Laccaria laccata

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Laccaria laccata
Lacc.lacc.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Hydnangiaceae
Genus: Laccaria
Species:
L. laccata
Binomial name
Laccaria laccata
Laccaria laccata
Information icon.svg
Gills icon.png Gills on hymenium
Convex cap icon.svgFlat cap icon.svg Cap is convex or flat
Adnate gills icon2.svgDecurrent gills icon2.svg Hymenium is adnate or decurrent
Bare stipe icon.svg Stipe is bare
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Spore print is white
Mycorrhizal fungus.svgEcology is mycorrhizal
Mycomorphbox Edible.pngMycomorphbox Caution.pngEdibility is edible but not recommended

Laccaria laccata, commonly known as the deceiver, lackluster laccaria, [1] or waxy laccaria, is a white-spored species of small edible mushroom found throughout North America and Europe. It is a highly variable mushroom (hence 'deceiver'), and can look quite washed out, colorless and drab, but when younger it often assumes red, pinkish brown, and orange tones. The species is often considered by mushroom collectors to be a 'mushroom weed' because of its abundance and plain stature.

Contents

Taxonomy

The deceiver was first described by Tyrolian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1772 as Agaricus laccatus, [2] before being given its current binomial name by Mordecai Cubitt Cooke in 1884. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin adjective laccatus 'varnished' or 'shining'. [3] Clitocybe laccata is an old alternative name. Var. pallidifolia, described by Charles Horton Peck, is the most common variety found in North America.

It is the type species of the cosmopolitan mushroom genus Laccaria; where their relations lie among the gilled mushrooms is unclear, but they are currently classified in the family Hydnangiaceae.

The deceiver gets its common name from its variable appearance. Other names include lacklustre laccaria, and, by the Zapotec people, Beshia ladhi biinii (also the name of other members of Laccaria ). [4]

Description

The deceiver is a small mushroom with a cap measuring 2–6 cm (1–2.5 in) in diameter, convex when young and later flattening or even depressed in the center. It can be various shades of salmon pink, brick-red, or shades of orange or brown when moist or young, and duller and paler when dry. The fibrous stipe is 2–10 cm (1–4 in) high and 3–10 mm (0–0.5 in) wide. The irregular gills are widely spaced and decurrent or adnexed, and of similar color to the cap, though whiten with spores as the mushroom matures. The spore print is white, and the round spiny spores are 7–10 μm in diameter. The flesh is thin and has little taste. [5] [6]

Formerly considered a subspecies by French mycologist René Maire, the close deceiver ( Laccaria proxima ) is a European relative with a fine scaly cap and found in wetter habitats. [7] Microscopically, its spores are narrower and more oval-shaped.

In California, what was thought to be L. laccata under eucalyptus has turned out to be the Australian species Laccaria fraterna . [8] Other similar species include Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis and Laccaria bicolor . [6]

Distribution and habitat

Laccaria laccata is found in scattered troops in wooded areas, and on heathland often in poor soil. It is very common in all of the northern temperate zones, but tends to favor cool weather. L. laccata is mycorrhizal with several types of trees, including members of the Pinaceae (Pines), Fagaceae (Beech), and Betulaceae (Birch). It is found across Europe and North America, [1] south into Mexico and Costa Rica. Laccaria species are mycorrhizal, and thought by some to be pioneer species. The roots of Corylus avellana (Hazel) are also used as a host for the fungus in Great Britain. [9]

Edibility

Although small, the deceiver is edible and mild-tasting. [10] The tough stalks are usually not eaten. [6] It is one of many mushrooms traditionally eaten by the Zapotec people of Oaxaca in Mexico. [4] However, it is important to distinguish it from potentially lethal small brown mushrooms. [1]

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<i>Russula emetica</i> Species of fungus in the family Russulaceae with a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere

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<i>Russula xerampelina</i> Species of fungus

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<i>Macrolepiota procera</i> Species of fungus

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<i>Laccaria bicolor</i> Species of fungus

Laccaria bicolor is a small tan-colored mushroom with lilac gills. It is edible but not choice, and grows in mixed birch and pine woods. It is found in the temperate zones of the globe, in late summer and autumn. L. bicolor is an ectomycorrhizal fungus used as a soil inoculant in agriculture and horticulture.

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<i>Amanita verna</i> Species of fungus

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<i>Agaricus campestris</i> Species of fungus

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<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>Lactifluus piperatus</i> Species of fungus

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<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>Russula fragilis</i> Species of fungus

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<i>Laccaria amethystina</i> Species of fungus

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<i>Agaricus dulcidulus</i> Species of fungus

Agaricus dulcidulus is a small mushroom in the family Agaricaceae of the order Agaricales, found in deciduous woodlands of Europe, but also recorded in North America, North Africa and Asia. The English name is rosy wood mushroom. Despite the tendency of some sources to synonymize it with Agaricus semotus, this is a distinct taxon.

