Tricholoma portentosum
Encyclopedia
Tricholoma portentosum, commonly known as the charbonnier, or sooty head in North America, is a grey-capped
edible mushroom
of the large genus Tricholoma. It is found in woodlands in Europe and North America.
in 1821, before being placed in the genus Tricholoma by Lucien Quélet
in 1872. At least three varieties have been described: var. album has an all white cap, var. lugdunense has a paler cap, and var. boutevillei has a very dark cap and is the form which grows with oak and beech.
. The cap is sticky when wet and has an irregularly lobed margin. It is dark grey in colour with darker grey to blackish streaks perpendicular to the margins. The grey colour fades towards the margins and may be tinged with yellow or purple. The crowded adnate
gills are white, and the solid stipe
is white with a yellow tinge at the top. It measures 3.5 – high and 1 – wide. The spore print
is white.
It has a farinaceous smell and taste. Older specimens are often eaten by slugs, and the stem is recommended to be removed before cooking. It can be pickled.
) on sandy soils. It has been declining since the 1980s in the Netherlands and is now rare there, and uncommon in Britain but is common in France where it is sometime seen in wild mushroom markets. It is common in Estonia.
Generally highly regarded as an edible mushroom
, it is not recommended by some for its similarity to hazardous species. The inedible Tricholoma virgatum
has a silvery-grey cap and grows in mixed woodland, and smells of damp earth and has a bitter taste. The poisonous Tricholoma pardinum
has prominent grey scales giving the cap a shaggy or striped appearance.
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
edible mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
of the large genus Tricholoma. It is found in woodlands in Europe and North America.
Taxonomy
The species was originally described as Agaricus portentosus by Elias Magnus FriesElias Magnus Fries
-External links:*, Authors of fungal names, Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming.*...
in 1821, before being placed in the genus Tricholoma by Lucien Quélet
Lucien Quélet
thumb|Lucien QuéletLucien Quélet was a French mycologist and naturalist who discovered several species and was the founder of the Société mycologique de France, a society devoted to mycological studies....
in 1872. At least three varieties have been described: var. album has an all white cap, var. lugdunense has a paler cap, and var. boutevillei has a very dark cap and is the form which grows with oak and beech.
Description
It is a large, imposing mushroom, with a convex cap 3–11 cm (1.4–4 in) in diameter with a bossUmbo (mycology)
thumb|right|[[Cantharellula umbonata]] has an umbo.thumb|right|The cap of [[Psilocybe makarorae]] is acutely papillate.An umbo is a raised area in the center of a mushroom cap. Caps that possess this feature are called umbonate. Umbos that are sharply pointed are called acute, while those that are...
. The cap is sticky when wet and has an irregularly lobed margin. It is dark grey in colour with darker grey to blackish streaks perpendicular to the margins. The grey colour fades towards the margins and may be tinged with yellow or purple. The crowded adnate
Adnation
Adnation in plants is the "union of unlike parts; organically united or fused with another dissimilar part, e.g. an ovary to a calyx tube, or stamens to petals". This is in contrast to connation, the fusion of similar organs....
gills are white, and the solid stipe
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
is white with a yellow tinge at the top. It measures 3.5 – high and 1 – wide. The spore print
Spore print
thumb|300px|right|Making a spore print of the mushroom Volvariella volvacea shown in composite: mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print...
is white.
It has a farinaceous smell and taste. Older specimens are often eaten by slugs, and the stem is recommended to be removed before cooking. It can be pickled.
Habitat and distribution
The fruit bodies appear in late autumn in coniferous woodland in Europe and North America. Ectomycorrhizal, it is most commonly associated with Pinus sylvestris, but also sometimes oak (Quercus) or beech (FagusBeech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
) on sandy soils. It has been declining since the 1980s in the Netherlands and is now rare there, and uncommon in Britain but is common in France where it is sometime seen in wild mushroom markets. It is common in Estonia.
Generally highly regarded as an edible mushroom
Edible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
, it is not recommended by some for its similarity to hazardous species. The inedible Tricholoma virgatum
Tricholoma virgatum
Tricholoma virgatum, commonly known as the ashen knight, is a mushroom of the agaric genus Tricholoma. It was first described scientifically as Agaricus virgatus by Elias Fries in 1818, and later transferred to the genus Tricholoma by Paul Kummer in 1871. It is found in the deciduous and coniferous...
has a silvery-grey cap and grows in mixed woodland, and smells of damp earth and has a bitter taste. The poisonous Tricholoma pardinum
Tricholoma pardinum
Tricholoma pardinum, commonly known as spotted tricholoma, tiger tricholoma, tigertop or dirty trich, is a gilled mushroom widely distributed across North America and Europe, as well as parts of Asia. It is generally found in beech woodland in summer and autumn...
has prominent grey scales giving the cap a shaggy or striped appearance.