Species details
Clouded agaric
Clitocybe nebularis
Extra caution required
Photo: Daniel Ullrich (Threedots) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A large grey to grey-brown funnel mushroom with crowded pale gills and a strong characteristic smell.
Identification features
Gills are slightly decurrent; it can cause gastrointestinal upset in some people.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A large grey to grey-brown funnel mushroom with crowded pale gills and a strong characteristic smell. Gills are slightly decurrent; it can cause gastrointestinal upset in some people. Typical habitat: Deciduous and coniferous woodland, often in large groups or fairy rings.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 6–18 cm, initially hemispherical with a strongly inrolled margin, later expanded and depressed centrally, grey with a whitish bloom.
- Hymenophore
- Gills yellowish-white, crowded, narrow and somewhat decurrent.
- Stem
- 6–10 × 1.5–3 cm, stout, whitish to grey-brown, often enlarged toward the base.
- Flesh
- White, firm when young, later softer and fibrous.
- Smell
- Strong, sourish and unpleasant to many people.
- Spore print
- Yellowish.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 6–18 cm
- Stem height
- 6–10 cm
- Stem diameter
- 1,5–3 cm
Habitat
Deciduous and coniferous woodland, often in large groups or fairy rings.
Fruiting period
August, September, October, November, December
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Saprotrophic
- Substrate
- Leaf litter
- Notes
- A saprotroph on decaying leaf litter, often forming large groups or rings late in autumn.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Entoloma sinuatum, Clitocybe species. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Livid entoloma (Entoloma sinuatum) DANGEROUS
Livid pinkgill develops pink gills and a pink spore print; it is poisonous and a dangerous confusion.
- Aniseed funnel (Clitocybe odora)
Aniseed funnel is smaller, bluish to greenish and strongly smells of aniseed.
Interesting facts
Did you know? The species often grows in large groups on deep autumn leaf litter.