Clitocybe geotropa - Trooping Funnel

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

With its exceptionally long stipe this woodland fungus is a very stately mushroom indeed, and it is often seen in large numbers, either in arcs or even complete fairy rings, sometimes many metres in diameter. The Trooping Funnel is one of the few large mushrooms that can survive mild frosts, and so specimens are sometimes seen standing right through to late December.

The central umbo and smooth felt-like surface of this large, long-stemmed mushroom are distinguishing features.

Identification Guide

	Cap The creamy-buff caps can grow up to 20cm in diameter, with 10 to 15cm more typical. Smooth, matt and convex at first but later flat or shallowly funnel-shaped, the cap retains a fairly broad central umbo. The thick cap flesh is white and very firm, and when young this is a good edible mushroom (but the tough, fibrous stem should be discarded).
	Gills The broad, crowded gill are deeply decurrent and concolorous with the cap.
Stem	In young specimens the stem is slightly paler than the cap, but as the fruit body matures it becomes much the same yellowish-buff colour all over. The fibrous stem is smooth, without a ring, thickening towards the base.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Faint smell of bitter almonds; taste not distinctive.
Habitat	In trooping groups or rings in deciduous woodland, especially clearings; sometimes on roadside verges beside forests.
Season	August to early December; occasionally evident right through to the end of the year.
Occurrence	Fairly common.
Similar species	Clitocybe gibba, the Common Funnel, is smaller and usually has a wavy cap edge; its flesh is much softer and the stem is often hollow.