Volvariella is traditionally viewed as a member of the Pluteaceae, which also includes Pluteus--but contemporary DNA studies (Moncalvo and collaborators, 2002; Matheny and collaborators, 2006) have had mixed results when it comes to supporting this idea, and it appears that further investigation, focused on Volvariella, may be required before we have a sense of whether the genus is supported and where it belongs in the taxonomic scheme of things.
Key to 20+ Volvariella Species in North America
| 1. | Growing on other mushrooms (species of Clitocybe). | |
| 1. | Not growing on other mushrooms. | 2 |
| 2. | Growing terrestrially. | 9 |
| 3. | Mature cap less than 4 cm wide. | 4 |
| 3. | Mature cap 4 cm wide or wider. | 5 |
| 4. | Cap velvety, brownish black over the center with radial brownish black fibers elsewhere; margin not lined; stem light gray; recorded from Florida (by a more trustable source than the state's elections board). | Volvariella lepiotospora |
| 4. | Cap not velvety, gray to bluish gray with dark radial fibers; margin lined; stem white; recorded from North Carolina. (Imperfectly described species; type collection lost.) | "Volvariella cinerea" |
| 5. | Cap surface smooth (not granular or with fibers) and slimy; margin lined; recorded from New York. | Volvariella peckii |
| 5. | Cap surface granular or with fibers, dry; margin lined or not; variously distributed. | 6 |
| 6. | Margin lined; cap surface "granular"; recorded from the Caribbean. | Volvariella jamaicensis |
| 6. | Margin not lined; cap surface with pressed-down fibers; variously distributed. | 7 |
| 7. | Cap white or nearly so; cystidia well over 100 µ long. | |
| 7. | Not completely as above. | 8 |
| 8. | Cap "fuliginous" (Shaffer, 1957; I suggest "sooty" as a translation from Mycologese) to dark coffee-colored (SEMARNAT, 2004; Mexican coffee is being described); cystidia to 80 µ long; recorded from Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. | |
| 8. | Not as above. Various wood-loving Volvariellas with non-white caps may key out here. Whether or not these mushrooms represent undescribed species or mere color forms of Volvariella bombycina remains to be determined. Contributor Richard Nadon found what I have labeled Volvariella sp. 01 in Quebec; I have found brownish specimens that otherwise equaled Volvariella bombycina in Illinois (illustration). | Volvariella spp.? |
| 9. | Mature cap 5 cm wide or wider. | 10 |
| 9. | Mature cap less than 5 cm wide. | 16 |
| 10. | Cap white or nearly so, smooth. | 11 |
| 10. | Cap not whitish, smooth or with fibers or scales. | 12 |
| 11. | Stem with grooves; cap dry, pure white; margin never lined; spores 16-23 µ long; recorded from Florida. | Volvariella canalipes |
| 11. | Stem without grooves; cap sticky to slimy when fresh, white but sometimes grayish over the center; margin sometimes finely lined; spores 11-21 µ long; widely distributed. | |
| 12. | Cap drab to grayish. | 13 |
| 13. | Stem often with a "ring" (resulting from the collapsing of the volva); cap drab with brownish scales; spores 9-12 µ long; reported from Washington D.C. and possibly Michigan. (Imperfectly described species; type collection lost.) | "Volvariella avellanea" |
| 14. | Cap 5-10 cm across; stem up to 2 cm wide; spores 7-10.5 µ long; "widely distributed" but typically reported from greenhouses, botanical gardens, compost piles, and so on. | |
| 14. | Cap 2-6 cm across; stem up to 1 cm wide; spores 5.5-9 µ long; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains. | |
| 15. | Cap smooth; odor not distinctive; spores 15-20 µ long; recorded from Alabama. | Volvariella alabamensis |
| 15. | Cap finely hairy; odor strong and unpleasant; spores 6-8.5 µ long; recorded from Cuba. | Volvariella cubensis |
| 16. | Stem often with a "ring" (resulting from the collapsing of the volva); cap drab with brownish scales; spores 9-12 µ long; reported from Washington D.C. and possibly Michigan. (Imperfectly described species; type collection lost.) | "Volvariella avellanea" |
| 17. | Volva white and conspicuously hairy; cap grayish, 2.5-3.5 cm across, finely hairy; spores 6-7 µ long; found east of the Rocky Mountains. | Volvariella villosavolva |
| 17. | Not completely as above. | 18 |
| 18. | Center area of cap white (the rest of the cap variously colored). | 19 |
| 18. | Center of cap not white. | 22 |
| 19. | Cap completely smooth; spores 11-15.5 µ long; recorded from Cuba. | Volvariella earlei |
| 19. | Cap with pressed-down fibers or finely hairy; spores 9 µ long or shorter; variously distributed. | 20 |
| 20. | Cap .5-1.5 cm across when mature; recorded from Michigan. | Volvariella pellucida |
| 20. | Cap larger than above when mature; variously distributed. | 21 |
| 21. | Cap .5-3 cm across when mature; margin lined at maturity; stem smooth; found east of the Rocky Mountains. | |
| 21. | Cap 2-5 cm across when mature; margin not lined; stem densely but finely hairy; widely distributed in North America. | Volvariella hypopithys |
| 22. | Cap grayish to pinkish gray or brownish gray, evenly colored (not markedly darker over the center portion); margin not lined; found east of the Rocky Mountains. | 23 |
| 22. | Cap whitish overall with a differently colored center, or grayish with a blackish center; margin lined or not; variously distributed. | 24 |
| 23. | Spores 5.5-9 x 4-6 µ; cap prominently hairy; odor and taste mild. | |
| 23. | Spores 5-6.5 x 3-4 µ; cap with innate, pressed-down fibers; odor and taste radish-like to bleach-like. | |
| 24. | Cap whitish overall with a pinkish center; margin not lined; recorded from the Pacific Northwest. | Volvariella smithii |
| 25. | Cap whitish overall with a black center; margin not lined; spores 7-8.5 µ long; recorded from Florida. | Volvariella alachuana |
| 25. | Cap grayish overall with a blackish center; margin or nearly the entire cap deeply grooved, reminiscent of small Coprinus species; spores 6-7 µ long; recorded from Michigan. | Volvariella nigrodisca |
References
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms demystified: A comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. 959 pp.
Chiu, S. W. & Moore, D. (1990). Development of the basidiome of Volvariella bombycina. Mycological Research 94: 327-337.
Kauffman, C.H. (1918). The gilled mushrooms (Agaricaceae) of Michigan and the Great Lakes region, Volumes I and II. New York: Dover. 924 pp. (1971 Reprint.)
Monoson, H. L., Methven, A. S. & Sundberg, W. J. (1993). Illinois species of Volvariella (Basidiomycetes, Agaricales, Pluteaceae). Mycotaxon 49: 269-278.
Shaffer, R. L. (1957). Volvariella in North America. Mycologia 49: 545-579.
Shaffer, R. L. (1962). Synonyms, new combinations, and new species in Volvariella (Agaricales). Mycologia 54: 563-572.
Smith, A. H., Smith, H. V. & Weber, N. S. (1979). How to know the gilled mushrooms. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown. 334 pp.
Weber, R. & Webster, J. (1996). Volvariella surrecta: An uncommon mycoparasite. Mycologist 10: 160.
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Kuo, M. (2004, November). The genus Volvariella. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/volvariella.html
