Stropharia rugosoannulata

Description

Stropharia rugosoannulata is a beautiful edible mushroom easily recognized by its preference for woodchips and other urban habitats. Also known as wine cap mushroom identification includes fresh wine red to reddish-brown caps, which often fade to yellowish-brown. The red-wine coloring of the caps soon fades to brown and eventually almost white in dry weather. The gills are whitish to pale gray at first, becoming purplish gray to purple-black in maturity. It is found in Europe, North America, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, and Argentina.

A 2006 study, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, found that the Stropharia rugosoannulat can attack the nematode Panagrellus redivivus. The fungus produces unique spiny cells called acanthocytes which can immobilize and digest the nematodes.

In Paul Stamets' book Mycelium Running, a study done by Christiane Pischl showed that the S. rugosoannulat makes an excellent garden companion to corn. The fungus also has a European history of being grown with corn.

It is illegal to grow or sell Stropharia species, including S. rugosoannulat, for human consumption in the US state of Louisiana.

Common names: Garden Giant, Wine-cap, Burgundy-cap, Wine-cap Stropharia, Wine-red Stropharia, King Stropharia, Blauwplaat stropharia (Netherlands), Riesenträuschling (German), Saketsubatake (Japan), Límcovka vrásčitoprstenná (Czech Republic).

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   4–15 cm; convex at first, becoming broadly convex to nearly flat; sticky when fresh, but soon glossy and dry; bald; wine-red to reddish-brown, fading to yellowish-brown or yellowish; sometimes developing cracks in old age; the margin sometimes hung with ragged partial veil remnants.

2. Gills

   Attached to the stem; close or nearly crowded; short-gills frequent; whitish to pale gray at first, becoming purplish gray to purple-black.

3. Stem

   8–16 cm long; 1–2 cm thick; equal, or with an enlarged base; dry; bald or finely hairy; white, discoloring yellowish to brownish in age; usually featuring a thick, white to yellowish ring that is finely grooved on its upper surface (and often blackened by spores) and radially split or "cogwheeled" on its underside; base with white mycelial threads.

4. Flesh

   White; firm; unchanging when sliced.

5. Spore Print

   Dark purple-brown to purplish black.

6. Chemical Reactions

   KOH on cap surface olive green.

7. Habitat

   Saprobic; growing scattered or gregariously (sometimes in clusters); usually found on woodchips, in gardens, and in other cultivated areas, but sometimes collected along stream beds where spring floods have occurred; spring through fall; in North America widespread and fairly common east of the Great Plains, and occasionally reported in Washington and British Columbia.

8. Microscopic Features

   Spores 11–15 x 7–9 µm; ellipsoid, with one end slightly truncated for a large pore measuring 1-2 µm across; smooth; thick-walled; yellow-brown in KOH. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Cheilocystidia dimorphic: either 25–45 x 7.5–15 µm, fusoid-ventricose, often becoming rostrate, thin-walled, smooth, hyaline in KOH, often but not always developing globular, refractive inclusions and becoming chrysocystidia—or 35–50 x 12.5–15 µm, widely cylindric to subutriform, thin-walled, smooth (leptocystidia). Pleurocystidia similar to chryso-cheilocystidia. Pileipellis a slightly gelatinized cutis of elements 5–15 µm wide; elements smooth, hyaline to orangish brown in KOH; terminal cells cylindric with rounded apices.

Now you know how to identify wine cap mushrooms in the field.

Look-Alikes

There are no wine cap mushroom poisonous look-alikes. But you should always take advice from your local expert before consumption.

1. Stropharia hornemannii

   Grows on pine stumps. It is a mushroom of northern Europe and in Britain is recorded only from Scotland. The Pine Roundhead does not have a rugose (wrinkled) stem ring.

2. Cortinarius praestans

   A glance at the stem ring is all that is needed to avoid this potential problem.

Cultivation Tips

Inoculation

You will need to acquire several layers of organic materials and layer them to create optimal conditions. Materials:

1. Somewhat fresh (less than a year old) woodchips of mixed species, with no more than 50% of the composition being from coniferous species (trees with needles) about two wheelbarrow loads OR a fresh straw bale

2. 5 gallon bucket of sawdust, or shavings

3. 5 gallon bucket of finished compost (optional)

4. Saw dust spawn from a producer

Location

Stropharia will tolerate a wide range of light conditions but seem to grow best in part to full sun or "garden shade" where they are allowed to grow under the shade cast by plants in full sun conditions. Fruiting and maturation of the mushrooms can happen rather quickly, so it is recommended to inoculate beds that are often visited. DO NOT inoculate garden areas that are tilled, instead choose permanent beds of edibles or ornamentals.

Procedure

1. Measure out a spot that is approximately 16 square feet of bed space. This is approximately what a 5 lb bag of spawn will inoculate; you can inoculate one continuous section or multiple smaller areas; make sure no inoculation is small than 4 square feet or a quarter bag of spawn.

