Species details
Slimy brown knight
Tricholoma ustaloides
Inedible
Photo: Jose Angel Urquia Goitia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A brown Tricholoma with a distinctly slimy cap and strong mealy smell and taste; unsuitable for food because of similarity to poisonous brown knights.
Identification features
The cap is chestnut to reddish brown and very slimy, with the margin remaining inrolled for a long time. Gills start white and later rust-spot. The stem is pale above a weak zone and brownish below.
Identification checklist
Check the very slimy brown cap, mealy odour and contrast between the paler upper and brownish lower stem.
How to separate similar species
Brown Tricholoma are a difficult group that includes poisonous species. The Slovenian source explicitly discourages collecting brown knights for food.
Habitat
Grows in deciduous woodland, often on richer soils, from late summer to autumn.
Fruiting period
August, September, October