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Wood Forager
Forager



Registered: 08/30/09
Posts: 71
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike?
#22467703 - 11/02/15 06:04 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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ID request, any help is greatly appreciated. I stumbled across these beauties this morning and I'm interested in finding out if they might be the oh-so-coveted L. Magnivelare or if perhaps just one of its look-alikes...
Habitat: Rhode Island state, north eastern USA. Mushrooms found in mixed forest of predominantly evergreen/pine and oak. Found more specifically beneath pine or within a few feet of a pine trunk. There was a very steep slope leading down to a lake, I found groupings of 4-6 of these mushrooms buried deeply in tree litter, pine needles, and duff. Occurring about 50 feet from shore of the lake, in the forest about 1/3 way up the slope. Mushrooms were never visible when scanning the ground, they were always completely buried.
Gills: White, attached at stalk but not running down it. *Gills bruised a grayish color one hour after handling.
Stem White with ring. Brownish scales below ring. Solid white above ring. Full to partial veil in younger specimens. Typically a squat stout stalk except in older completely mature specimens. Tapering at base on most specimens. Never club shaped. *Gray claylike sand found at base of each stem. Stems shorter on younger mushrooms, 1 inch in length but up to 3 inches on older ones. About 1/2 inch width on younger mushrooms, and up to 1 full inch width on older mushrooms.
Cap: Convex. sometimes irregular. White. In-rolled margin, completely attached intact veil on very young specimens. Brown soft scale pattern in center of cap radiating outward, disappearing to Solid white outer margin. Flat cap on fully mature mushrooms.
Spore print color: White? Hard to tell.
Bruising: A bit of gray bruising on gills only. Developed one hour after handling/picking.
Other information: Scent of the mushroom non distinct. Pine and earth. Pleasant. Not as I would expect a Matsutake, but then again I've never found one before! :-)
Edited by Wood Forager (11/02/15 06:59 PM)
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ToxicMan
Bite me, it's fun!


Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 6,722
Loc: Aurora, Colorado
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Wood Forager]
#22468266 - 11/02/15 07:58 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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I'm leaning more toward Catathelasma ventricosum. They're pretty similar in appearance, but the odor of Tricholoma magnivelare is extremely distinctive - very strong and unmistakable. There are a few other mushrooms with similar odors, but the only one that you could mistake for T. magnivelare would be T. caligatum (the western US version).
Two features are useful for identifying Catathelasmas in the field. First, the ring is like a band of tissue on the stem, but it also detaches somewhat on the lower side, resulting in a "double ring" effect that you don't see in other mushrooms. They also tend to be extremely firm, similar to a softball (or even harder), a rather striking feature. There are also some color differences, but they don't really look as different as various photographs of the species would lead you to think.
-------------------- Happy mushrooming!
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Wood Forager]
#22469201 - 11/03/15 12:30 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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No cinnamon odor?
What do they taste like?
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Wood Forager
Forager



Registered: 08/30/09
Posts: 71
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#22469770 - 11/03/15 07:01 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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I did have my suspicions about it being a C. Ventricosum but there isn't any sign of a double ring on any of the mushrooms (and I've got at least one in each possible stage of development and in all types of various condition). I will say that the ring is more like leftover veil and not as pronounced or as moveable as other species' rings of common mushrooms.. It's actually just a tuft of soft veil leftover that seems to be easily destroyed when handling too often. I wouldn't say the mushrooms are extremely hard or sturdy... They seem "normal" to me like any other solid white field mushroom or your commercially grown variety. Is C. Ventricosum found commonly in the north east of the US? Or mainly found in the west?
The smell is like pine and earth. Non distinct (and actually .. I've awkwardly asked several friends to "SMELL THIS MUSHROOM!" haha. And sadly, no one found any 'red hots dirty socks' kind of smell.
Tastes like nothing. Your average run of the mill mushroom taste.
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Wood Forager
Forager



Registered: 08/30/09
Posts: 71
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Wood Forager]
#22469801 - 11/03/15 07:16 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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I'd also like to add (if it helps) that the gills absolutely do not run down the stem. They are attached but no more than that. Even in the oldest specimen, the gills maintain their form, and has no "chanterelle-esque" look like I've been seeing in photos of C. Ventricosum. And the cap on the elder mushrooms are flat but never funnel shaped. Of course I'm only going by photo examples of C. Ventricosum so I could be way off about whether the gills on C. Ventricosum travel down the stem, or how important it even is...
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,276
Last seen: 41 minutes, 15 seconds
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Wood Forager]
#22470210 - 11/03/15 09:42 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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If it doesn't smell like cinnamon nor have decurrent gills, it's probably a Tricholoma. Perhaps close to T. caligatum, however that is a very bitter species. There might be other Tricholoma species that look similar but are not bitter.
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Wood Forager
Forager



Registered: 08/30/09
Posts: 71
Loc: Rhode Island
Last seen: 1 year, 4 months
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#22479775 - 11/05/15 07:28 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Thank you all for your help :-)
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RebelRMS
Stranger


Registered: 10/22/15
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Loc: Big Bear Lake CA
Last seen: 6 years, 1 day
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Re: ID request please :) Matsutake or look alike? [Re: Wood Forager]
#22480482 - 11/05/15 10:22 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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That sure is a close look alike, but the stipe does'nt have that toasted marshmallow look and the gills should bruise a cinnamon color not grey. The flesh of a Tanoak aka Matsutake is also very firm and rubbery. The funky cinnamon smell is the give away though. Hands down best wild edible. I have found them mostly under Tan oak trees in Humboldt County Ca. Also they only grown in podzol and always have that dusty dry grey dirt stuck to the base of the stipe. Ask a Hoopa they know. That's a clue by the way for you hunters.
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