Moss Bells
A member of a group of small, moss-dwelling Galerinas that are very difficult to tell apart without microscopy, this species features caps that range from 0.3 to 1.5 cm across. They are caramel colored, translucent-striate, with strongly defined radial lines reaching to the umbo. The shape is bell-shaped to somewhat conical with an umbo that may be rounded or pointed. The gills are usually subdistant, attached and upwardly ascendent. Stipes are fragile and thin and range from 3cm to 9cm. They are reddish brown below and pale above, but darken upwardly to almost black with age as depicted in the photo. Stipes are finely fuzzy due to caulocystidia. There is no odor and the taste is mild. Small galerinas are most common in fall but fruit well into winter and spring in wet weather. No small Galerinas should ever be eaten as some species contain deadly amanita toxins.