Pluteus granularis

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Pluteaceae > Pluteus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

When fresh this distinctive Pluteus species is covered with dark brown granules, making it fairly easy to recognize. Older specimens, however, are apt to have somewhat smoother caps and stems, folding them into the hordes of boring brown Pluteus species that usually require microscopic analysis for successful identification.

Aside from the granulated surfaces, Pluteus granularis can be distinguished by its non-marginate gills (the edges of the gills, in other words, are colored like the faces), its medium size on the Pluteus ruler, and microscopic characters (see below).

I have no information on the edibility of Pluteus granularis.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying wood of conifers or hardwoods; growing alone or scattered; summer and fall; common in the Great Lakes states and probably to be expected throughout eastern North America.

Cap: 2-10 cm; convex becoming broadly convex or flat; densely covered with dark brown granules over a pale brown undersurface; sometimes becoming wrinkled, veined, or nearly reticulate over the center; in age often becoming somewhat smoother and less granulated.

Gills: Free from the stem; close or crowded; whitish at first, becoming pinkish; the edges colored like the faces.

Stem: 3-8 cm long; up to 1 cm thick but usually skinnier; more or less equal; whitish or pale brownish beneath darker brown granules arranged in stretched-out zones (especially near the base).

Flesh: White.

Odor and Taste: Taste not distinctive, slightly radishlike, or slightly unpleasant; odor not distinctive.

Spore Print: Pink.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface negative.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5-6.5 x 4-5 µ; broadly elliptical; smooth. Pleurocystidia up to 70 x 20 µ; fusoid-ventricose; lacking projections. Pileipellis a layer of interwoven hyphae; terminal elements with acute (rarely swollen or divided) tips, occasionally aggregated into bundles.

REFERENCES: Peck, 1873. (Kauffman, 1918; Singer, 1956; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; McNeil, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 09270506.

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Kuo, M. (2006, November). Pluteus granularis. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pluteus_granularis.html