Species details

Dark-scaled knight

Tricholoma atrosquamosum

Conditional / expert preparation

Description

A grey Tricholoma with dense fine black cap scales, dark dots on the stem and an aromatic smell; similar to poisonous Tricholoma pardinum.

Identification features

The cap is 4–12 cm wide, grey to grey-black and densely covered with fine soft black fibrous scales. Gills are whitish to grey, and the pale grey stem has small dark dots.

Identification checklist

Check dense fine black scales, dark dots on the pale stem and the aromatic smell. With grey Tricholoma, always check characters of poisonous Tricholoma pardinum.

How to separate similar species

Tricholoma pardinum has larger ash-grey scales, often watery droplets, and is poisonous. The resemblance requires caution.

Habitat

Grows in coniferous and mixed woodland on calcareous soils, more often in upland areas, from late summer to autumn.