Tricholoma subresplendens (Murrill) Ovrebo nom. prov.

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by Michael Kuo

I was sure that the blue stains on my otherwise purely white mushrooms were the result of placing them on cheap paper towels with little blue designs while I took notes in my journal. "No Tricholoma stains blue," I thought, and didn't even write down what I was seeing--this from a man who often lectures to mushroom audiences on the pitfalls of allowing one's preconceptions to determine what one observes. However, when I later found the mushroom again, displaying blue stains in the woods, I at least had the sense to refrain from expanding my paper towel theory to include obsessive-compulsive squirrels tidying up the woods with generic paper towels.

Tricholoma subresplendens is recognized by its hardwood habitat, its white colors, and, yes, the presence of blue stains on the cap and stem--though the blue stains do not always appear. The cap may be pure white or develop tan shades, especially over the center. The taste is usually mealy, but is apparently mild in some collections. Microscopically, the species is distinguished from similar mushrooms by the presence of clamp connections at the bases of the basidia.

The edibility of Tricholoma subresplendens is not known, and it could easily be poisonous; I do not recommend experimenting.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods in oak-hickory and beech-maple forests, or under birch; growing scattered or gregariously, sometimes in clusters; distribution uncertain, but perhaps limited to eastern and northeastern North America; late summer and fall.

Cap: 3-11 cm; broadly convex, flat, or occasionally with a central knob; slimy when fresh and young, but soon dry; white, often with tan shades over the center or elsewhere; smooth or with minute, appressed fibers (especially over the center); sometimes bruising and discoloring bluish.

Gills: Attached to the stem by a notch; close; white.

Stem: 4-11 cm long; 1-2.5 cm thick; equal or somewhat swollen below; with silky appressed fibers; dry; white; sometimes bruising or discoloring bluish.

Flesh: White; not changing on exposure.

Taste: Mild or mealy; odor similar.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-7 x 4-5 µ; smooth; elliptical; inamyloid. Cystidia absent. Clamp connections present at the bases of basidia.

REFERENCES: (Murrill, 1914) Ovrebo, 1980. (Kauffman, 1918; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Ovrebo, 1980; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991.) Herb. Kuo 09300305.

Tricholoma columbetta and Tricholoma resplendens are similar European species, and their names are used in field guides for Tricholoma subresplendens. However, Ovrebo (1980) argues fairly convincingly that our North American mushroom is distinct. Tricholoma resplendens lacks bluish discolorations; Tricholoma columbetta lacks the tan shades on the cap, stains reddish more often than bluish, and differs microscopically. However, Ovrebo makes this argument in his doctoral dissertation, and has not since republished the concept in a mycological journal. Thus, by the strict rules that govern such things, "Tricholoma subresplendens" is a provisional name and mycologists are forced to use one of the European names, since Murrill's 1914 description of "Melanoleuca subresplendens" has not been officially transferred to Tricholoma by anyone else.

Further Online Information:

Tricholoma columbetta at Roger's Mushrooms
Tricholoma columbetta at Fungi of Poland

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, December). Tricholoma subresplendens Ovrebo nom. prov. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/tricholoma_subresplendens.html