Clitocybe nebularis - Clouded Funnel

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Clitocybe nebularis, commonly called the Clouded Funnel, is often found growing in rings in pine forests. This large mushroom also grows in deciduous woods and beneath hedgerows. (Occasionally large fairy rings or masses of Clouded Funnels can even appear in shrubberies!)

Once considered edible, this mushroom is now suspect and is probably best avoided when gathering fungi to eat.

Identification Guide

Clitocybe nebularis - Clouded Funnel with a slightly depressed cap

Also recorded as Lepista nebularis (Batsch : Fr.) Harmaja, this large mushroom is commonly referred to as the Clouded Agaric or the Clouded Funnel Cap.

It is common to see large rings of Clitocybe nebularis in coniferous woods - a trait this species shares with its close relative Lepista nuda, the Wood Blewit.

	Cap Convex or conical at first, the caps of this large mushroom take up to a month to expand fully. Eventually they flatten out and often become slightly funnel-shaped with a wavy margin. When fully expanded the caps range from 6 to 20cm in diameter and are grey, often with a cloud-like pattern in the central region. The surface is often covered with a pale felt-like bloom.
	Gills White becoming pale cream with age, the crowded gills are adnate or slightly decurrent to the stem.
	Stem 2 to 3cm in diameter and with a swollen base, the solid stem is 6 to 12cm tall, smooth and paler than the cap.
	Spore print Pale buff. Spores Elipsoid, 6.5 to 8 x 3.5 to 4μm.
Odour/taste	Sweet fruity smell (although some people detect an odour of turnip); no distinctive taste.
Habitat	In broad-leaf and coniferous woodland and beneath hedgerows.
Season	August to early December.
Occurrence	Very common.
Similar species	Lepista nuda, the Wood Blewit, is similar but has pale lilac sinuate gills.