Russula or Clitocybe or ???

[Lemon]

Hello! These have popped up in wood mulch beneath our apple tree, and sparked debate amongst the family (all of us curious amateurs). Smallest examples are convex maturing to funnel shaped but retaining the white gill, and all a similar buff colour. Mild smell, pleasant but not aniseedy at all, if anything a whiff of something more vegetable-like. No staining. No one could decide if the gills were down the stem far enough to be considered in one camp or just a short example of the other, no one could decide if the flesh could be considered crumbly or not; apps reliably gave a different answer to everyone!

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[Lancashire Lad]

Hi, and welcome to the UK Fungi website.

I’d say that these look very much like Clitocybe nebularis – Clouded Agaric/Clouded Funnel.

Regards,

Mike.

[Lemon]

Thanks for the welcome and the ID, Mike! Funnily enough, that was the one app ID we thought most likely at first, and then of course, everyone went and looked in more books, and doubt crept in. Pretty nice looking mushrooms anyway. I assume these are growing off the woodchip mulch and unlikely to pose much threat to the apple tree?

Regards,

Lem.

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi,

It’s often the way with fungi, mushrooms of most species can be quite variable in appearance (both throughout an individual fruitbody’s lifespan and in general), and it is not often (apart from a few very obvious species) that photos we see in books look exactly the same as what we find out in the field. (Which is why most reputable authorities advise against using photo apps as any sort of definitive identification method).

Clitocybe nebularis is a saprobe, meaning that it gets its nutrients from dead or decaying organic matter.

So yes, it will be feeding on the woodchip mulch (along with any fallen twigs or leaf litter from the apple tree) but it won’t pose any threat to any healthy trees or plants.

Regards,

Mike.

[Lemon]

Thanks for the additional information – the apple is a heritage variety so there was some concern.

Yeah, 100% agree that a photo alone without more information doesn’t cut it. Definitley taking the apps with a big pinch of salt and don’t expect to end up with an exact ID, but it’s nice to be able to take a rough guess as to what’s growing around abouts and get some art inspiration. I have Roger Phillip’s Mushrooms book, but that is almost too much information for me at this stage, and even that can’t show all variations of a single species, and also doesn’t make any comment on threat to fruit trees!

Shall keep studying up.

[Author]

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