Cyclocybe erebia, also known as the dark fieldcap, or sometimes Agrocybe erebia, is a species of brown-spored agaric with a wide distribution.
Taxonomy Cyclocybe erebia was once considered to be in the genus Agrocybe, but recent DNA sequencing has shown that it is not, instead placing it in Cyclocybe.Vizzini, A., C. Angelini & E. Ercole (2014). Le sezioni Velatae e Aporus di Agrocybe sottogenere Aporus: rivalutazione del genere Cyclocybe Velen. ed una nuova specie. Bollettino della Associazione Micologica ed Ecologica Romana 92: 21–38.
Description The color of the cap can range from light to dark brown. When wet, it is viscid (i.e. slimy). The cap can range from in diameter; younger caps are very round. The edge of the cap is often frilled or wrinkly, and more lightly colored. Decurrent gills are present underneath the cap. They are whitish at first, but they become brown with maturity. The stipe is whitish, browning with age, long, and thick. When young, a partial veil is present, covering the hymenium. It later separates from the margin, sometimes leaving behind a white ring.
The whitish to brown flesh does not stain.Kuo, M. (2020, August). Cyclocybe erebia. MushroomExpert.Com The spore print is brown.
Microscopic features
The spores measure 10 μm–15 μm × 5 μm–7 μm, and are ellipsoid or subellipsoid, often with a snout-like end, and are brown or yellow-brown.
The basidia are 2-sterigmate.
Similar species Lookalikes include Agrocybe praecox, which is usually larger.
Habitat and distribution The species occurs in the Americas, Europe, and parts of Oceania. It can be found with moisture on the ground from August to October in most of North America, and September to December on the West Coast.
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