Thelephora vialis
Description
Thelephora vialis is a spoon or fan-shaped mushroom dirty white or yellowish to brownish-gray color. Fertile surface pale yellow to grayish brown; smooth becoming slightly wrinkled with tiny projections. Habitats on the ground in hardwood forests, particularly under the oak. Found in eastern North America from Vermont to South Carolina and west to Illinois. Season August-October.
It is considered to be inedible, but some sources say it is edible. Well known as a medicinal mushroom, especially in China, and also considered one of the most favored edible mushrooms (Dai et al., 2004; Onose et al., 2008).
Common names: Groundwart, Common fiber vase, Gamba-jun (Yunnan, China).
Mushroom Identification
Fruiting Body
2-10 cm tall, 2-15 cm wide, a surface color varying from yellow, light buff to cinnamon brown, grey to beige; infundibuliform to vase-like or cup-like, imbricately lobed at the center; hymenium smooth or pipallose.
Stem
5-50 mm thick, eccentric to central, whitish to gray.
Flesh
Thick, like leather (coriaceous).
Spores
Olive-buff color under microscope, angular and lobed/tubercular, spiny, 5-8 x 4.5-6 µm.
Spore Print
Light to dark brown.
Habitat
Grows on the ground in forests, especially near oak.
Distribution
Found in North America (McKnight and McKnight, 1987), New Zealand, Australia (Cunningham, 1963) and Japan.
Synonyms
Phylacteria vialis (Schwein.) Pat.
Thelephora tephroleuca Berk. & M.A. Curtis
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: dario.z (dario13) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 2 - Author: dario.z (dario13) (CC BY-SA 3.0)