Gymnopilus decipiens

Gymnopilus decipiens

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Strophariaceae

This small and uncommon rustgill is found mainly on burnt wood and forest fire sites. There are many other very similar rustgills worldwide, and identification to species level is very difficult, requiring microscopic examination of spores and other features.

The easiest of the rustgills to identify is Gymnopilus junonius, the Spectacular Rustgill, which often grows on the trunks of ailing trees; it is the only Gymnopilus with a persistent stem ring.

If we were pressed to create a common name for this rather uncommon mushroom, it would be the Forest Fire Rustgill. As many of the Gymnopilus fungi contain the toxin psilobin, it uis advisable to treat Gymnopilus decipiens and the many other small rustgills as poisonous mushrooms.

Identification guide

Cap

1 to 3cm across; convex, flattening; scaly or fibrillose; orange.

Gills

Adnate; fairly distant; yellow, turning reddish-brown, often with rusty-brown spots.

Stem

1 to 2cm long and 3 to 5mm in dia.; light brown, lower half covered in white fibres.

Spore print

Rusty brown.

Odour/taste

Odour not significant; taste bitter.

Habitat

On burned wood and sites of forest fires.

Season

June to November.

Occurrence

Infrequent.

Similar species

Gymnopilus junonius is larger and retains a stem ring; it occurs in woodland habitat, but unlike Gymnopilus decipiens it is seen more often on hardwood stumps and ailing trees, and not normally on burnt wood.

Phaeolepiota aurea is a rare mushroom with a granulase cap and lower stem; its spores are light yellow-brown.