Entoloma clypeatum – Shield Pinkgill

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Often with a wavy margin and a small central umbo, the form of the grey-brown cap of this largish (for an Entoloma) mushroom is the source of its common name.

Unlike most grassland pinkgills, which generally appear in summer and autumn, the Shield Pinkgill is a mushroom of spring and early summer, and it is probably mycorrhizal with trees of the family Rosaceae, under which it is most often seen.

Identification guide

Cap	3 to 10 cm across; initially convex, expanding to become broadly convex with a low umbo and occasionally a broad depression; various shades of grey-brown with darker brown radial fibrils; sometimes tinged yellow; hygrophanous, becoming much paler when dry; flesh thin, whitish and firm.
Gills	Adnate; pale grey at first becoming pink and later a dirty brownish-pink at maturity.
Spores	Pink.
Stem	3 to 5cm long and 8 to 15mm dia.; whitish with longitudinal silky brown fibrils, paler towards base; cylindrical, sometimes laterally compressed; no ring.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	This pinkgill is fairly common under trees of the family Rosaceae in open woodlands and in parkland.
Season	Fruiting from spring to midsummer.
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	The Wood Pinkgill, Entoloma rhodopolium, can be similar in cap colour, although the surface is smooth and silky.