Strobilomyces strobilaceus

Description

Strobilomyces strobilaceus is a unique fungus found in Europe and North America. It has soft, dark gray to black scales on its cap, which resembles a pine cone as it ages. This mushroom is quite durable and resists decay, unlike other fungi in its family.

It is found in forests and mountainous regions and can be hard to spot due to its blending with the surroundings. It grows between August and October and is sometimes found in groups. While it is edible when young, it is not widely used in cooking due to its limited culinary value.

Strobilomyces strobilaceus is a distinct species and is often confused with Strobilomyces confusus, which can only be reliably differentiated through microscopic examination. These mushrooms can persist as dried "ghosts" for several weeks after their fruiting bodies mature.

Common names: Old Man Of The Woods, Šiškovec Šupinatý (Slovakia), Melnā Zvīņbeka (Latvia), Szyszkowiec Łuskowaty (Poland), Stubbelkopf-Röhrling (Switzerland), Bolet Pomme De Pin (France), Starac Iz Šume (Serbia), Oni-Iguchi (Japan), Tikrasis Žvynbaravykis (Lithuania), Geschubde Boleet (Netherlands), Soomuspuravik (Estonia), Šiškovec Černý (Czech Republic).

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   1.18 to 5.91 inches (3 to 15 cm) in diameter, starts as convex and becomes broadly convex with age. It is dry and covered with large, black, soft, woolly scales over a whitish to grayish base color. The margin often has hanging remnants of a whitish to grayish partial veil.

2. Pore Surface

   Starts whitish and becomes gray to black. When bruised, it turns red, then black. The pores are angular, with 1-3 pores per mm, and the tubes can extend up to 0.79 inches (2 cm) deep.

3. Stem

   1.57 to 4.72 inches (4 to 12 cm) long, 0.39 to 0.98 inches (1 to 2.5 cm) thick, more or less equal in width. It has a grayish to blackish color and a shaggy texture. Sometimes, it may have a net-like pattern (reticulate) near the top. It often has an ephemeral ring or ring zone and is solid, not hollow.

4. Flesh

   Whitish throughout, turning pinkish to red when exposed, and blackening over an hour.

5. Habitat

   This mushroom has a symbiotic relationship with hardwood trees, especially oaks. It is common and can be found in the summer and fall. It is primarily distributed in Europe and North America but has also been recorded in the Southwest.

6. Spore Print

   Blackish brown to black.

7. Chemical Reactions

   Ammonia yellowish to negative on flesh. KOH reddish, then brownish orangish on flesh. Iron salts bluish-gray to greenish on flesh.

8. Microscopic Features

   Spores 7-15 x 7-12 µ (including ornamentation); globose to broadly ellipsoid; with ornamentation of ridges and lines forming a complete reticulum. Pleurocystidia abundant; 17-90 x 8-26 µ; fusiform to mucronate; with brown contents. Pileipellis a trichoderm with cylindric terminal elements 4-18 µ wide.

Look-Alikes

1. Strobilomyces confusus

   Has a slightly smaller cap with smaller and stiff scales. Its spores have irregular ridges that resemble a partial mesh.

2. Strobilomyces dryophilus

   The cap is colored a dull gray-pink to pinkish-tan and produces spores with a complete mesh.

History

This unique mushroom, known as the oddball bolete, was first identified by Italian mycologist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1770. He named it Boletus strobilaceus. Later, in 1851, British mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley moved this species to the genus Strobilomyces, which Berkeley himself had created.

The name "Strobilomyces" comes from the ancient Greek word "strobilos," meaning pine cone, referring to the resemblance between the caps of mushrooms in this genus and pine tree cones. The specific name "strobilaceus" also alludes to this pine cone-like appearance.

Strobilomyces strobilaceus belongs to the Strobilomyces section within the Strobilomyces genus. Mushrooms in this section have spores that can be smooth or slightly spiny, with reduced or absent ornamentation in the suprahilar region, which is a depressed area near the hilar appendage.

Synonyms and Varieties

• Boletus strobilaceusScopoli (1770), Annus 4, historico-naturalis 4, p. 148, tab. 1, fig. 5 (Basionyme) Sanctionnement : Fries (1828)

• Boletus strobilinus Dickson (1785), Plantarum cryptogamicarum britanniae, 1, p. 17, tab. 3, fig. 2

• Boletus strobiliformisVillars (1789), Histoire des plantes de Dauphiné, 3(2), p. 1039

• Boletus floccopus Vahl (1799), Flora danica, 21, p. 8, tab. 1262

• Boletus cinereus Persoon (1801), Synopsis methodica fungorum, p. 504

• Suillus cinereus (Persoon) Poiret (1806), in Lamarck, Encyclopédie méthodique, Botanique, 7, p. 496

• Boletus squarrosus subsp.* strobilinus (Dickson) Persoon (1825), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 2, p. 145

• Boletus coniferusPersoon (1825), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 2, p. 146

• Boletus squarrosusPersoon (1825), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 2, p. 145, tab. 19

• Boletus gossypinus Persoon (1825), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 2, p. 144

• Boletus floccipesSprengel (1827), Systema vegetabilium, Edn 16, 4(1), p. 470

• Boletus stygius Wallroth (1833), Flora cryptogamica germaniae, 2, p. 608

• Boletus lepiota A. Venturi (1845), I miceti dell'agro bresciano, descritti ed illustrati con figure tratte dal vero, p. 37, tab. 43, fig. 1-2

• Boletus strobiloides Krombholz (1846), Naturgetreue abbildungen und beschreibungen der essbaren, schädlichen und verdächtigen schwämme, 10, p. 21, tab. 74, fig. 12-13

• Strobilomyces strobilaceus subsp.* floccopus(Vahl) P. Karsten (1882), Bidrag till kännedom af Finlands natur och folk, 37, p. 16

• Eriocorys strobilacea var. floccopus (Vahl) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 163

• Eriocorys strobilacea (Scopoli) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 163

• Strobilomyces floccopus(Vahl) Saccardo (1888), Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque cognitorum, 6, p. 50

• Strobilomyces squarrosus (Persoon) Gillot & Lucand (1890), Société d'histoire naturelle d'Autun, Bulletin, 3, p. 142

• Strobilomyces squarrosus var. floccopus (Vahl) Gillot & Lucand (1890), Société d'histoire naturelle d'Autun, Bulletin, 3, p. 143

• Strobilomyces strobiliformis(Villars) Beck (1923), Zeitschrift für pilzkunde, 2, p. 148

Video

Photo copyright:

All photos were taken by the Ultimate Mushroom team and can be used for your own purposes under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.