Entoloma rhodopolium
Description
Entoloma rhodopoliu is a poisonous mushroom found in Europe and Asia. This common pale pink gill occurs in deciduous broadleaf woodland, usually in quite large groups.
It is often mistaken for edible mushroom, Entoloma sarcopum. Symptoms are predominantly gastrointestinal in nature, though muscarine, muscaridine, and choline have been isolated as toxic agents.
Common names: Wood Pinkgill.
Mushroom Identification
Ecology
Saprobic; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously under hardwoods; late summer and fall (also overwinter in California); widely distributed in North America.
Cap
3-12 cm; convex, sometimes with a slight central bump, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; becoming thin and fragile; bald; sticky when fresh; tan to pale yellow-brown or pale grayish brown, fading and drying out to grayish or almost whitish; the margin faintly lined, at least by maturity.
Gills
Attached to the stem; close or nearly distant; white at first, becoming pink with maturity.
Stem
4-10 cm long; 6-12 mm thick; more or less equal; fairly dry; bald, or very finely hairy at the apex; whitish; becoming hollow; basal mycelium white.
Flesh
Thin; fragile; whitish to very pale tan; unchanging when sliced.
Odor and Taste
Not distinctive, or mealy.
Chemical Reactions
KOH on cap surface negative.
Spore Print
Pink.
Microscopic Features
Spores 8-11 x 5-8 µ; 5- to 8-sided; heterodiametric; smooth; inamyloid. Hymenial cystidia absent. Pileipellis a thin ixocutis of hyaline, non-encrusted elements. Clamp connections are present.
Look-Alikes
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Similar before the gills turn pink.
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Previously considered a separate species, is now classified as a variety of this fungus.
History
When in 1818 the great Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries described this pink gill mushroom species he gave it the binomial name Agaricus rhodopolius.
It was the German mycologist Paul Kummer who, in 1871, transferred this species to the genus Entoloma, at which point its scientific name became Entoloma rhodopolium.
Synonyms of Entoloma rhodopolium include Agaricus rhodopolius Fr., Agaricus nidorosus Fr., Entoloma rhodopolium f. rhodopolium (Fr.) P. Kumm., Entoloma nidorosum (Fr.) Quél., Rhodophyllus rhodopolius (Fr.) Quel., Entoloma rhodopolium f. nidorosum (Fr.) Noordel., and Entoloma rhodopolium var. nidorosum (Fr.) Krieglst.
The generic name Entoloma comes from ancient Greek words entos, meaning inner, and lóma, meaning a fringe or a hem. It is a reference to the inrolled margins of many of the mushrooms in this genus.
The specific epithet rhodopolium comes from the prefix rhodo- meaning reddish (in this case rather pinkish), and -polius meaning grey.
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Strobilomyces (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 2 - Author: Entoloma_nidorosum.JPG: Dragonòtderivative work: Ak ccm (talk) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 3 - Author: AJC1 from UK (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo 4 - Author: James Lindsey (CC BY-SA 2.5)