Bonfire Brittlestem

Psathyrella pennata

Dead deciduous, rarely coniferous wood. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies small. Cap 1.5-4 cm across, at first conical, bell-shaped, flocculose-fibrous, later raised-flattened, dirty greyish-brown, fading to greyish-yellowish, white-fibrous. Gills greyish, old ones purplish-brown, edges whitish. Stem 2-5 (7)x0.2–0.5 cm, white, white-fibrous. Flesh whitish, without smell or taste. Characteristic features: cap greyish-brown, stem white, conspicuously white-fibrous, as if shaggy. Grows from spring to autumn on burnt areas and bonfire sites, among grass, singly or in small groups. A carbotroph; it would be suitable for neutralising (breaking down) charred wood on burnt sites.