Leucocoprinus cretaceus (Bull.) Locq., Bull. mens. Soc. linn. Soc. Bot. Lyon 14: 93 (1945)
Facesoffungi number: FoF 3137
Pileus 3–6 cm broad, hemispherical when young, expanding to planoconvex to campanulate, margin decurved, slightly sulcate-striate, when young with many, dense, soft floccules, readily collapsing or wearing off to leave farinose covering; light buff to white at center, white elsewhere. Lamellae distantly free, rather broad, thin; white, edge slightly fimbriate. Stipe 5–8 cm long, 4–6 mm broad at apex, gradually enlarged downward to a broadly clavate to somewhat fusiform 6–14 mm broad base; sometimes coarsely farinose to slightly flocculose-farinose below annulus, subfarinose above; white to ivory yellow tinted. Annulus white, very soft, rather flaring, median to superior. Basidiospores 8–11 × 5–8 μm, Q=1.32–1.47, metachromatic, dextrinoid, ellipsoid to amygdaliform, thick-walled, with an apical germ pore covered with a hyaline lens. Basidia 16–22 × 9–12 μm, pyriform to clavate with a bulbous base, 4-spored, surrounded by 4 pseudoparaphyses. Sterigmata 1–2 × 0.7–1.5 μm. Pseudoparaphyses 10–13 × 7–10 μm, sphaeropedunculate to broadly clavate to pyriform, very broad point of attachment. Cheilocystidia 27–75 × 7–18 μm, thin-walled, hyaline, subcylindrical to narrowly fusiform to slightly narrowly lageniform, mucronate, rarely obtuse, moderately pedicellate. Pileus covering a sparse layer of terminal cells essentially absent on mature pilei, most prevalent near the center of young pilei, 45–117 × 7–9 μm, cylindrical to narrowly lageniform, with flexuous necks. Stipe covering structure like that of pileus, with terminal cells even more sparse. Stipitipellis a cutis of narrowly cylindrical, 5–8 μm broad elements. Clamp connections absent.
Habit, habitat and distribution: as a group, usually on manure or wood chips, May to August. Our collection was collected on cow manure at Hanthana Mountains Range, Peradeniya.
Specimen examined: SRI LANKA, Kandy District, Hanthana Mountains Range, 6 June 2012, Samantha C. Karunarathna (MFLU 12-1893, new record). GenBank number ITS:KY649466.
Notes: This is widely distributed in North America and this is the first report of L. cretaceus with molecular phylogenetic confirmation from Sri Lanka.