Tricholoma vernaticum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Agaricales |
Family: | Tricholomataceae |
Genus: | Tricholoma |
Species: | T. vernaticum |
Binomial name | |
Tricholoma vernaticum Shanks (1996) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Tricholoma vernaticum | |
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Gills on hymenium | |
Cap is convex or flat | |
Hymenium is adnate | |
Stipe has a ring | |
Spore print is white | |
Ecology is mycorrhizal | |
Edibility is unknown |
Tricholoma vernaticum is an agaric fungus of the genus Tricholoma native to the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The fungus was originally described in 1976 as a species of Armillaria when that genus was more inclusive; it received its current name twenty years later. The stout fruit bodies (mushrooms) have moist white to grayish caps (later becoming grayish-brown with age), a membranous ring on the stipe, and an odor resembling cucumbers. Mycorrhizal with conifers, the fungus fruits in the spring or early summer, with its mushrooms appearing on the ground singly or in groups at high elevations, often at the edge of melting snowbanks. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown, but it has a strong unpleasant odor and a mealy taste.
The species was originally described from California as Armillaria olida by mycologists Harry D. Thiers and Walter Sundberg in 1976. The type specimen was collected on May 6, 1972, in the Crystal Basin Recreation Area in El Dorado County. Thiers and Sundberg classified it in the section Ponderosa of genus Armillaria due to its inamyloid spores, but noted that its relationship to other species was unclear. They also noted the similarity of the form and color of its cap to species in section Constricta of genus Lyophyllum . [2]
Thiers and Sundberg used a broad species concept of Armillaria, including species with a white spore print, gills attached to the stipe, and a ring formed from a partial veil, regardless of their ecological preferences. Today, Armillaria is restricted to wood-rotting species that form black rhizomorphs, and several mycorrhizal former Armillaria have since been transferred to Tricholoma . The name Tricholoma olida was unavailable for this species, because it was previously used in 1920 by Josef Velenovský, [3] so Kris Shanks proposed the new name T. vernaticum. The specific epithet refers to its growth in the spring. [4] The previous epithet olida derives from the Latin olidum, meaning "stinking" or "smelling". [5]
Tricholoma vernaticum is classified in the subgenus Contextocutis of the genus Tricholoma on account of its clamp connections and interwoven hyphae in the cap cuticle. [4]
The cap is convex to broadly convex before flattening out in age, and reaches diameters between 5 and 17 cm (2 and 6.5 in) wide. The surface is dry to moist, smooth, and in maturity appears to be made of flattened fibers arranged radially. As the mushroom ages, the cap color changes from white to fuscous (dusky brownish grey) or brown, usually with olive, grayish or pale tan regions. The cap margin, initially curved downward, lifts up and becomes lobed or irregular with age. The flesh is thick and white, with a strongly farinaceous odor similar to cucumber or watermelon rind. Gills initially have an emarginate (notched) to adnate attachment to the stipe, but pull away as the mushroom matures to become seceding or almost free from attachment. They are thick and closely spaced, and whitish in color, sometimes developing pale pink tints. The solid stipe measures 4–14 cm (1.6–5.5 in) long by 1.3–4 cm (0.5–1.6 in) thick, and is either equal in width through its length or bulged at the base. [6] It has a dry surface, and a texture that is smooth to silky fibrillose above the ring, and appressed fibrillose to scaly below the ring. The ring, located in the middle to upper half of the stem, is sometimes inconspicuous. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown with certainty, [7] although it has been noted to have a strongly farinaceous taste, and an unpleasant odor "strongly reminiscent of rotting white potatoes." [2]
The spore print is white. Spores are elliptic (or narrowly so), and measure 8–12 by 4.8–6.2 μm. There are clamp connections present in the hyphae. [7] The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored, club-shaped, and measure 23–30 by 8–10 μm. The hymenium lacks cystidia. The cap flesh comprises homogenous, interwoven hyphae that are 3–5 μm in diameter, while the cap cuticle is a 200–300-micrometer thick layer of interwoven, gelatinous hyphae up to 4 μm in diameter. [2]
