Tricholomopsis decora

Description

Tricholomopsis decora is a medium to large, fleshy agaric, cap with brown fibrils on a predominantly yellow background with brown to blackish scales, thinning towards the margin. It occurs in North America and Britain, and it grows in conifer forests.

Common names: Decorated Mop, Queen's Coat, Prunes-And-Custard, Black-Tufted Wood Tricholoma.

Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Saprobic on the wood of conifers, especially (but not exclusively) that of hemlocks; growing alone, scattered or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America; also known from Europe and Australasia.

2. Cap

   2–5 cm; convex at first, becoming broadly convex, flat, or shallowly depressed with an uplifted margin; moist when young but soon dry; yellow to brownish-yellow; covered, at least over the center, with small brownish to grayish scales and fibrils.

3. Gills

   Broadly attached to the stem; close or crowded; yellow to brownish-yellow; short-gills frequent.

4. Stem

   2–5 cm long; 3–6 mm thick; more or less equal; bald; hollow; pale yellow; basal mycelium white.

5. Flesh

   Yellowish; not changing when sliced.

6. Odor and Taste

   Odor not distinctive; taste bitter.

7. Chemical Reactions

   KOH red to pink or orange on cap surface.

8. Spore Print

   White.

9. Microscopic Features

   Spores 4–8 x 4–6 µm; broadly ellipsoid to subglobose; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Lamellar trama parallel. Basidia 4-sterigmate. Pleurocystidia not found. Cheilocystidia 50–62.5 x 10–15 µm; cylindric to subclavate; smooth; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH. Pileipellis a cutis; elements sometimes agglutinated, 3–10 µm wide, smooth, golden in KOH en masse (individually yellowish)—interspersed with bundles of uplifted brown elements (the scales); clamps present.

Look-Alikes

1. Tricholomopsis sulphureoides

   Has a yellow scales and brighter yellow colors overall

2. Tricholomopsis thompsoniana

   Has a bald cap.

3. Tricholomopsis bella

   The cap fibrillose but not truly scaly.

History

Originally described in 1821 by the great Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries, who named it Agaricus decorus - most gilled fungi were initially placed in a giant Agaricus genus, now redistributed to many other genera - Prunes and Custard acquired its currently accepted scientific name Tricholomopsis decora in 1939, when the German-born mycologist Rolf Singer transferred it to the new genus (which was defined by Singer himself) of Tricholomopsis.

Synonyms of Tricholomopsis decora include Agaricus decorus Fr., Clitocybe decora (Fr.) Gillet, Tricholoma decorum (Fr.) Quél., and Pleurotus decorus (Fr.) Sacc.

The genus Tricholomopsis, established by Rolf Singer in 1939, lies somewhere between the genera Clitocybe and Tricholoma, and the term Tricholomopsis means 'similar to a Tricholoma'. (Tricho- as a prefix refers to hair.) The specific epithet decora means

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: 2012-10-03_Tricholomopsis_decora_(Fr.)_Singer_268487.jpg: (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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

Photo 3 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Tricholomopsis_decora.jpg: Tocekasderivative work: Ak ccm (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 5 - Author: Tocekas (For any purpose)