Infundibulicybe geotropa

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Infundibulicybe geotropa
Clitocybe geotropa JPG1.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Infundibulicybe
Species:
I. geotropa
Binomial name
Infundibulicybe geotropa
(Bull.) Harmaja
Synonyms

Clitocybe geotropa (Bull.) Quél.

Infundibulicybe geotropa
Information icon.svg
Gills icon.png Gills on hymenium
Depressed cap icon.svg Cap is depressed
Decurrent gills icon2.svg Hymenium is decurrent
Bare stipe icon.svg Stipe is bare
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Spore print is white
Saprotrophic fungus.svgEcology is saprotrophic
Mycomorphbox Choice.pngEdibility is choice

Infundibulicybe geotropa, also known as the trooping funnel or monk's head, is a funnel-shaped toadstool widely found in Europe and (less commonly) in North America. A large sturdy cream- or buff-coloured funnel-shaped mushroom, it grows in mixed woodlands, often in troops or fairy rings, one of which is over half a mile wide. Although edible, it could be confused with some poisonous species of similar colouration and size.

Contents

Taxonomy and naming

French mycologist Pierre Bulliard initially described the trooping funnel as Agaricus geotropus in 1792, before Lucien Quélet renamed it Clitocybe geotropa (a name by which it was long known) in 1872. Its specific epithet derived from the Ancient Greek words γῆ/ "earth", and τρόπος/tropos "turn". [1]

Finnish mycologist Harri Harmaja proposed I. geotropa and twelve other Clitocybe species be split off into a new genus Infundibulicybe, thus the new binomial name is Infundibulicybe geotropa. [2]

Young specimens with distinctly bossed small caps 2Clitocybe geotropa.jpg
Young specimens with distinctly bossed small caps

Description

A cream- or buff-coloured mushroom, the cap may reach 20 cm (8 in) in diameter. It has a prominent boss and looks small in relation to the large stem in young specimens. As the mushroom ages, the cap changes from convex with inrolled margins to more funnel shaped. The decurrent gills are the same colour as the cap. The stipe is bulbous, larger at the base and 10–20 cm (4–8 in) high. The spore print is white. There is a sweet smell, [3] which has been likened to the odour of bitter almonds. [1] The white flesh is firm in young specimens. [4]

It can be mistaken for the similar-coloured and also edible miller ( Clitopilus prunulus ), but the latter species has pink spores. [1] However, there are a number of similar white or pale mushrooms which are poisonous; [1] young specimens of Entoloma sinuatum can be distinguished by their sinuate gills and mealy smell. [4] The unpleasant-tasting Melanoleuca grammopodia is similar, but has a more pale brownish cap and musky odour. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Trooping funnel is found in mixed woodlands, especially grassy clearings, in autumn. Often gregarious, it can form fairy rings, and has a complex mycelium. [1] [3] It is abundant and widespread in Europe, and less common in North America. [6]

One fairy ring in Belfort, eastern France, has been reported at over half a mile in diameter and estimated at 800 years of age. It is thought to be the largest known fairy ring. [7]

Edibility

Only young mushrooms are recommended for eating, as older ones lose their pleasant taste, [4] and the flesh becomes leathery in consistency. The stipes of all aged specimens are generally discarded. [5] The fungus is popular in northern Italy, where it is roasted or cooked in stews and frittatas, or preserved in oil. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Clitocybe</i> Genus of fungi

Clitocybe is a genus of mushrooms characterized by white, off-white, buff, cream, pink, or light-yellow spores, gills running down the stem, and pale white to brown or lilac coloration. They are primarily saprotrophic, decomposing forest ground litter. There are estimated to be around 300 species in the widespread genus.

<i>Clitocybe odora</i> Species of fungus

Clitocybe odora, commonly known as the blue green anise mushroom, or aniseed toadstool, is a blue-green mushroom that grows near deciduous and coniferous trees. They can be found growing in small groups along the side of tree roots. This mushroom is edible, but a few expert mushroom hunters insist that young specimens should be avoided as they can be confused with Stropharia aeruginosa. The anise odor is due to the presence of p-anisaldehyde and a small amount of benzaldehyde. This odor can give away the mushroom's presence before it is observed by eye.

<i>Collybia nuda</i> Species of mushroom

Collybia nuda, commonly known as the blewit or wood blewit and previously described as Lepista nuda and Clitocybe nuda, is an edible mushroom native to Europe and North America. Described by Pierre Bulliard in 1790, it was also known as Tricholoma nudum for many years. It is found in both coniferous and deciduous woodlands. It is a fairly distinctive mushroom that is widely eaten. It has been cultivated in Britain, the Netherlands and France. This species was reassigned to the genus Collybia in 2023.

