Species diversity of the genus Galerina in the Czech Republic

The genus Galerina Earle is a polyphyletic genus from the family Hymenogastraceae. Members of the genus form mostly small reddish colored fruiting bodies. Most of them are saprotrophs decaying debris of Sphagnum, mosses and plants, while some of them are lignicolous. Although 4 species were described as new for science from the area of the Czech Republic by the Czech mycologist Mirko Svrček, the genus has not yet been studied in detail.

The aim of this overview is to facilitate the identification of Galerina species. We also would like to draw attention to rare and potentially endangered species, and to get more information about their ecology and morphological variability. We hope field mycologists will appreciate the beauty of Galerinas and never overlook them.

We would like to thank Josef Hlásek for providing most of the pictures of the fruiting bodies. Also Jiří Burel, Jan Holec, Vladimír Pravda and Josef Slavíček are thanked for their photos and specimens. Unless otherwise stated, notes about macro and microcharacters are based on the study of our own material. Please note that this is a working version, which will be continuously updated and improved.

We wish you lots of fun with Galerinas!

How to prepare a well-documented specimen of Galerina

• Take a photo
• Add notes about substrates (from which item does the fruiting body exactly grow), if it is moss or Sphagnum, please, take part of it for identification by bryologists
• Assess the odour and its intensity (in case of doubts, it is possible to taste but not to swallow – some species can be poisonous)
• Assess if the pileus or stem is pruinose (it means it has cystidia, better to use hand glass)
• Assess the presence and character of a veil on the pileus and stem (belt, cortina)

What to study under microscope

• Look at the cap cross-section including lamellae, if pleurocystidia or pileocystidia are present
• Slightly push the cross-section and look if clamps are present (at the base of basidia and in trama) and if basidia are bisporic or tetrasporic
• Measure the size and assess the spore shape and ornamentation, presence of calyptra and local thickening of the spore wall (details here)
• Describe the shape of cheilocystidia and its variability (details here)
• Assess the possible presence and character of caulocystidia

List of Galerina species we know from the area of the Czech Republic

Species associated with wood

• Galerina marginata
• Galerina sideroides
• Galerina camerina
• Galerina calyptrospora (= G. sahleri)
• Galerina triscopa

Species associated with Sphagnum

• Galerina paludosa
• Galerina sphagnorum
• Galerina hybrida
• Galerina mairei (= G. tibiicystis s. auct.)
• Galerina sphagnicola
• Galerina farinacea
• Galerina norvegica (= G. gibbosa)

In Sphagnum bogs also occasionally occur Galerina allospora, G. cerina and G. stordallii

Comparison of species growing in Sphagnum

Species associated with mosses and plat debris

• Galerina atkinsoniana
• Galerina vittiformis
• Galerina caulocystidiata
• Galerina hypnorum
• Galerina calyptrata
• Galerina cerina
• Galerina stordalii
• Galerina pseudocamerina
• Galerina ampullaceocystis
• Galerina cinctula
• Galerina clavata (= G. heterocystis)
• Galerina subclavata
• Galerina graminea (= G. laevis)
• Galerina pumila (= G. mycenopsis)
• Galerina mniophila
• Galerina pseudomniophila aff.
• Galerina cephalotricha (= G. mniophila var. cephalotricha)
• Galerina allospora
• Galerina nana
• Galerina pruinatipes (= Gymnopilus laricicola)
• Galerina jaapii (= G. mycenoides)
• Galerina lacustris
• Galerina badipes
• Galerina embolus
• Galerina clavus (= Romagnesiella clavus)