Clouded Funnel mushroom Clitocybe nebularis

Scientific Name: Clitocybe nebularis (Tricholomataceae). Clitocybe='sloping head'; nebularis='misty'.

English Name: Clouded Funnel mushroom (Knights and funnels family).

French Name: Clitocybe nébuleux (='clouded funnel').

5 Key Characters:

• commonly grows in rings. 
• large and chunky with 6 - 20 cm diameter caps.
• cap convex or conical initially but eventually (after some weeks) becomes slightly concave.
• edges of cap usually remain curled under even when mature.
• somewhat mottled soft grey and off white cap, white to cream gills.

Lookalikes: Wood Blewit Lepista nuda, which has wavy pale violet gills. Livid Pinkgill Entoloma sinuatum, which has yellow gills when mature.

Habitat: Conifer forests, broadleaf forests and woodland, hedgerows.

Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November-December.

Status: Very common.

Edible or Toxic? Still considered edible in France by some, but even they acknowledge that you must know how to prepare it. Many people avoid it because it commonly causes digestive upsets. Descriptions of its smell range from sweet and fruity through to turnips and strong cat's piss. Many people don't eat it just on the grounds that they find the smell disagreable. For those who are willing to eat it the preparation involves discarding the stem, washing the cap under the tap then cooking the caps rapidly in a saucepan so they release their liquid. Discard the liquid and the mushrooms are ready to eat.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Showing the underside.