Fragrant Funnel (Clitocybe fragrans)
Index Fungorum Clitocybe fragrans (With.) P. Kumm.
MycoBank Clitocybe fragrans (With.) P. Kumm.
Clitocybe fragrans. It bears the evocative English name "Fragrant Funnel," which can be translated literally as "aromatic funnel."
Fragrāns, antis — fragrant, sweet-smelling, aromatic. Present active participle of fragro, -, - āre — to be fragrant, to emit a sweet scent.
Agaricus fragrans With., A botanical arrangement of British plants. Ed. 2 3 (2): 307 (1792)- Basionym
Lepista fragrans (With.) Harmaja, Karstenia 15: 14 (1976)
Omphalia fragrans (With.) Gray, A natural arrangement of British plants 1: 613 (1821)
Pseudolyophyllum fragrans (With.) Raithelh., Metrodiana: 73 (1978)
A pronounced scent of anise seed is the key identifying feature of this mushroom.
3–5 cm in diameter, convex when young, then expanding to become convex-depressed and eventually funnel-shaped. The cap coloration is vaguely pale, ranging from whitish to yellowish-gray or ochre; the surface is hygrophanous, and in wet weather, watery concentric zones may appear on the cap, especially noticeable toward the margin. The edge is striate (with the gills visible through the ribs).
The gills are narrow, adnate or slightly decurrent onto the stipe, white in young specimens, and gradually darkening with age to ochre-gray.
Relatively long and slender — 3–6 cm tall and 0.1–0.3 cm thick, cylindrical, even, solid when young and becoming hollow with maturity. The stipe is colored like the cap or slightly paler (if the cap is relatively dark). At the base of the stipe, a white mycelial down is clearly visible — another important diagnostic feature.
Thin, brittle, whitish, watery. Taste is characteristic — anise-like.
Spore print: white. Spores measuring 6.5–8 × 3.5–4 µm, elliptical in shape, smooth, and non-amyloid.
The Fragrant Funnel (Clitocybe fragrans) is not very common and is found in coniferous and mixed forests, on forest litter—especially spruce needles—forming numerous colonies in favorable years.
The intense anise scent, very similar to that of the larger and differently colored Scented Collybia (Collybia odora), allows for fairly reliable distinction of the Fragrant Funnel from its numerous relatives.
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