2. Inoculation can occur as early as April or as late as September, with spring being the preferred time as it often results in fruiting in the same season.

3. To inoculate, remove organic matter down to "bare soil". Add about 1/2" of sawdust or wood shavings and spread evenly. Layer the spawn on top of this, breaking it up into fine particles while also leaving some chunks in the bed. On top of this, layer about 4" of woodchips or straw. Soak the bed thoroughly with water.

Maintenance

Stropharia require little maintenance and can live and fruit for many years. In dry seasons water patches as you would plant in a garden. It is best to add 2 – 4" of fresh woodchips or straw in the Fall to provide fresh feedstock and protect the mycelium from damaging frosts. Once a patch has colonized and area for one full season, the mycelium can be divided into multiple handful chunks and spread into other areas of the garden.

Harvesting

It is important to properly identify Stropharia mushrooms before harvesting as many mushrooms can emerge from mulched garden beds.

That said, Stropharia is rather simple to identify with the following characteristics:

1. A reddish-brown cap that changes from dark to light as the mushroom matures-Gills that begin light black and turn darker as the mushroom matures

2. A "king crown" ring around the stem

3. The stem is fibrous and full of air pockets

4. No noticeable bulge where the mushroom meets the ground

History

In 1922 American botanist William Alphonso Murrill described this species and named it Stropharia rugosoannulata. The genus name Stropharia comes from the Greek word "strophos", which means "belt", and it is a reference to the stem rings of the mushroom.

The prefix rugoso- refers to something creased or wrinkled and the suffix -annulata means having a ring. This leads to the specific epithet rugosoannulata, which refers to radially-wrinkled mushroom rings.

Synonyms and Varieties

• Geophila rugosoannulata (Farlow) Kühner & Romagnesi (1953), Flore analytique des champignons supérieurs, p. 336

• Naematoloma ferrei (Bres.) Singer (1951) 

• Naematoloma ferrei (Bres.) Singer (1951) f. ferrei

• Naematoloma ferrei f. luteum (Hongo) Hongo (1952)

• Naematoloma ferrii (Bresadola) Singer (1951) [1949], Lilloa, 22, p. 503

• Naematoloma rugosoannulata (Farlow) S. Ito (1959), Mycological Flora of Japan, 2(5), p. 337

• Naematoloma rugosoannulatum (Farl. ex Murrill) S. Ito (1959)

• Nematoloma ferrei (Bres.) Singer, 1951

• Nematoloma rugosoannulatum (Farl. ex Murrill) S. Ito, 1959

• Psilocybe rugosoannulata (Farlow) Noordeloos (1995), Persoonia, 16(1), p. 129

• Stropharia ammophila Naveau, 1923

• Stropharia bulbosa f. lutea (Hongo) Hongo (1965)

• Stropharia ferrii Bresadola (1926), Studi trentini, classe 2, scienze naturali ed economiche, 7(1), p. 54

• Stropharia ferrii var. lutea Hongo, 1952

• Stropharia imaiana Benedix (1960), Zeitschrift für pilzkunde, 26(4), p. 104

• Stropharia rugosoannulata f. lutea Hongo (1952)

• Stropharia rugosoannulata Farl. ex Murrill (1922) f. rugosoannulata

• Stropharia rugosoannulata Farl. ex Murrill (1922) var. rugosoannulata

Recipe: Potato Mushroom Cake

Ingredients:

1. 600 g stropharia

2. 6 tbsp. olive oil

3. 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4. 2 tbsp. finely chopped spring onions

5. 1 small red chili pepper, finely chopped

6. 2 tbsp. finely chopped coriander leaf

7. salt and pepper to taste

For the potato cake:

1. 1 kg waxy potatoes, peeled and grated

2. 50 g fresh ginger root, cut into fine julienne

3. 1 large onion, finely chopped

4. 2 eggs

5. 2 tbsp. flower

6. vegetable oil for frying

7. 2 tbsp. lemon juice

How to cook

1. Clean the mushrooms and cut large ones into pieces.

2. Peel and finely grate the potatoes. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Mix the onion, herbs, and egg. Add enough flour to make the mixture cohesive, but not too dry. Divide into 4 portions. Heat a little oil in a 20 cm frying pan. Place a portion of the potato in the pan. Flatten the mixture to form a flat cake. Fry over medium heat until the underside is browned. Turn the flat cake using a large plate and fry the other side until brown and crispy. Keep warm while you bake the other three cakes.

3. Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms in the olive oil in another pan for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, spring onion, chili pepper, and half the coriander. Mix everything for a few minutes and add salt and pepper.

4. Just before serving, drizzle some lemon juice over the cake, top it with the mushrooms and sprinkle with the remaining coriander.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Kintaiyo (CC BY 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: apa3a (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Ann B. (Ann F. Berger) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 5 - Author: Jack Smith (Mushroom) (CC BY-SA 3.0)