Clitocybe odora - Aniseed Funnel

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Clitocybe odora, the aptly named Aniseed Funnel Cap, is more easily detected by its scent than by its appearance - indeed, it is often buried deep inside bushes where it is difficult to spot visually. Other mushrooms have a similar odour, but none so strong as this woodland mushroom.

A startling sight when young and fresh, the pale blue colour of young specimens soon fades towards light grey.

Identification Guide

A young Clitocybe odora - Aniseed Funnel

Young caps of Clitocybe odora are quite striking... visually and in terms of their strong aniseed scent and flavour. The colour soon fades, but the strong odour and taste remain. Pale specimens could be confused with suspect species such as Clitocybe fragrans, and so it is advisable to collect only young, blue specimens for culinary use.

This beautiful mushroom is commonly referred to as either the Aniseed Mushroom or the Aniseed Funnel cap.

Once again, as if it was needed, the fungus world reminds us that gill colour is no guide to the colour of the spores. Like so many other members of the family Tricholomataceae, the spore print from this species is white.

This species is recorded in some reference books under the synonym Clitocybe viridis.

	Cap 3 to 8cm in diameter, blue-green at first but fading towards pale cream; smooth and non-greasy; convex, later flattening and eventually becoming funnel-shaped with a wavy margin. The cap flesh is white, thin and very tough; edible but best dried and used as a flavouring.
	Gills Paler than the cap surface, the gills are adnate or slightly decurrent, fairly broad and moderately spaced. Like the cap surface, the gills also pale with age.
Stem	5 to 10mm in diameter and 4 to 6cm tall, the stem is silkily fibrous and is covered in fine white downy fibres towards the slightly swollen base.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Strong odour and taste of aniseed.
Habitat	In broad-leaf litter; mainly under beech trees.
Season	July to October.
Occurrence	Infrequent.
Similar species	Stropharia caerulea has a greasy greenish-blue cap when young andits surface is covered in scales, especially near the margin; it does not smell of aniseed.