Clitocybe nebularis (Fries) Kummer
Der Führer in die Pilzkunde, p. 124. 1871.

Common Name: none

Synonym: Lepista nebularis (Fries) Harmaja

• Pileus

  Cap 5-25 cm broad; convex with an incurved margin, becoming plane to depressed; color greyish to light brownish grey; surface dry to moist, radially fibrillose; flesh thick, white; odor unpleasant, slightly farinaceous to rancid or skunky.

• Lamellae

  Gills close, adnate to decurrent, white to cream colored.

• Stipe

  Stipe 5-15 cm long, 1.5-4 cm thick at apex, base enlarged to bulbous, usually with abundant whitish tomentum; color white, sometimes with light grey brown fibrils.

• Spores

  Spores 5.5-8.5 x 3.5-4.5 µm, smooth, ellipsoid, nonamyloid; spore wall cyanophilous. Spore print pale yellow.

• Habitat

  Solitary to scattered to gregarious under both conifers and hardwoods. Seldom fruits before December.

• Edibility

  Often listed as edible, but the foul odor would deter most persons from trying it.

• Comments

  This large, cold weather mushroom is easily identified by its obnoxious aroma, often compared to the odor of a rodent cage. For those lacking the ability to smell, Clitocybe nebularis could be confused with Leucopaxillus albissimus, but it is greyer, more readily putrescent, and has yellowish rather than white spores.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Terry Goyan: Clitocybe nebularis (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Clitocybe nebularis (CP)
  • Taylor F. Lockwood: Clitocybe nebularis (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clitocybe nebularis (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clitocybe nebularis (CP)
  • Na Grzyby: Lepista nebularis (D & CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Clitocybe nebularis (D & CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Lepista nebularis (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Clitocybe nebularis (CP)
  • Ammirati et al.: p. 249 (D), fig. 129 (I), fig. 190 (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 159 (D), p. 160 (P)
  • Arora (1991): p. 56 (D & CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 3): sp. 170 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 159 (D & CP) [as Lepista nebularis]
  • Lincoff: p. 749 (D), plates 267, 354 (CP)
  • McKenny et al.: p. 53 (D & CP)
  • Miller: sp. 123 (D & CP)
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 77 (D & CP)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)