Leucocoprinus discoideus

Leucocoprinus discoideus is a small dapperling mushroom with whitish flesh which discolours pinkish brown.

Cap: 3-6cm wide with a white, campanulate (bell shaped) to conical cap and a slight brown umbo. It is covered in small brownish ochre scales which are concentrated on the centre disc or umbo and sparsely scattered on the rest of the cap surface. The cap edges have striations which extend about halfway across the cap. Gills: Free, crowded and white. Stem: 7–8 cm tall and 4–5 mm thick with a hairy (tomentose) coating. It is hollow, white and discolours pale pinkish brown with age. The fragile, membranous stem ring is white and located towards the top of the stem. Spore print: White. Spores: Ellipsoid with a pore. (8.1)9.1–11.3 × (5.7)6.3–7.3 μm. Taste: Bitter. When dry it discolours light brown.^[6][3]

L. discoideus is scarcely recorded and little known. The specimens studied by Heinemann were found in the forest of the Eala region in Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). They were growing in a dense group on a dead tree trunk and on the ground in a dry forest area.^[8] Additional specimens were found near Lubumbashi in the South of the country and found growing on decomposing coffee in a plantation near lake Edward and lake Kivu to the North East.^[3]

It was also recorded growing in a potted plant in a greenhouse at the Meise Botanic Garden in Belgium.^[9]