Volvariella species 02

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Pluteaceae > Volvariella . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

I found the illustrated Volvariella species while hunting for morels in central Illinois, in April. The collection was a big surprise to me, since Volvariella is a genus that is centered in the tropics, with only a dozen or so species ranging into north-temperate areas and then only fruiting in warmer weather (though I have collected Volvariella speciosa in Illinois in late May).

The mushroom was growing on the ground, and I thought I was looking at a brown Pluteus species growing from hidden, buried roots (Pluteus is a wood-loving genus)--until I got up-close and personal with the mushroom and noticed its volva.

While the mushroom is clearly a Volvariella, however, it is not at all clear that it matches any of the officially described species. One possibility is that I found a brownish variety of Volvariella bombycina--but the cap of my specimen is not prominently hairy, and it was not growing on wood. Volvariella bakeri is also similar, but while it grows on wood or on the ground, it is distributed in the Caribbean and in Mexico (a difference made even more prominent by my April collection date), has a more prominently hairy cap, and has larger spores.

Curiously, my springtime Volvariella had a very distinctive odor and taste, reminiscent of a combination of radish and bleach.

My journal entry for the illustrated mushroom is below.

Kuo 04140401:

Growing on the ground in woods dominated by White Ash. Cap 3.6 cm; broadly convex; grayish brown and innately radially fibrillose; the margin not lined. Gills free or barely attached by a notch; fairly crowded; short-gills frequent, in several tiers; pink. Stem 4.5 cm x 7 mm; strictly equal; colored like the cap; finely whitish pruinose near apex; smooth below. Volva white underground, brown above ground. Flesh white unchanging. Odor and taste distinctive but hard to describe--a combination of bleach-like and radish-like. Spore print pink. Spores 5-6.5 x 3-4 µ; elliptical; smooth. Basidia 4-spored. Cystidia few; fusoid-ventricose; 24-48 µ long.

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Kuo, M. (2004, November). Volvariella species 02. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/volvariella_sp_02.html