''Tricholomopsis rutilans'', commonly known as plums and custard, or red-haired agaric, is a species of gilled mushroom found across Europe and North America.

Description

The

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

stems from the plum-red scaled cap and custard-yellow gills. The

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

is convex, becoming bell-shaped then flattening with age. It is up to wide with an incurved margin, densely covered with red to purplish red hairs; with maturity the hairs bunch into small scales and the yellowish color beneath shows through. A

KOH test The KOH test, also known as a potassium hydroxide preparation or KOH prep, is a quick, inexpensive fungal test to differentiate dermatophytes and ''Candida albicans'' symptoms from other skin disorders like psoriasis and eczema. Dermatophytes ar ...

produces red on cap surface. The

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are adnate, yellow, and close with many short gills. The stem is tall, thick with a red scaly base fading to yellow towards the gills. In age it may be entirely yellow. The flesh is yellow to cream-coloured and

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

creamy white. The spores are cream colored, 5–7 x 3–5

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

, almost globe shaped to broadly ellipsoid, smooth, and clear like glass in KOH. The

basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

have 4 protrusions, the cheilocystidia 50–70+ x 20–25 μm; shaped like a ball on a stick to sack shaped or swollen-irregular, smooth, thin-walled, clear in KOH. Pleurocystidia scattered, 30-35 x 5–7 μm, flask shaped to almost cylindrical, smooth, clear in KOH.

Similar species

A related species, ''

Tricholomopsis decora ''Tricholomopsis decora'', commonly known as prunes and custard, is a species of gilled mushroom in the genus ''Tricholomopsis''. It occurs in North America and Britain. Description The cap is wide. The Lamella (mycology), gills are mostly adn ...

'', is also found in conifer woods but is golden in colour, much less common and found at higher altitudes. '' T. flammula'' is smaller and has a yellower stem. '' Megacollybia fallax'' is similar but with a gray-brown cap. ''

Gymnopilus luteofolius ''Gymnopilus luteofolius'', known as the yellow-gilled gymnopilus, is a large and widely distributed mushroom. It has a rusty orange spore print and a bitter taste. It can be found throughout North America. Taxonomy ''Gymnopilus luteofolius'' w ...

'' grows in clusters and with scales on the cap.

Distribution and habitat

''Tricholomopsis rutilans'' can be found growing on tree stumps and logs (especially those of spruce) in coniferous woodlands throughout the northern hemisphere, in places as diverse as

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and northwest Russia, in late summer and autumn (June until November). It has also been found, probably accidentally introduced, in

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, Aotearoa New Zealand and

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on introduced pine trees. It is

saprobic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

on the well-decayed wood of conifers, also occasionally reported in woodchips, sawdust, and lignin-rich soil. It grows alone, scattered or gregariously, and is widely distributed in North America.

Edibility

Many older texts list ''T. rutilans'' as apparently able to be eaten after boiling, though not recommended. A couple of more recent books list it as of poor quality, reportedly due to a taste of rotting wood.

References

External links