Tuberous cork (Pluteus semibulbosus)
Systematics:
- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Species: Pluteus semibulbosus
Synonyms:
-
Clubfoot roach
- Semi-bulbous clown
- Thickened Legs
- Agaricus semibulbosus
Description
Hat: 2.5 – 3 cm in diameter, bell-shaped in youth, convex with age, then prostrate, with a small tubercle and a striped-ribbed, often translucent edge. Whitish, yellowish-pinkish, pale yellow-buffy, darker, brownish-gray in the center and paler towards the edge. Thin, smooth or slightly mealy, longitudinally striped, slightly wrinkled.
Plates: loose, frequent, with plates, swollen and widened in the middle, white, whitish, then pink.
Stem: 2.5 – 3 cm high and 0.3 – 0.5 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly thickening downwards, central, sometimes curved, with tuberous thickening and white mycelium at the base. Whitish or yellowish, smooth or covered with small fibrous flakes, sometimes velvety, longitudinally fibrous, full, hollow with age.
Ring or blanket remnants: None.
Pulp: Whitish, loose, thin, fragile. Does not change color at cut and break. Smell and taste: No particular taste or smell.
Spore Powder: Pink. Spores: 6-8 x 5-7 microns, broadly ellipsoidal, smooth, pinkish. The hyphae are with buckles, thin-walled, in the cuticle the caps consist of rounded or broad-shaped cells of 20-30 μm.
Ecology
Saprotroph. It grows near the roots of trees, on dry stumps, rotten wood of various species, on small-sized vale of deciduous species in deciduous and mixed forests. Occurs on decaying living trees. Prefers oak, birch, maple, poplar, beech wood.
Season and distribution
Occurs in August-September, until November, depending on the region. Regions: Europe, England, North Africa, Asia, China, Japan. Recorded in Russia, Belarus.
Edibility
Inedible because it has no nutritional value. No toxicity data available.
Similar species
Some sources indicate Tuberous plute (Pluteus semibulbosus) as a synonym for velvety-legged spit (Pluteus plautus). However, Plyutey velvety-footed is distinguished by the somewhat large size of the fruit bodies, the velvety surface of the cap, which becomes fine-scaled with age, and by microscopic features.
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