''Chroogomphus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the na ...

commonly known as pine-spikes or spike-caps based on their shape and because they are often found growing in association with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

trees. The genus is distributed throughout the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

including North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia.Aime M, Miller OK. (2005). Proposal to Conserve the Name ''Chroogomphus'' Against ''Brauniellula'' (Gomphidiaceae). Taxon 55(1):227–228.
abstract

Taxonomy

These fungi are members of the family

Gomphidiaceae The Gomphidiaceae are a family of mushroom-forming fungi in the order Boletales. Unlike other boletes, all members of Gomphidiaceae (except for ''Gomphogaster'') are agarics, having gills instead of pores. Member genera include ''Chroogomphus'', ...

which are

agaricoid An agaric () is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms ...

members of the

Boletales The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. T ...

(

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Suillineae). Related to the genus ''

Gomphidius ''Gomphidius'' is a genus of mushrooms, commonly known as spike-caps, that are members of the Boletales ( suborder Suillineae), or pored fungi. They appear to have gill-like structures which resemble those of agarics, however the similarity is s ...

'' (in which they were once classified), ''Chroogomphus'' are distinguished from ''Gomphidius'' by their lack of a

partial veil In mycology, a partial veil (also called an inner veil, to differentiate it from the "outer", or universal veil) is a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some basidiomycete fungi, typically agarics. Its role is to isolate ...

. The genus name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

χρω- chroo-, meaning 'skin' or 'colour', and 'γομφος' ''gomphos'' meaning 'plug' or 'large wedge-shaped nail'.

Ecology

Members of this genus have been thought to be

ectomycorrhizal An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobi ...

with various species of pine, however, there is now evidence that all members of the Gomphidiaceae are

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

upon other

boletes {{refimprove, date=July 2020 A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique mushroom cap. The cap is clearly different from the stem. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surfac ...

. Specifically, ''Chroogomphus'' species are thought to be parasitic on various

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

-associated ''

Suillus ''Suillus'' is a genus of basidiomycete fungi in the family Suillaceae and order Boletales. Species in the genus are associated with trees in the pine family (Pinaceae), and are mostly distributed in temperate locations in the Northern Hemispher ...

'' species, with this parasitism often being highly species-specific.Agerer R. (1990). Studies on ectomycorrhizae XXIV: Ectomycorrhizae of ''Chroogomphus helveticus'' and ''C. rutilus'' (Gomphidiaceae, Basidiomyetes) and their relationship to those of ''Suillus'' and ''Rhizopogon''. Nova Hedwigia 50:1–63.Olsson PA, et al. (2000). Molecular and anatomical evidence for a three-way association between ''Pinus sylvestris'' and the ectomycorrhizal fungi ''Suillus bovinus'' and ''Gomphidius roseus''. Mycological Research 104:1372–1378.
abstract
In the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

of North America, ''C. tomentosus'' is found with western hemlock (''

Tsuga heterophylla ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

'') and Douglas-fir (''

Pseudotsuga menziesii The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

''), while ''C. helveticus'' of Europe is found in conifer forests containing spruce (''

Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

'' ssp.).

Species

Chroogomphus rutilus ''Chroogomphus rutilus'', commonly known as the brown slimecap or the copper spike, is a species of fungus in the Gomphidiaceae family. First described scientifically as ''Agaricus rutilus'' by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774, it was transferre ...

''
image
, found in Europe, is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

for this genus. It has been the subject of investigation as the source of

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

, as well as other potentially useful

secondary compounds Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the norma ...

. The cap is up to 10 cm in diameter and red-brown in colour. The widely spaced gills are brownish-orange and

decurrent ''Decurrent'' (sometimes decurring) is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward. In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petio ...

with black to brownish-yellow

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s. The stalk is brownish-yellow and tapers toward the base. The flesh is orange to salmon-coloured and turns violet when chewed. ''

Chroogomphus ochraceus ''Chroogomphus'' is a genus of mushrooms commonly known as pine-spikes or spike-caps based on their shape and because they are often found growing in association with pine trees. The genus is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere includ ...

''
image
of North America is very similar in

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

and appearance to ''C. rutilus'', and the latter name has often been misapplied to ''C. ochraceus''.Wood M, Stevens F. (2004).''
''Chroogomphus ochraceus''.
MykoWeb (website). ''

Chroogomphus vinicolor ''Chroogomphus vinicolor'', commonly known as the wine-cap Chroogomphus or the pine spike, is a species of mushroom in the family Gomphidiaceae. Found in North America and the Dominican Republic, mushrooms grow on the ground under pine trees. Ba ...

''
image
, another North American species, is likewise similar to ''C. rutilus'', although ''C. vinicolor'' tends to be smaller. The cap color is variable in both species, with ''C. vinicolor'' being, as its scientific name suggests, more wine-colored while ''C. rutilus'' is usually more brown. The most distinctive differences between these three species are microscopic.Kuo M. (2005)

MushroomExpert.Com (website). Kuo M. (2005)

MushroomExpert.Com (website). Other species within genus ''Chroogomphus'' include:

Edibility

''Chroogomphus rutilus'', ''C. ochraceus'', ''C. oregonensis'', ''C. tomentosus'', and ''C. vinicolor'' are edible and may be interchangeable for culinary purposes. They are not, however, regarded as flavorful and possess neither a distinctive taste nor odor. One food writer states about ''C. rutilus'' and ''C. vinicolor'':

Taxonomy

Ecology

Species

Edibility

References

Further reading