Entocybe nitida

What You Should Know

Entocybe nitida is an indigo-colored woodland mushroom. It grows in wet, mossy conifer forests on acidic soil, whereas other blue species grow in grassland or light woodland on chalky soil. It occurs singly or in small groups.

This mushroom is widespread across mainland North-west Europe and in some parts of North America.

Other names: Pine Pinkgill, Steel-blue Entoloma.

Entocybe nitida Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   2 to 4 cm across, convex, flattening and sometimes becoming broadly umbonate; silky fibrillose surface; margin striate, slightly incurved and often becoming wavy; dark blue or grayish-blue, paler towards the rim.

2. Gills

   Adnate; white, turning pink as the spores mature. (Picture Andreas Kunze, Wikipedia)

3. Stem

   3 to 6 cm long and 1 to 2mm diameter; smooth; grayish-blue; white and felty at base; longitudinally fibrillose; no stem ring.

4. Spores

   Five- to eight-angled (pentagonal to octagonal) in side view;thin-walled; 7-9 x 6-8μm.

5. Spore Print

   Brownish pink.

6. Odor and Taste

   Mild but not distinctive.

7. Habitat & Ecological Role

   Saprobic in coniferous woodland, especially with pine trees, usually on acidic soil.

8. Season

   Fruiting from summer to late autumn in Britain and Ireland.

9. Similar Species

   Entoloma serrulatum has finely serrated gill edges flecked with black.

Entocybe nitida Medicinal Properties

Entocybe nitida Taxonomy and Etymology

This uncommon mushroom was described scientifically in 1887 by the Italian mycologist Giacopo Bresadola (1847 - 1929), who gave it the name Nolanea papillata. It was the British mycologist Richard William George Dennis (1910 - 2003) who, in 1953, transferred this species to its current genus, at which point its binomial scientific name became Entoloma papillatum.

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 nitidum means shining, polished or glittering; quite appropriate.

Synonyms

1. Nolonea papillata Bres.

2. Nolanea mammosa ssp. papillata (Bres.) Konrad & Maubl.

3. Rhodophyllus papillatus (Bres.) J. E. Lange.

4. Entoloma nitidum Quél., 1883

5. Rhodophyllus nitidus (Quél.) Quél., 1886

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Caleb Brown (Caleb Brown) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 2 - Author: Andreas Kunze (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 3 - Author: Andreas Kunze (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 4 - Author: Andreas Kunze (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)