''Floccularia albolanaripes'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

in the family

Agaricaceae The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus ''Agaricus'', as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. Taxonomy The family Agaricaceae was publishe ...

. Mushrooms are characterized by their yellow caps with a brownish center and scales over the margin, and the conspicuous remains 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 isola ...

that is left on the stipe. The species grows 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. Tho ...

and the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

of North America, and in India.

Taxonomy

The species was first described as ''Armillaria albolanaripes'' by American mycologist George F. Atkinson in 1908. The type specimens were collected from Corvallis, Oregon on November 6, 1906. It was known as an ''

Armillaria ''Armillaria'' is a genus of fungi that includes the ''Armillaria mellea, A. mellea'' species known as honey fungi that live on trees and woody shrubs. It includes about 10 species formerly categorized summarily as ''A. mellea''. ''Armill ...

'' for several decades until members of that genus with

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of 7–13 nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the huma ...

spores and lacking black rhizomorphs were transferred to '' Floccularia'' in 1987.

Description

The

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

is convex to flattened (sometimes with a shallow umbo), measuring in diameter. Its color is bright-yellow to orange-yellow and then later brownish, and it has flattened brownish scales over the center. The whitish cap margin is rolled inward. The well-separated

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

have tooth-like edges, and an

adnate Adnate may refer to: * Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower * Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills) * Conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are ...

attachment to the stipe, sometimes with a notch. They are initially white before turning

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

in maturity. The stipe measures long by wide, and is roughly the same width throughout. Shiny with a light yellow-brown base color, it has one to several cottony zones of partial veil remnants. The

flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, but ...

is firm, and white to yellow under the

cap cuticle The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fruit body. It covers the trama, the fleshy tissue of the fruit body. The pileipellis is more or less synonymous with the cuticle, but the cuticle generally describes ...

. It has no distinguishable odor and a mild taste. ''F. albolanaripes'' mushrooms are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

. The

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...

is white.

Spores 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, ...

are ellipsoid, smooth, and measure 6–8 by 4–4.5 µm.

Similar species

The base form of species '' Floccularia luteovirens'' is similar in appearance, but can be distinguished from ''F. albolanaripes'' by its brighter yellow cap color with raised scales on the surface, and yellowish gills. ''F. luteovirens'' forma ''straminea'' (which has sometimes been defined as a distinct species, ''F. straminea'') is another lookalike with similar coloration and habitat preferences, but its cap features shaggy scales arranged in concentric zones, and it has light yellow gills.

Habitat and distribution

The fruit bodies of ''Foccularia albolanaripes'' grow singly to scattered under conifers. In North America, it is found in the

and the

, where it occurs in the spring and summer. A snowbank mushroom, it is often found around the edge of melting snowbanks, or shortly after the snow has melted. In Kashmir, India, it grows in a suspected mycorrhizal association with ''

Pinus wallichiana ''Pinus wallichiana'' is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains, from eastern Afghanistan east across northern Pakistan and north west India to Yunnan in southwest China. It grows in mountain valle ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q10496863 Agaricaceae Edible fungi Fungi described in 1908 Fungi of North America Snowbank fungi