A small mushroom in the yard

I will be frank: Where I live almost all year round it is extremely dry and hot, which makes the existence of mushrooms difficult, and the ones that exist are modest, I would say shy, not at all colorful or large in size; however, when it is rainy season it is possible to see the odd fungus that appears on the decaying logs and wood that are in my yard, so I always take the opportunity to observe and photograph them. We are currently in the middle of the dry season, but several weeks ago, I would say a month, I found a small mushroom, near one of the oldest trees, and photographed it, I think it was born from a few brief scattered rains that occurred in those days.

Although I know something about plants, I don't know much about fungi, so I don't know what the common or scientific names are, nor do I know which ones are edible or not; so every time I am curious about a mushroom, I do a comparison on the Internet using tools like Google Lens, and according to my search, I found that this small and fleeting mushroom belongs to the species known as:Coprinellus radians o Coprinus radians.

Based on the name, I consulted some characteristics of this type of fungus (I place the sources consulted at the end of this post), and in general I can say that:

• It belongs to the Psathyrellaceae family, which is a very broad family in the kingdom Fungi, which includes those fungi that produce basidia with basidiospores, and these fungi can be micro or macroscopic, in this case we have a macroscopic one.

• It presents a small hat, whose maximum length is 3.5 cm, flared at the end. It also has a whitish foot.

• The meat is very thin, without edible interest.

• It can grow solitary, like the one I found, or in small groups, rarely observable.

• It is a species associated with decaying wood.

Although I know that this fungus was fragile and had a short life due to excessive heat, so it is the last one of this year 2023, without a doubt its spores remained in the wood remains, and when the rainy season begins in May 2024, it will emerge again with its gentle and shy form, to do its work within this small, but rich ecosystem that is my yard.

Bibliography:

• Sociedad Micológica Extremeña: Coprinellus radians = Coprinus radians
• Ecuador Inaturalis: Coprinellus radians