Tricholoma saponaceum - Soapy Knight

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Few tricholomas have truly descriptive common names, but the Soapy Knight, Tricholoma saponaceum has an odour of soap suds and thoroughly deserves the common name it has been given. Unfortunately, not only is this abundant mushroom regarded as inedible but it may even be poisonous. In any case, who would want to eat soap?

An occasional find in coniferous and broad-leaf forests, Tricholoma saponaceum appears in autumn, sometimes forming large groups.

Identification Guide

	Also referred to as the Soap-scented Tricholoma, this is a woodland mushroom that quite often produces small tufted groups, as shown here.
	Cap Up to 12cm in diameter when fully mature, the caps are usually greyish or greenish-grey in the centre but with a paler, often almost white edge. Initially convex, the caps flatten, sometimes with a slight umbo.
	Gills Sinuate and well spaced apart, the gills are white but take on a reddish tinge a short time after being bruised.
Stem	Typically 10 to 20mm in diameter, the stem is white and covered with small light-grey fibres. This is a deep-rooting species.
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	Fairly common and widespread.
Similar species	Tricholoma terreum is sometimes pale capped and then it can be quite similar to Tricholoma saponaceum in appearance, but it does not have the distinctive soapy smell.