<i>Entoloma sinuatum</i> Species of poisonous fungus in the family Entolomataceae found across Europe and North America

Entoloma sinuatum is a poisonous mushroom found across Europe and North America. Some guidebooks refer to it by its older scientific names of Entoloma lividum or Rhodophyllus sinuatus. The largest mushroom of the genus of pink-spored fungi known as Entoloma, it is also the type species. Appearing in late summer and autumn, fruit bodies are found in deciduous woodlands on clay or chalky soils, or nearby parklands, sometimes in the form of fairy rings. Solid in shape, they resemble members of the genus Tricholoma. The ivory to light grey-brown cap is up to 20 cm (7.9 in) across with a margin that is rolled inward. The sinuate gills are pale and often yellowish, becoming pink as the spores develop. The thick whitish stem has no ring.

<i>Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca</i> Species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping. Fruit bodies (mushrooms) are yellow–orange, with a funnel-shaped cap up to 8 cm across that has a felt-like surface. The thin, often forked gills on the underside of the cap run partway down the length of the otherwise smooth stipe. Reports on the mushroom's edibility vary – it is considered poisonous, but has historically been eaten in parts of Europe and the Americas.

<i>Clitocybe dealbata</i> Species of fungus

Clitocybe dealbata, also known as the ivory funnel, is a small white funnel-shaped basidiomycete fungus widely found in lawns, meadows and other grassy areas in Europe and North America. Also known as the sweating mushroom, or sweat producing clitocybe, it derives these names from the symptoms of poisoning. It contains potentially deadly levels of muscarine.

<i>Clitocybe nebularis</i> Species of fungus

Clitocybe nebularis or Lepista nebularis, commonly known as the clouded agaric, cloudy clitocybe, or cloud funnel, is an abundant gilled fungus which appears both in conifer-dominated forests and broad-leaved woodland in Europe and North America. Appearing in Britain from mid to late autumn, it is edible, but may cause gastrointestinal issues.

<i>Clitocybe rivulosa</i> Species of fungus

Clitocybe rivulosa, commonly known as the false champignon or fool's funnel, is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus of the large genus Clitocybe. One of several species similar in appearance, it is a small white funnel-shaped toadstool widely found in lawns, meadows and other grassy areas in Europe and North America. Also known as the sweating mushroom, it derives this name from the symptoms of poisoning. It contains potentially deadly levels of muscarine.

<i>Cortinarius caperatus</i> Species of fungus

Cortinarius caperatus is an edible mushroom of the genus Cortinarius found in northern regions of Europe and North America. It was known as Rozites caperata for many years before genetic studies revealed that it belonged to the genus Cortinarius. The fruit bodies appear in autumn in coniferous and beech woods as well as heathlands in late summer and autumn. The ochre-coloured cap is up to 10 cm (4 in) across and has a fibrous surface. The clay-colored gills are attached to the stipe under the cap, and the stipe is whitish with a whitish ring. The Latin specific name, caperatus, means wrinkled, and refers to the distinctive texture of the cap. The flesh has a mild smell and flavor.

<i>Clitopilus prunulus</i> Species of fungus

Clitopilus prunulus, commonly known as the miller or the sweetbread mushroom, is an edible pink-spored basidiomycete mushroom found in grasslands in Europe and North America. Growing solitary to gregarious in open areas of conifer/hardwood forests; common under Bishop pine along the coast north of San Francisco; fruiting shortly after the fall rains. It has a grey to white cap and decurrent gills.

<i>Inocybe geophylla</i> Species of fungus

Inocybe geophylla, commonly known as the earthy inocybe, common white inocybe or white fibercap, is a poisonous mushroom of the genus Inocybe. It is widespread and common in Europe and North America, appearing under both conifer and deciduous trees in summer and autumn. The fruiting body is a small all-white or cream mushroom with a fibrous silky umbonate cap and adnexed gills. An all-lilac variety lilacina is also common.

<i>Ampulloclitocybe clavipes</i> Species of fungus

Ampulloclitocybe clavipes, commonly known as the club-foot or club-footed clitocybe, is a species of gilled mushroom from Europe and North America. The grey brown mushrooms have yellowish decurrent gills and a bulbous stalk, and are found in deciduous and conifer woodlands. Although considered edible, disulfiram-like reactions have been reported after consumption of alcohol after eating this mushroom.

