Tricholomopsis rutilans - Plums and Custard

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Commonly referred to as Plums and Custard or occasionally as the Strawberry Mushroom, Tricholomopsis rutilans is, nevertheless, a very bitter and inedible fungus. It is always a joy to come across these stately mushrooms, not least because of their habit of colonising buried decaying conifer roots and forming wonderfully photogenic groups.

Despite its attractive appearance and the encouraging common name of Plums and Custard, this is a bitter and inedible species.

Identification Guide

	Against a background of moss covering old pine stumps or fallen trunks, these large, colourful mushrooms make a spectacular sight, especially when, as is often the case, they occur in large numbers. In very dry weather the caps sometimes craze into a network of scales, revealing the bright yellow flesh beneath the cuticle.
	Cap 4 to 12cm in diameter, the surface of the caps of Tricholomopsis rutilans is bright egg-yolk yellow and covered with radial streaks made up of tiny purple scales. Beneath the cap cuticle, the thin flesh is pale yellow. Convex, sometimes with a shallow central depression, the caps expand and become broadly umbonate or occasionally almost completely flat at maturity.
	Gills Adnate or weakly sinuate, the egg-yolk-yellow gills are broad and crowded. Despite the brightly coloured gills, this mushroom deposits the white spores that are typical of Tricholomas.
	Stem 1 to 2cm in diameter, the stems range from 4 to 10cm tall and are often curved away from the stump or trunk from which the fruiting body emerges. Pale near the apex, the stems are covered in purple-red scales on a white background. Beneath the stem surface the flesh is pale yellow.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Odour of rotten pinewood; taste not distinctive.
Habitat	On conifer stumps, mainly pine, and far less frequently, on broad-leaf stumps.
Season	July to October.
Occurrence	Frequent.
Similar species	The close relative Tricholomopsis decora is yellow or yellow-ochre; it is much less common and in Britain it is largely confined to mountain regions of Scotland, only very occasionally turning up on dead pine wood in the lowlands of England and Wales.