Summary:
Principal fieldmarks of Inocybe pudica in relation to other Inocybes are the tendency of the white fruiting body to "blush" pink, red, or orange, the relatively smooth cap, and fruiting under conifers, (Arora). |This taxon has been known in North America as Inocybe pudica and as Inocybe whitei. The online Species Fungorum, accessed September 2, 2012, gives the name as Inocybe whitei (Berk. & Broome) Sacc. The name Inocybe whitei forma whitei was applied to Inocybe pudica by Kuyper(1). Desjardin(6) give Inocybe whitei (Berk. & Broome) Sacc. as a misapplied name for Inocybe pudica Kuehner. |By either the name Inocybe whitei or the name Inocybe pudica this is one of the commonest Inocybes along the west coast of North America. |Kuyper(1) acknowledges that Inocybe whitei is an enigmatic species, "The protologue of Agaricus whitei B. & Br. Is somewhat deviant as the colour of the pileus was described as fulvous. For that reason I. whitei has always been considered an autonomous, be it enigmatic species. However, its microscopical characters completely conform to those of collections referred to I. pudica, and for that reason I do not hesitate to synonymize these names." |Matheny(12) call a monophyletic clade that includes collections from the Pacific Northwest and Sweden by the name Inocybe pudica. Matheny(12) also say, "Future systematic revisions are also required to clarify the taxonomy and status of North American materials referred to as I. geophylla, which are highly polyphyletic, and unique but poorly known taxa such as I. agglutinata, I. armeniaca Huijsman, I. fuscicothurnata, I. fuscodisca, I. insinuata, I. pudica, I. virgata, I. sambucella G.F. Atk., and I. whitei (Berk. & Broome) Sacc., as well as lilac-pigmented taxa outside the I. lilacina subgroup."

Gills:
adnate to adnexed, notched, or free, close; "pallid or flushed pinkish or orange", becoming grayish brown or dull brown, (Arora), sinuate, almost free, depressed at stem, well-spaced, somewhat broad, up to 0.6cm; white, or cream when young, then light brown, yellow-brown, gray-brown, staining salmon color, edges white, (Cripps), whitish when young, cinnamon brown when old, "often developing brownish red or dull pinkish stains", (Bessette)

Stem:
4-8cm x 0.4-1cm, equal or widened at base, firm; white, but discoloring like cap; smooth or silky fibrillose, (Arora), 2.5-6cm x 0.2-0.5cm, "long and slender, equal or slightly swollen at base, straight or undulating"; white, staining salmon color; pruinose-floccose at top, longitudinal fibrils downwards, (Cripps)

Veil:
"fibrillose or cobwebby, whitish", evanescent [fleeting], (Arora), cortina "white, copious in young specimens, soon gone", (Cripps)

Odor:
unpleasant or spermatic, (Arora), spermatic, (Cripps, Kuyper), unpleasant (chestnut catkins), (Ammirati), bleach (Buczacki)

Taste:
not distinctive (Bessette), spermatic (Kuyper)

Microscopic spores:
spores 7-10 x 4-6 microns, elliptic or bean-shaped, smooth, gills typically have both thick-walled and thin-walled cystidia, (Arora), spores 7-10.5 x 5-6.5 microns, "almond-shaped with a bluntly rounded apex, smooth, thin-walled", (Bessette), spores (8.5)9-10 x 5-5.5 microns, smooth, elliptic, with small apiculus, thickened walls; basidia 4-spored, 23-27 x 7-9 microns, clavate; pleurocystidia common to sparse, 50-58 x 15-18 microns, "subfusiform, fusiform, sparse crystals at apex", walls 1-2(3) microns thick, bright or pale yellow, cheilocystidia "numerous, similar to pleurocystidia, frequently with bright yellow contents, walls bright yellow", paracystidia 13 x 18 microns, rather round, thin-walled; cap cuticle a parallelicutis, of inflated hyphae 6-8(14) microns wide, "not pigmented, smooth or with slightly roughened walls"; caulocystidia similar to pleurocystidia, rare; clamp connections present in all tissues, (Cripps)

Spore deposit:
brown (Arora, Cripps), dull brown (Ammirati), gray brown (Lincoff)

Notes:
Matheny(12) sequenced collections of I. pudica from WA, CA, CO, and Sweden. It was examined by Cripps(1) (as Inocybe whitei f. whitei) from ID and MT. Kuyper(1) examined a collection from OR which was the holotype for I. geophylla f. perplexa, a taxon that he also synonymized with Inocybe whitei. There are OR collections of Inocybe pudica at the University of Washington and Oregon State University. There are collections from BC at the University of British Columbia as Inocybe pudica and as Inocybe whitei.

EDIBILITY

poisonous, contains muscarine, (Arora)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Inocybe whitei (Berk. & Broome) Sacc.