<i>Aspropaxillus giganteus</i> Species of fungus

Aspropaxillus giganteus, also Leucopaxillus giganteus, commonly known as the giant leucopax or the giant funnel, is a saprobic species of fungus in the order Agaricales. As its common names imply, the fruit body, or mushroom, can become quite large—the cap reaches diameters of up to 50 cm (20 in). It has a white or pale cream cap, and is funnel-shaped when mature, with the gills running down the length of the stem. Considered by some to be a choice edible when young, this species has a cosmopolitan distribution, and is typically found growing in groups or rings in grassy pastures, roadside hedges, or woodland clearings. It has been shown to contain a bioactive compound with antibiotic properties.

<i>Infundibulicybe</i> Genus of fungi

Infundibulicybe is a genus of fungi that is robustly placed incertae sedis as sister group to the Tricholomatoid clade. It has previously been part of the family of Tricholomataceae, but recent molecular phylogeny has shown it to take an isolated position within the Agaricales.

<i>Cortinarius camphoratus</i> Species of fungus

Cortinarius camphoratus, commonly known as the goatcheese webcap, is an agaric fungus in the family Cortinariaceae. The fungus is found in Europe and North America, where its fruit bodies (mushrooms) grow on the ground in a mycorrhizal association with spruce and firs in coniferous forests. Mushrooms are characterized by pale blue lilac colors when young, and a strong distinctive odor. Sources disagree as to the edibility of the mushroom, but they are generally not recommended for eating.

<i>Lepiota cristata</i> Species of fungus

Lepiota cristata, commonly known as the stinking dapperling, brown-eyed parasol, or the stinking parasol, is an agaric and possibly poisonous mushroom in the family Agaricaceae. A common and widespread species—one of the most widespread fungi in the genus Lepiota—it has been reported from Europe, northern Asia, North America, and New Zealand. It fruits on the ground in disturbed areas, such as lawns, path and road edges, parks, and gardens. The species produces fruit bodies characterized by the flat, reddish-brown concentric scales on the caps, and an unpleasant odour resembling burnt rubber. Similar Lepiota species can sometimes be distinguished from L. cristata by differences in cap colour, stipe structure, or odour, although some species can only be reliably distinguished through the use of microscopy.

<i>Clitocybe albirhiza</i> Species of fungus

Clitocybe albirhiza, commonly known as the snowmelt clitocybe, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Tricholomataceae. It is found in high-elevation locations in the western United States.

<i>Paralepista flaccida</i> Species of fungus

Paralepista flaccida is a species of mushroom found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is known to form fairy rings.

<i>Clitocybe amarescens</i> Species of fungus

Clitocybe amarescens is a species of agaric fungus in the family Tricholomataceae. Widely distributed in northwestern Europe, it was first described in 1969 by Finnish mycologist Harri Harmaja. It fruits in groups or in fairy rings in grasslands. Amarescens signifies "tending to bitterness".

<i>Infundibulicybe gibba</i> Species of gilled mushroom

Infundibulicybe gibba, and commonly known as the common funnel or funnel cap, is a species of gilled mushroom which is common in European woods.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Nilson, Sven; Persson, Olle (1977). Fungi of Northern Europe 2: Gill-Fungi. Penguin. p. 38. ISBN   0-14-063006-6.
  2. Harmaja, Harri (2003). "Notes on Clitocybe s. lato (Agaricales)" (PDF). Annales Botanici Fennici. 40: 213–18.
  3. 1 2 Phillips, Roger (2006). Mushrooms. Pan MacMillan. p. 91. ISBN   0-330-44237-6.
  4. 1 2 3 Haas, Hans (1969). The Young Specialist looks at Fungi. Burke. p. 130. ISBN   0-222-79409-7.
  5. 1 2 Lamaison, Jean-Louis; Polese, Jean-Marie (2005). The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms. Königswinter, Germany: Könemann. pp. 73, 95. ISBN   3-8331-1239-5.
  6. Bigelow, Howard Elson (1985). North American species of Clitocybe. J. Cramer. p. 304. ISBN   3-443-51001-9.
  7. Marley, Greg (2010). Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 193. ISBN   978-1-60358-214-8.
  8. Clifford A. Wright (2001). Mediterranean vegetables: a cook's ABC of vegetables and their preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and north Africa with more than 200 authentic recipes for the home cook . Harvard Common Press. pp.  229. ISBN   1-55832-196-9. clitocybe geotropa.