Key Identification Features
- The cap sometimes has a shallow umbo, but this feature is not consistently present.
- Pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face) are fusoid-ventricose (distinctly enlarged in the middle and tapered toward both ends), sometimes with an elongated neck.
- Microscopic features: Pleurocystidia are fusiform with slightly thickened walls, measuring 50–70 × 11–18 μm, and have 3–5 horn-like projections.
- The South American species Pluteus xylophilus looks similar to Pluteus exilis, but can be distinguished by its smaller spores and greater variation in fruit body size.
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