When collected in its typical habitat and during the appropriate season, Tricholoma vernaticum mushrooms can be readily identified because of their prominent characteristics: white color, stocky fruit body, farinaceous odor, and ring on the stipe. Tricholoma lookalikes in the same geographic region grow at lower elevations, typically in autumn. T. portentosum has a gray cap, a stipe with yellow tints, and lacks a ring, while T. mutabile has violet tones in its cap and also lacks a ring. Other lookalikes include Hygrophorus subalpinus and H. camarophyllus , but these species have broad, waxy gills, and lack the characteristic odor of T. vernaticum. [7]
Fruit bodies of Tricholoma vernaticum grow singly or in groups under conifers in late spring and early summer. A fairly common species throughout its range, it is found at high elevations in California north to Oregon and Washington. [7] It is a snowbank fungus, meaning it is commonly found at the edge of melting snowbanks. [6] Fruit bodies are often buried under humus, [2] forming hardly visible "mushrumps", apparent only as cracked bumps on the ground. [7]
Crepidotus versutus, commonly known as the evasive agaric, is a species of fungus in the family Crepidotaceae. It is saprobic on wood, like other Crepidotus species, but it can also decompose herbaceous forest litter. The species is characterized by large, punctate, ellipsoid spores, and the white, hairy pileus.
Helvella elastica, commonly known as the flexible Helvella or the elastic saddle, is a species of fungus in the family Helvellaceae of the order Pezizales. It is found in Asia, Europe, and North America. It has a roughly saddle-shaped yellow-brown cap atop a whitish stipe, and grows on soil in woods. Another colloquial name is the brown elfin saddle.
Mycena cinerella, commonly known as the mealy bonnet, is an inedible species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It is found in Europe and the United States, where it grows in groups on fallen leaves and needles under pine and Douglas fir. The small grayish mushrooms have caps that are up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide atop stipes that are 5 cm (2.0 in) long and 2.5 mm (0.10 in) thick. Its gills are grayish-white and adnate, with a "tooth" that runs slightly down the stipe. The fungus has both two- and four-spored basidia. As its common name suggests, it smells mealy.
Dendrocollybia is a fungal genus in the family Tricholomataceae of the order Agaricales. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Dendrocollybia racemosa, commonly known as the branched collybia or the branched shanklet. The somewhat rare species is found in the Northern Hemisphere, including the Pacific Northwest region of western North America, and Europe, where it is included in several Regional Red Lists. It usually grows on the decaying fruit bodies of other agarics—such as Lactarius and Russula—although the host mushrooms may be decayed to the point of being difficult to recognize.
Leucopholiota decorosa is a species of fungus in the mushroom family Squamanitaceae. Commonly known as the decorated pholiota, it is distinguished by its fruit body which is covered with pointed brown, curved scales on the cap and stem, and by its white gills. Found in the eastern United States, France, and Pakistan, it is saprobic, growing on the decaying wood of hardwood trees. L. decorosa was first described by American mycologist Charles Horton Peck as Agaricus decorosus in 1873, and the species has been transferred to several genera in its history, including Tricholoma, Tricholomopsis, Armillaria, and Floccularia. Three American mycologists considered the species unique enough to warrant its own genus, and transferred it into the new genus Leucopholiota in a 1996 publication. Lookalike species with similar colors and scaly fruit bodies include Pholiota squarrosoides, Phaeomarasmius erinaceellus, and Leucopholiota lignicola. L. decorosa is considered an edible mushroom.
Amanita onusta, commonly known as the loaded Lepidella, the gunpowder Lepidella or the gunpowder amanita, is a species of fungus in the mushroom family Amanitaceae. It is characterized by its small to medium-sized fruit bodies that have white to pale gray caps crowded with roughly conical, pyramidal, or irregular gray warts. The stipe is whitish-gray with woolly or wart-like veil remnants, and at the base is a spindle- or turnip-shaped base that is rooted somewhat deeply in the soil.
