Entoloma murraii

[Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Entolomataceae > Entoloma . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Most members of the Entolomataceae (a large family containing pinkish-spored gilled mushrooms with angular, warted, or ribbed spores) are difficult to identify with any certainty. But Entoloma murraii, like its salmon-colored counterpart, Entoloma salmoneum (aka Nolanea quadrata), is a distinctive little guy, and stands out in the crowd. Typically found in swamps or wet woods east of the Rocky Mountains, Entoloma murraii has a conical, yellow cap with a prominent point and a silky texture, a yellow stem, and a pink spore print.

Compare Entoloma murraii with Entoloma luteum, which is similar but more drab and less pointy.

Edibility is not recorded for Entoloma murraii, but several closely related species are poisonous. It should not be collected for the table.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously under hardwoods or conifers in swamps and wet woods; summer and fall; eastern North America, documented in Costa Rica.

Cap: 1-3 cm; conical or bell-shaped, with a pointed center; silky; bright yellow, fading in age; dry or somewhat sticky when fresh.

Gills: Attached to the stem; almost distant; pale yellow at first, eventually pinkish.

Stem: 5-10 cm long; 2-4 mm thick; fragile; dry; smooth; yellow; with white mycelium at the base.

Flesh: Thin; fragile; colored like the cap.

Spore Print: Pink.

Microscopic Features: Spores 9-12 x 8-10 µ; four-sided; angular (see the link below to Macrofungi of Costa Rica for an electron microscope illustration); inamyloid. Cystidia absent.

REFERENCES: (Berkeley & M. A. Curtis, 1859) Saccardo, 1899. (Saccardo, 1899; Hesler, 1967; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Barron, 1999; Halling, 2003; Roody, 2003; Halling & Mueller, 2005; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 09029510.

Synonyms: Nolanea murraii, Entoloma cuspidatum, Rhodopyllus murraii and Entoloma murrayi.

Entoloma or Nolanea? The short answer is: they don't know yet. And even when some of them think they know, others won't agree; they are, after all, academics. That said, the macro- and microfeatures separating Nolanea (mycenoid habitat and stature, smooth cap, angular spores) are fairly distinctive and stable. Recent DNA studies (see Moncalvo et al., 2002) have demonstrated Nolanea to be a fairly coherent group within the "Entolomatoid Clade" (though Entoloma murraii has not been specifically tested, to my knowledge). For now, I follow the current Dictionary of the Fungi, which folds Nolanea into Entoloma.

Further Online Information:

Entoloma murraii at Roger's Mushrooms
Nolanea murraii at Macrofungi of Costa Rica

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, July). Entoloma murraii. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/entoloma_murraii.html