Laccaria tortilis

A diminutive Laccaria barely reaching 2 cm in pileus diameter, with a short stipe that is typically equal in length to the cap diameter. The pileus is smooth, radially striate, and displays a colouration varying between ochre, dull brown, reddish-brown, or pinkish tones.

Microscopy reveals very large globose spores measuring up to 15 µm, adorned with prominent spines up to 3 µm long. The basidia are typically 2-spored, with 1-spored basidia occurring rarely.

It is a gregarious species typical of damp habitats, such as riverbanks, seasonally waterlogged patches, or bare damp, humic soil along tracks and paths.

The specimens studied here were found along a forestry track, fruiting in small troops among puddles in July, in Derio (Bizkaia). Additional photographs from two earlier collections in Zuia (Álava) and Zeanuri (Bizkaia), curiously collected on the same August date, are included.