Entoloma clypeatum

What You Should Know

Entoloma clypeatum has a gray-brown cap and wavy margin and a small central umbo. Unlike most grassland pink gills, which generally appear in summer and autumn, the Shield Pinkgill is a mushroom of spring and early summer, and it is mycorrhizal with trees of the family Rosaceae, under which it is most often seen.

Usually found in small groups or "witch rings" in forests, gardens, and parks. Widespread in Europe and North America.

Other names: Shield Pinkgill.

Entoloma clypeatum Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   3 to 10 cm across; initially convex, expanding to become broadly convex with a low umbo and occasionally a broad depression; various shades of gray-brown with darker brown radial fibrils; sometimes tinged yellow; hygrophanous, becoming much paler when dry; flesh thin, whitish and firm.

2. Gills

   Adnate; pale grey at first becoming pink and later a dirty brownish pink at maturity.

3. Stem

   3 to 5 cm long and 8 to 15mm diameter; whitish with longitudinal silky brown fibrils, paler towards base; cylindrical, sometimes laterally compressed; no stem ring.

4. Spores

   Angular, pentagonal to heptagonal, 9-11 x 7.5-10µm.

5. Spore Print

   Pink.

6. Odor and Taste

   Not distinctive.

7. Habitat & Ecological Role

   This saprobic pink gill is fairly common under trees of the family Rosaceae in open woodlands and parkland.

8. Similar Species

   Entoloma rhodopolium, can be similar in cap color, although the surface is smooth and silky.

Entoloma clypeatum Taxonomy and Etymology

In 1753 Carl Linnaeus described this species scientifically. It was the German mycologist Paul Kummer who, in 1871, transferred this species to its current genus, at which point its binomial scientific name became Entoloma clypeatum. Since then more than one form of this mushroom has been recognised, and so the formal name of the nominate (primary) form became Entoloma clypeatum f. clypeatum. (L.) P. Kumm.

Synonyms of Entoloma clypeatum f. clypeatum include Agaricus clypeatus L., Agaricus fertilis Pers., Entoloma clypeatum (L.) P. Kumm., Entoloma clypeatum var. clypeatum (L.) P. Kumm., Entoloma fertile (Pers.) Gillet, and Rhodophyllus clypeatus (L.) Quél.

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 clypeatum is Latin and means shaped like a round shield.

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Linas Kudzma (baravykas) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 2 - Author: Linas Kudzma (baravykas) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 3 - Author: Linas Kudzma (baravykas) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 4 - Author: Gerhard Koller (Gerhard) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)