Suillus pungens, commonly known as the pungent slippery jack or the pungent suillus, is a species of fungus in the genus Suillus. The fruit bodies of the fungus have slimy convex caps up to 14 cm (5.5 in) wide. The mushroom is characterized by the very distinct color changes that occur in the cap throughout development. Typically, the young cap is whitish, later becoming grayish-olive to reddish-brown or a mottled combination of these colors. The mushroom has a dotted stem (stipe) up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long, and 2 cm (0.8 in) thick. On the underside on the cap is the spore-bearing tissue consisting of minute vertically arranged tubes that appear as a surface of angular, yellowish pores. The presence of milky droplets on the pore surface of young individuals, especially in humid environments, is a characteristic feature of this species. S. pungens can usually be distinguished from other similar Suillus species by differences in distribution, odor and taste. The mushroom is considered edible, but not highly regarded.
Amanita atkinsoniana, also known as the Atkinson's amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. The fruit body is white to brownish, with caps up to 12.5 centimetres in diameter, and stems up to 20 cm long. The surface of the cap is covered with brownish conical warts.
Amanita ravenelii, commonly known as the pinecone lepidella, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. The whitish fruit bodies are medium to large, with caps up to 17 centimetres wide, and stems up to 25 cm (10 in) long. The cap surface has large warts and the stem has a scaly, bulbous base. The mushrooms have a unique chlorine like odor.
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.
Hygrophorus goetzii is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. It is a snowbank mushroom with a rosy-pink cap that fades to cream color in maturity.
Boletus rubroflammeus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. First described from Michigan in 1971, it is found in the eastern United States and Mexico, where it grows in a mycorrhizal association with hardwood trees. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) of the fungus have caps that are deep red to purplish red, and dark red pores. The stem has coarse, dark red reticulations and a narrow yellow area at the top. All parts of the mushroom quickly stain blue when injured or cut. Lookalikes include Boletus flammans, a lighter-colored species that grows with conifers. Other similar species can be distinguished by differences in distribution, morphology, staining reaction, and microscopic characteristics. Boletus rubroflammeus mushrooms are poisonous, and can cause gastrointestinal distress if consumed.
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.
Pluteus phaeocyanopus is an agaric fungus in the family Pluteaceae. Described as a new species in 2010, it has only been collected from California, where it grows singularly or in groups on the decaying wood of oak. The fruit body has a smooth brown cap measuring 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) in diameter. The stipe is 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long by 0.4–0.8 cm (0.16–0.31 in) thick, and roughly equal in width throughout. It is whitish but becomes grayish-green near the base. The thin and fragile gills are free from attachment to the stipe, close to somewhat distantly placed, and interspersed with several tiers of lamellulae. The flesh has no distinctive taste or odor. The spores are spherical or nearly so and measure 6.2–8.4 by 5.7–7.9 μm.
Tubaria punicea is a rare species of agaric fungus in the family Tubariaceae. It is found on the west coast of North America, where it grows on the bases and in hollows of madrone.
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.
Lentinellus montanus is a species of agaric fungus in the family Auriscalpiaceae. It is found at high elevations in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, where it fruits singly or in clumps on decaying conifer wood.
Ramaria magnipes is a coral fungus in the family Gomphaceae. It is found in western North America, where it fruits on the ground in mixed forests.
Pholiota nubigena, commonly known as the gastroid pholiota or the bubble gum fungus, is a species of secotioid fungus in the family Strophariaceae. It is found in mountainous areas of the western United States, where it grows on rotting conifer wood, often fir logs. It fruits in spring, often under snow, and early summer toward the end of the snowmelt period in high mountain forests. Fruit bodies appear similar to unopened mushrooms, measuring 1–4 centimetres tall with 1–2.4 cm diameter caps that are whitish to brownish. They have a short but distinct whitish stipe that extend through the internal spore mass (gleba) of the fruit body into the cap. The gleba consists of irregular chambers made of contorted gills that are brownish in color. A whitish, cottony partial veil is present in young specimens, but it often disappears in age and does not leave a ring on the stipe.
Armillaria aotearoa is a species of mushroom-forming fungus in the family Physalacriaceae. This plant pathogen species is one of four Armillaria species that have been identified in New Zealand, the others being A. novae-zelandiae, A. limonea, and A. hinnulea.