Hemimycena tortuosa

This Hemimycena typically fruits on dead wood of both broadleaves and conifers. Under wet weather, the entire basidioma characteristically glistens with trapped water droplets. This remarkable feature is caused by the peculiar morphology of its caulocystidia and pileocystidia, which are helically coiled and tortuous, capped by a small globose/capitate apex. This unique micromorphology makes it unmistakable under the microscope.

The mycological study is based on a collection made in December in Gaubea (Álava), growing in small groups on stumps and dead wood of Quercus rotundifolia.