Tricholoma album - White Knight

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Although not always a pure white knight (and never in shining armour), this is a very pale mushroom and therefore easy to find against the dark background of a forest floor… unless it has been snowing. (White Knights can appear as late as November and December.) This substantial mushroom can be found in both broadleaf and coniferous woodland. In Britain and Ireland it is rather a rare find, but in Scandinavia it is common in the spruce forests that dominate the landscape.

Identification Guide

Cap	Initially conical with an inrolled margin, later convex or flattened with small umbo; white or with a pale yellow tinge, ochre-yellow towards the centre when mature; smooth; 4 to 10cm across.
	Gills White or pale yellow; with coarsely toothed edges; of uneven lengths and quite distant; sinuate (notched very close to the stem). Stem White to yellow-brown often with fine fibrils near base; cylindrical; 3 to 6cm long, 0.8 to 1.5cm dia.; no ring.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Strong odour of radish when crushed; slight taste of radish. (Note: this is a poisonous species.)
Habitat	Broad-leaf and coniferous woodland.
Season	June to October.
Occurrence	Very common
Similar species	Tricholoma stiparophyllum is very similar in macroscopic characteristics, but the two species can be separated by examining microscopic characters.