Gomphus floccosus

[ Basidiomycetes > Phallales > Gomphus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

You have probably met several people in your life who should have been named Gomphus Floccosus. If you haven't, try to picture in your mind what someone so-named would look like. Then turn your vision into a mushroom, and I'll bet you've pretty much got an idea of what Gomphus floccosus, the mushroom, looks like.

And what a goofy little guy he is! Shriveled-looking but stout, this vase-shaped and fleshy mushroom is fairly variable in its colors, ranging from bright reds and oranges to duller earth tones. It grows under conifers in northern and montane North America, and is probably mycorrhizal.

Recent DNA research (Giachini, 2004) has broadened the concept of Gomphus floccosus to include some "species" that had been described on the basis of minor differences in physical features--and separated Gomphus floccosus from species like Gomphus clavatus, placing it in a separate genus as Turbinellus floccosus. See the page on the genus Gomphus for details.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with conifers (especially firs); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously in northern and montane North America; summer and fall (winter and spring on the West Coast).

Fruiting Body: Vase-shaped and fleshy, developing a deep central depression; 5-15 cm across; up to 30 cm high but usually shorter (up to 15 cm high); single (very rarely with two or three caps sharing a stem).

Upper Surface: Cinnamon to pale orange, or reddish orange to orange or nearly scarlet; covered with soft, darker scales that become more prominent as the mushroom matures; the scales fairly evenly sized across the surface (not smaller and dot-like near the edge).

Undersurface: Shallowly to deeply wrinkled; shriveled looking; cream color or darker; often yellow near the cap edge when young; sometimes bruising purplish; running down the stem.

Stem: 1-3 cm wide; not distinctly separate from the cap; colored like the undersurface; sometimes with yellow shades; smooth.

Flesh: White; fibrous; sometimes bruising and discoloring brownish.

Odor and Taste: Taste sweet and slightly sour; odor not distinctive.

Spore Print: Cinnamon to pale brownish yellow.

Microscopic Features: Spore 11-20 x 6-10 µ; wrinkled or warted; more or less elliptical.

According to Giachini, Gomphus bonarii, Gomphus canadensis, Gomphus wilkinsae, Gomphus floccosus var. ranierensis, and Gomphus floccosus var. excavatus are all genetically identical to Gomphus floccosus, which should be renamed Turbinellus floccosus.

REFERENCES: (Schweinitz, 1832) Singer, 1945. (Corner, 1966; Smith, 1968; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Thiers, 1985; Arora, 1986; States, 1990; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Bessette, Miller, Bessette & Miller, 1995; Evenson, 1997; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; Giachini, 2004; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 09039509, 08180605.

Further Online Information:

Gomphus floccosus at MykoWeb
Gomphus floccosus at Roger's Mushrooms

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2006, February). Gomphus floccosus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/gomphus_floccosus.html