Inocybaceae

The family Inocybaceae is a family a large number of species and currently necessitates a revision to impliment the molecular data recenly acquired withing this family. The largest genus is Inocybe which was previously placed in the Continataceae, but recent phylogenetic studies have indicated that is closer to Crepidotaceae. Some authors consider Crepidotaceae as a junior synonym to a broader Inocybaceae, but the issue is far from settled. Members of Inocybaceae are ectomycorrhizal rather than saprotrophic as in the Crepidotaceae. A definition of the family is pending but an excellent paper on this family may be found here.

Identification of Inocybe species is a very difficult task in part because of the variability of each species as well as an inherent difficulty in finding scientific literature in the local libraries. The species presented below are tentacive and some specimens may be grouped or split as necessary. The separation into different species is based on the external features, spore shape and sizes, as well as the shapes and sizes of cheilocystidia.