Gymnopilus liquiritiae

Description

Gymnopilus liquiritiae is a mushroom in the family Cortinariaceae. The mushroom is widely distributed and grows in dense clusters on dead conifer wood. It has a rusty orange spore print, a bitter taste, and does not contain the hallucinogen psilocybin. One of its key distinguishing features is the lack of partial veil.

It is not the easiest of mushrooms to identify, but the complete absence of a partial veil helps to narrow things down a bit. Microscopic features separate Gymnopilus liquiritiae from similar species: it features dextrinoid spores, along with inconspicuous pleuro- and cheilocystidia with swollen apices.

Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Saprobic on the rotting wood of fallen hardwoods (especially in the south) and conifers (especially in the north and west); growing alone or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America.

2. Cap

   2–6 cm; convex when young, expanding to broadly convex or slightly bell-shaped; dry; bald; soft; rusty brown to brownish orange; the margin sometimes becoming finely lined at maturity.

3. Gills

   Narrowly attached to the stem, but sometimes pulling away from it in age; close; short-gills frequent; yellowish or pale orange at first, maturing to rusty orange; sometimes with reddish-brown spots.

4. Stem

   2–4 cm long; 3–5 mm thick; more or less equal; bald or finely fibrillose; whitish to brownish or brownish-orange; basal mycelium yellow to rusty.

5. Flesh

   Whitish in the cap; orangish in the stem; unchanging when sliced.

6. Odor and Taste

   Taste very bitter; odor mild, fragrant, or like that of raw potatoes.

7. Chemical Reactions

   KOH dark purplish-red on cap surface.

8. Spore Print

   Rusty brown.

9. Microscopic Features

   Spores 6–10 x 4–5 µm; ellipsoid; echinulate; dextrinoid; reddish-brown in KOH. Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia 20–40 x 4–7 µm; cylindric with subcapitate to capitate apices; thin-walled; smooth; hyaline to brownish orange in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis. Clamp connections present.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: David Tate (DavidTate) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Diego Delso (1974–) (CC BY-SA 4.0)