Infundibulicybe gibba

Description

Infundibulicybe gibba (also known as Clitocybe Gibba) is a hardwood mushroom that features a pinkish-tan cap that becomes fairly deeply vase-shaped by maturity. Its pale, crowded gills run down the stem, which is pale in comparison to the cap. It grows solitary or in small troops on the soil in broad-leaf woods and on heaths from July to September.

Clitocybe Gibba is a well-known synonym. The relatively recent genus Infundibulicybe was established to reflect the fact that DNA studies have placed this mushroom and closely related species far from other Clitocybe species. See Harmaja 2003, and Redhead and collaborators 2002 for further information.

Common names: Common Funnel.

Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Saprobic; growing alone, scattered or gregariously; primarily found under hardwoods (especially oaks) but sometimes reported under conifers; summer and fall (winter and spring in California); widely distributed in North America.

2. Cap

   3-9 cm; at first flat or with a central depression, becoming deeply vase-shaped; smooth; dry or slightly tacky; tan, pinkish tan, or flesh-colored; fading with age; sometimes with a wavy margin in maturity.

3. Gills

   Running down the stem; close or crowded; white or pale cream.

4. Stem

   2.5-8 cm long; up to 1 cm thick; equal; dry; fairly smooth; whitish, off-white, or a very pale version of the cap color; base often covered with white mycelium.

5. Flesh

   Thin; whitish.

6. Odor and Taste

   Taste mild; odor not distinctive or sweet.

7. Spore Print

   White.

8. Microscopic Details

   Spores 5-9 x 3.5-6 µ; lacrymoid; smooth; inamyloid. Cystidia absent. Pileipellis of interwoven cylindric hyphae 2-7 µ wide, with encrusting pigment. Clamp connections present.

Infundibulicybe gibba Similar Species

1. Paralepista flaccida

   Commonly known as the Tawny Funnel Cap, has a larger red-brown cap and pale gills that become tawny with age; its spores are creamy-white, smaller, and rounder than those of Clitocybe Gibba, and finely warty.

2. Clitocybe squamulosa

   Is found under conifers and features a somewhat darker cap, a stem that is colored like the cap, and slightly smaller spores.

3. Clitocybe maxima

   A giant version of this species is found in the Rocky Mountains and westward.

History

The Common Funnel was described in 1801 by Christiaan Hendrick Persoon, who named it Agaricus Gibbus. Its currently accepted scientific name was established by Paul Kummer in 1871.

Synonyms of Clitocybe Gibba include Agaricus Gibbus Pers., Agaricus gibbus var. membranaceus Fr., Agaricus infundibuliformis Schaeff., Clitocybe infundibuliformis (Schaeff.) Fr., Clitocybe infundibuliformis var. membranacea (Fr.) Massee, and Omphalia gibba (Pers.) Gray.

Results of DNA studies in 2003 prompted mycologists to set up a new genus Infundibulicybe with Infundibulicybe geotropa as the type species. Into this genus the Common Funnel and its close relatives have been transferred, and in North America in particular the Common Funnel is more commonly recognized as Infundibulicybe gibba (Pers.) Harmaja.

Common Funnels often form large arcs and sometimes complete fairy rings.

The generic name Clitocybe means 'sloping head', while the specific epithet gibba means humped or rounded.

Video

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Andreas Kunze (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Holger Krisp (CC BY 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Andreas Kunze (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 4 - Author: gailhampshire (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 5 - Author: User:Strobilomyces (CC BY-SA 2.5)