Tricholoma columbetta - Blue Spot Knight

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Another white knight, Tricholoma columbetta, is very common in Britain and Ireland. This beautiful but inedible mushroom is often pure white with a silky umbonate cap much the same size as those of Tricholoma album; however, its gills are attached to the stem without the significant notches that are characteristic of Tricholoma album.

The Blue Spot Knight is mycorrhizal with broadleaf trees rather than with conifers.

Identification Guide

	Cap Pure white, becoming cream when old, sometimes with a bluish flush or blue spots on the cap (and on the stem base); convex, flattening with a slightly wavy margin; smooth; greasy when wet; 5 to 10cm across. Gills White; crowded; sinuate. Stem White, sometimes with a blue-green area at base; cylindrical; 4 to 10cm long, 1 to 2cm dia.; no ring.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not significant.
Habitat	Ectomycorrhizal with broadleaf trees.
Season	Summer and a utumn.
Occurrence	Fairly common and widespread.
Similar species	Calocybe gambosa, St George's Mushroom, occurs mainly in spring and early summer; it has a mealy odour. Tricholoma album has notched gills and its cap turns ochre and usually becomes umbonate at maturity.