<i>Mycena inclinata</i> Species of fungus

Mycena inclinata, commonly known as the clustered bonnet or the oak-stump bonnet cap, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. The doubtfully edible mushroom has a reddish-brown bell-shaped cap up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in diameter. The thin stem is up to 9 cm (3.5 in) tall, whitish to yellow-brown at the top but progressively becoming reddish-brown towards the base in maturity, where they are covered by a yellowish mycelium that can be up to a third of the length of the stem. The gills are pale brown to pinkish, and the spore print is white. It is a widespread saprobic fungus, and has been found in Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australasia, and North America, where it grows in small groups or tufts on fallen logs and stumps, especially of oak. British mycologist E.J.H. Corner has described two varieties of the mushroom from Borneo. Lookalike species with which M. inclinata may be confused include M. galericulata and M. maculata.

<i>Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis</i> Species of fungus

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<i>Mycena aurantiomarginata</i> Species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae common in Europe and North America

Mycena aurantiomarginata, commonly known as the golden-edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First formally described in 1803, it was given its current name in 1872. Widely distributed, it is common in Europe and North America, and has also been collected in North Africa, Central America, and Japan. The fungus is saprobic, and produces fruit bodies (mushrooms) that grow on the floor of coniferous forests. The mushrooms have a bell-shaped to conical cap up to 2 cm in diameter, set atop a slender stipe up to 6 cm long with yellow to orange hairs at the base. The fungus is named after its characteristic bright orange gill edges. A microscopic characteristic is the club-shaped cystidia that are covered with numerous spiky projections, resembling a mace. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined. M. aurantiomarginata can be distinguished from similar Mycena species by differences in size, color, and substrate. A 2010 publication reported the discovery and characterization of a novel pigment named mycenaaurin A, isolated from the mushroom. The pigment is responsible for its color, and it has antibiotic activity that may function to prevent certain bacteria from growing on the mushroom.

<i>Cuphophyllus virgineus</i> Species of fungus

Cuphophyllus virgineus is a species of agaric in the family Hygrophoraceae. Its recommended English common name is snowy waxcap in the UK. The species has a largely north temperate distribution, occurring in grassland in Europe and in woodland in North America and northern Asia, but is also known from Australia. It typically produces basidiocarps in the autumn.

<i>Tricholoma vaccinum</i> Fungus of the agaric genus Tricholoma

Tricholoma vaccinum, commonly known as the russet scaly tricholoma, the scaly knight, or the fuzztop, is a fungus of the agaric genus Tricholoma. It produces medium-sized fruit bodies (mushrooms) that have a distinctive hairy reddish-brown cap with a shaggy margin when young. The cap, which can reach a diameter of up to 6.5 cm (2.6 in) wide, breaks up into flattened scales in maturity. It has cream-buff to pinkish gills with brown spots. Its fibrous, hollow stipe is white above and reddish brown below, and measures 4 to 7.5 cm long. Although young fruit bodies have a partial veil, it does not leave a ring on the stipe.

<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.

References

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  2. Scopoli, Giovanni Antonio (1772). Flora Carniolica (2 ed.). [Vindobonae] impensis Ioannis Pavli Kravss. p.  444.
  3. Nilson S, Persson O (1977). Fungi of Northern Europe 2: Gill-Fungi. Penguin. p. 36. ISBN   0-14-063006-6.
  4. 1 2 Garibay-Orijel R, Caballero J, Estrada-Torres A, Cifuentes J (2007). "Understanding cultural significance, the edible mushrooms case". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 3 (4): 4. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-3-4. PMC   1779767 . PMID   17217539.
  5. Roger Phillips (2006). Mushrooms. Pan MacMillan. p. 102. ISBN   0-330-44237-6.
  6. 1 2 3 Davis, R. Michael; Sommer, Robert; Menge, John A. (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 136–137. ISBN   978-0-520-95360-4. OCLC   797915861.
  7. Lamaison, Jean-Louis; Polese, Jean-Marie (2005). The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms. Könemann. p. 83. ISBN   3-8331-1239-5.
  8. "California Fungi: Laccaria fraterna".
  9. Harley, J.L.; Harley, E.L. (1987). "A checklist of mycorrhiza in the British flora". New Phytologist. 105: 1–102. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1987.tb00674.x.
  10. Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 69. ISBN   978-1-55407-651-2.

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