Clitocybe gibba - Common Funnel

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Clitocybe gibba grows in leaf litter in deciduous woodland and rough grass or heaths. The dark cream or pale brown cap can be 10cm diameter at maturity. Like most of the fungi in this genus, it is a gregarious mushroom and often forms large arcs or even complete fairy rings.

Often referred to as the Common Funnel, this species is also recorded in some references as Clitocybe infundbuliformis.

Identification Guide

	Cap 4 to 8cm in diameter when fully mature, the caps are smooth and silky, usually with a wavy edge, and creamy-brown, sometimes with a pinkish tinge. Initially convex, the caps expand and develop into funnels. The thick, soft flesh is light buff.
	Gills This funnel cap has deeply decurrent, white or pale buff gills that are narrow and quite crowded.
Stem	5 to 10mm in diameter and 3 to 7cm tall, the buff stems are tough and only slightly bulbous at the base. There is no stem ring.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Very faint odour of almonds (some say of new-mown hay); no distinctive taste.
Habitat	In leaf litter under hedgerows, in broad-leaf woods and on heaths.
Season	July to November.
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	Lepista flaccida, commonly known as the Tawny Funnel Cap, has a larger red-brown cap and pale gills that become tawny with age; its spores are creamy-white.