Entoloma rhodopolium
Encyclopedia
Entoloma rhodopolium, commonly known as the wood pinkgill, is a poisonous mushroom found in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. In fact, it is one of the three most commonly implicated fungi in cases of mushroom poisoning in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(Other two are Omphalotus guepiniformis and Tricholoma ustale). E. rhodopolium is often mistaken for edible mushroom, E. sarcopum. Symptoms are predominantly gastrointestinal in nature, though muscarine and choline have been isolated as toxic agents.
The taxonomy of this species is currently unclear, with several different forms identified in North America, and questions over whether the European and North American fungi are even the same species.
Entoloma is a genus of pink spored fungi. An alternate scientific name seen is Rhodophyllus rhodopolius, from Quelet's broader genus containing a larger subsection of pink-spored fungi.
Entoloma nidorosum, previously considered a separate species, is now classified as a variety of this fungus.