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Phellodon confluens

[ Basidiomycetes > Thelephorales > Bankeraceae > Phellodon ... ]

by Michael Kuo

This toothed mushroom is found under hardwoods or conifers in eastern North America. Its cap is velvety and tan to brown, with a whitish margin--and it often fuses with other caps to create gnarled-looking masses. The spore print is white, and the odor is reminiscent of curry or burned maple syrup, especially when the mushrooms are dried.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods or conifers; growing alone or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed in eastern North America.

Cap: Single or (frequently) fused with other caps; 3-13 cm wide; planoconvex, becoming flat or shallowly depressed; velvety; sometimes pitted or roughened; often with vague zones of color or texture, but not strongly zonate; whitish to pale grayish on the growing margin, becoming tan to brown toward the center; bruising dark brown to blackish.

Undersurface: Running down the stem; covered with crowded spines that are 1-2 mm long; whitish at first, becoming brownish.

Stem: 1-4.5 cm long; .5-1 cm thick; smooth or finely velvety; colored like the cap.

Flesh: Whitish to pale grayish or brownish; sometimes arranged in vague zones of these shades.

Odor and Taste: Odor mild or, more commonly, fragrant (reminiscent of curry or maple syrup), becoming stronger when dried; taste mild.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on flesh olive, then brown to black.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 3.5-6 x 3-4 µ; globose to subglobose; echinulate with spines about .5 µ long. Clamp connections absent.

REFERENCES: (Persoon, 1825) Pouzar, 1956. (Coker & Beers, 1951; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Baird, 1986.) Herb. Kuo 09130411

Phellodon amicus and Phellodon vellereus are synonyms.


Further Online Information:

Phellodon confluens at Roger's Mushrooms

 

Phellodon confluens

Phellodon confluens



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Kuo, M. (2009, April). Phellodon confluens. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/phellodon_confluens.html