Gymnopilus sapineus - Scaly Rustgill

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Growing on dead conifer wood, most particularly of pine trees, buried in the litter of the forest floor, this beautiful mushroom is fairly common but easily confused with other members of its genus, all of which have orange caps.

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.

The Scaly Rustgill is inedible and may even be poisonous; certainly some Gymnopilus fungi have been found to contain seriously poisonous chemicals. Smooth-capped forms of this mushroom can be separated reliably from the Common Rustgill, Gymnopilus penetrans, only by examination of microscopic characters.

Identification guide

Cap	4 to 9cm across; becoming almost flat but retaining a broad central umbo; felted when young, usually (but not always) breaking up into scales; orange-brown with reddish-brown scales.
Gills	Adnate; crowded; initially yellow, soon turning orange and later reddish-brown.
Stem	4 to 7cm long and 0.6 to 1.5cm in dia., cylindrical or (more often) tapering towards the base; smooth, occasionally with fine longitudinal fibres; yellowish flushed with cap colour, bruising brown; no ring.
Spore print	Rusty brown.
Odour/taste	Odour slight and mushroomy; taste sometimes but not always bitter.
Habitat	On stumps and on buried wood in the forest floor of coniferous woodland.
Season	June to November.
Occurrence	Infrequent in Britain and Ireland but common in southern Europe.
Similar species	Gymnopilus junonius is larger and retains a stem ring; it occurs in woodland habitat, but unlike Gymnopilus sapineus it is seen more often on hardwood stumps and ailing trees, and only occasionally on conifers. Phaeolepiota aurea is a rare mushroom with a granulase cap and lower stem; its spores are light yellow-brown.