page_title: Mycena adscendens
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Mycena adscendens / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: The fruit bodies of the fungus Mycena adscendens (Lasch) Maas Geest. Specimens photographed in Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, California, USA.
context_page_description: Mycena adscendens, commonly known as the frosty bonnet, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. The fungus produces small white fruit bodies with caps up to 7.5 mm in diameter that appear to be dusted with sugar-like granules. Caps are supported by thin, hollow stems up to 20 mm long, which are set on a disc-like base. It is distributed in the United States, where it has been found from Washington to California, Europe, and Turkey. The fruit bodies grow on fallen twigs and other woody debris on the forest floor, including fallen hazel nuts. The variety carpophila is known from Japan. There are several small white Mycena species that are similar in appearance to M. adscendens, some of which can be reliably distinguished only by examining microscopic characteristics.
context_section_description: The cap is white and small, with a diameter typically ranging from 2.5 to 7.5 mm (0.1 to 0.3 in). Initially convex to cucullate (hood-shaped), it flattens during maturity, developing visible surface grooves that correspond to the gills underneath the cap; the surface may also be covered with glistening particles, remnants of the partial veil. The cap is pallid gray with a whitish margin when young, but soon becomes white overall. The flesh is membranous, fragile, and thin (less than 0.5 mm). The gills are free from attachment or narrowly attached (adnexed) to the stem. They are up to 0.5 mm broad, distantly-spaced (usually numbering between 7 and 12), and sometimes adhering to each other to form a slight collar (a pseudocollarium) around the stem. They are translucent-white throughout their development, with a fringed, white edge. The hollow stem is 0.5 to 2 cm (0.2 to 0.8 in) long, and usually curved and threadlike. The bottom of the stem is enlarged into a slight bulb, which is initially nearly spherical. At the very base of the stem is a small, white, and hairy disk-like base that attaches to the substrate. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown, but like many small Mycenas, they are insubstantial and  not likely to be considered for the table.
  The variety carpophila is characterized by its tiny white cap up to 1 mm in diameter, and narrowly conical caulocystidia (cystidia found on the stem).
caption: Gills are distantly spaced
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