxonomic History - Etymology - Toxicity - Identification - Reference Sources

Galerina pumila with its widely-spaced gills and tiny orange caps, is an uncommon but welcome sight in wet mossy places. This is one of a small group of bright orange Galerina species, most of which seem unable to survive without mosses.

Identifying with certainty the many small Galerina and Mycena mushrooms that appear on mossy bogs, damp lawns and wet woodland edges requires microscopic examination (preferably assisted by chemical testing!).

Distribution

Dwarf Bell Galerina pumila is uncommon in Britain and Ireland where it occurs on sphagnum mosses mainly in acidic boggy areas such as pond margins and peat bogs. This species is also recorded throughout most of central and northern mainland Europe.

Taxonomic history

This little mushrooms was described in 1801 by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, who called it Agaricus pumilus. (In the early days of fungal taxonomy most gilled fungi were initially placed in a giant Agaricus genus, now largely redistributed across many other genera.)

It was the German-born American mycologist Rolf Singer who in 1961 transferred this species to the genus Galerina, thereby establishing its currently-accepted scientific name Galerina pumila.

Synonyms of Galerina pumila include Agaricus pumilus Pers., Agaricus mycenopsis Fr., Galera mycenopsis (Fr.) Quél., Pholiota pumila (Pers.) Gillet, and Galerina mycenopsis (Fr.) Kühner.

Etymology

Galerina, the generic name, means 'like a helmet', while the specific epithet pumila means dwarf or low growing.

Toxicity

Galerina pumila is inedible or suspect. In view of the fact that other fungi in this genus are known to be toxic toadstools - for example Galerina marginata contains deadly poisonous amatoxins which are the same kinds of substances that make Amanita phalloides, the Death Cap, so dangerous - this species should not be collected for eating. It is unlikely that anyone would want to hunt for such insubstantial and uncommon little fungi for food, but they could easily be gathered by mistake when collecting Marasmius oreades (Fairy Ring Champignons) which often grow in mossy grasslands. This further emphasises the importance of checking every single specimen that is gathered to eat.

Identification guide

	Cap Initially conoical umbonate, expanding to become convex umbonate, striate almost to the centre; rusty brown, paler yellow-brown at the margin; 8 to 20mm diameter when fully expanded. White veil fragments sometimes visible at the margins of immature caps.
	Gills Moderately to widely spaced; pale yellow, becoming rusty yellow-brown. Stem 1 to 3mm in diameter and 2 to 8cm tall; cylindrical and hollow, yellow-brown; slightly rough due to attached veil fragmants, especially near the top of the stem; no stem ring.
	Basidia Four-spored. Cheilocystidia Sub-cylindrical (long and narrow) often flexuose, with variably inflated tips.
	Spores Ellipsoidal to amygdaloid (almond shaped), almost perfectly smooth, 10-13.5 x 5-7μm. Spore print Fulvous to pale ochre-beige.
Odour/taste	Not significant.
Habitat & Ecological role	In small groups or singly, often among lichens; growing on bryophytes including mosses of the genera Hylocomium, Dicranum, Ptilidium, Polytrichum and Racomitrium, in acidic woodlands, heathland and mossy grassland.
Season	Autumn.
Similar species	Kuehneromyces mutabilis, a much larger mushroom, is similar in colour range but has a pale cap centre and a darker margin; it does not grow on bryophytes but is confined to mainly hardwood substrates.

Reference Sources

Fascinated by Fungi, 2nd Edition, Pat O'Reilly 2016, reprinted by Coch-y-bonddu Books in 2022.

Dictionary of the Fungi; Paul M. Kirk, Paul F. Cannon, David W. Minter and J. A. Stalpers; CABI, 2008

Taxonomic history and synonym information on these pages is drawn from many sources but in particular from the British Mycological Society's GB Checklist of Fungi.

Acknowledgements

Several of the pictures on this page are shown with the kind permission of David Kelly.

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