Lyophyllum decastes

Description

Lyophyllum decastes is an edible mushroom that grows in clusters on disturbed ground, found in Europe, North America, and other parts of the world. It is good for stews and soups. However, it should be consumed with caution due to the possibility of confusing it with poisonous species.

This mushroom should be identified by an expert before consumption due to its variable characteristics and look-alikes. It has a white spore print, a pleasant taste, and lacks a veil. Morphological, cultural, enzymatic, and DNA analysis suggest that there are five distinct species in this complex. Salient features include a medium-sized cap that is whitish, brownish, yellowish-brown, or grayish-brown, white gills that may yellow with age, round spores, gill faces and edges that lack cystidia, and basidia with granular contents when treated with acetocarmine.

Common names: Fried Chicken Mushroom, Chicken of the Gravel, German (Frostrasling, Geselliger Ritterling, Brauner Rasling, Buchele), Netherlands (Bruine bundelridderzwam).

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   The cap ranges from 1.18 to 4.72 inches (3 to 12 cm) in diameter and is initially convex, but becomes broadly convex or flat. It is moist when fresh, but not slimy, and is typically grayish brown to yellowish brown or brown, usually darker when young. The cap can often appear somewhat streaked and the margin is initially inrolled before becoming even, lobed, or upturned.

2. Gills

   The gills are close together and attached variably to the stem, which can range from 1.97 to 3.94 inches (5 to 10 cm) in length and up to 0.79 inches (2 cm) thick.

3. Stem

   The stem is smooth, dry, and whitish in color, sometimes becoming brownish toward the base.

4. Flesh

   The flesh is firm and white, and does not change upon exposure.

5. Odor and Taste

   The taste is pleasant and mild, or faintly radish-like, and the odor is not distinctive or somewhat fragrant.

6. Spore Print

   White.

7. Habitat

   This fungus is saprobic and tends to grow in dense clusters in disturbed soil such as roadbeds, paths, and landscaping areas, although it can occasionally be found growing alone or scattered. It can also sometimes be found in woods, and is widely distributed throughout North America and Europe. This fungus can be found during the summer and fall, and on the West Coast, it can also occur from fall through spring.

8. Microscopic Features

   Spores 4-6 µ; round or nearly so; smooth; inamyloid. Cystidia absent. Basidia with siderophilous granules when mounted in acetocarmine. Clamp connections present.

Look-Alikes

1. Macrocystidia cucumis

   Distinguished by its unusual odour of cucumber and its cream-to-beige gills, which are free rather than being attached to the stem.

2. Armillaria mellea

   Sometimes mistaken when the latter fruits in clusters from buried wood.

3. Lyophyllum connatum

   Has a light color.

4. Connopus acervatus

   Smaller mushroom with a reddish tinge of the cap and stem.

5. Hypsizygus tessulatus

   Causes brown wood rot.

6. Lyophyllum fumosum

   More common in coniferous forests.

7. Lyophyllum loricatum

   Has a darker color.

History

The great Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries first described this fungus in 1818 in scientific literature, giving it the binomial name Agaricus decastes. In the early days of fungal taxonomy, most gilled fungi were classified under the Agaricus genus, but many have since been reclassified under new genera. In 1949, the German-born American mycologist Rolf Singer moved this species to the Lyophyllum genus, establishing its currently accepted scientific name as Lyophyllum decastes. The specific epithet decastes derives from Latin, meaning 'occurring in tens', similar to the word 'decades' which also comes from the same Latin root.

Synonyms and Varieties

• Agaricus aggregatus Schaeffer (1774), Fungorum qui in Bavaria et Palatinatu circa Ratisbonam, 4, p. 72, tab. 305-306

• Agaricus aggregatus var. parvusFries (1874), Hymenomycetes europaei sive epicriseos systematis mycologici, p. 90

• Agaricus decastes Fries (1818), Observationes mycologicae praecipue ad illustrandam floram suecicam, 2, p. 105 Sanctionnement : Fries (1821)

• Agaricus plicatus Persoon (1828), Mycologia europaea, seu complet omnium fungorum in variis europaeae regionibus detectorum enumeratio, 3, p. 78

• Agaricus subdecastes Cooke & Massee (1891), Illustrations of british fungi, 8, n° 1131, tab. 958

• Agaricus turmarius Britzelmayr (1893), Botanisches centralblatt, 54, p. 36, tab. 97, fig. 506

• Clitocybe aggregata (Schaeffer) Gillet (1874), Les hyménomycètes, ou description de tous les champignons (fungi) qui croissent en France, p. 161

• Clitocybe aggregata var. parva (Fries) P. Karsten (1879), Bidrag till kännedom af Finlands natur och folk, 32, p. 69

• Clitocybe decastes (Fries) P. Kummer (1871), Der fürher in die pilzkunde, p. 124

• Clitocybe elephantina Murrill (1916), North American flora, 9(6), p. 405

• Clitocybe subdecastes (Cooke & Massee) Massee (1893), British fungus flora, 2, p. 418

• Clitocybe turmaria (Britzelmayr) Saccardo (1895), Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque cognitorum, 11, p. 16

• Gyrophila aggregata (Schaeffer) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 19

• Gyrophila decastes (Fries) Quélet (1888), Flore mycologique de la France et des pays limitrophes, p. 275

• Lyophyllum aggregatum (Schaeffer) Kühner (1938), Bulletin mensuel de la Société linnéenne de Lyon, 7, p. 211

• Lyophyllum decastes var. decastes (Fr.) Singer, 1951

• Tricholoma aggregatum (Schaeffer) Ricken (1914), Die Blätterpilze, p. 360, pl. 97, fig. 1

• Tricholoma aggregatum var. decastes(Fries) Costantin & L.M. Dufour (1891), Nouvelle flore des champignons, Edn 1, p. 16

• Tricholoma decastes (Fries) Sartory & L. Maire (1918), Synopsis du Genre Tricholoma, p. 73

• Tricholoma parvum (Fries) Sartory & L. Maire (1918), Synopsis du Genre Tricholoma, p. 60

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