''Lyophyllum shimeji'', commonly known as the hon-shimeji is an

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 ...

species of

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 th ...

in the family

Lyophyllaceae The Lyophyllaceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. A 2008 estimate indicated eight genera and 157 species; , the Catalog of Life lists 13 genera in the family. Lyophyllaceae was circumscribed by mycologist Walter Jülich in 1981. S ...

that grows in pine forests, often near man-made roads. It is found in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Ecology

''Lyophyllum shimeji'' grows in pine forests.

Edibility

This species is considered edible.

Similar species

''Lyophyllum shimeji'' is similar in appearance to the edible species ''

Lyophyllum decastes ''Lyophyllum decastes'', commonly known as the fried chicken mushroom, or chicken of the gravel, is an edible species of fungus in the family Lyophyllaceae that grows in clusters on disturbed ground, often near man-made roads in gravel, with a f ...

'' and toxic species ''

Lyophyllum loricatum ''Lyophyllum'' is a genus of about 40 species of fungi, widespread in north temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the ...

'', '' Lyophyllum connatum'', '' Clitocybe dilatata'', and those of the ''

Entoloma ''Entoloma'' is a large genus of terrestrial pink-gilled mushrooms, with about 1,000 species. Most have a drab appearance, pink gills which are attached to the stem, a smooth thick cap, and angular spores. Many entolomas are saprobic but some ...

'' genus are also similar in appearance.

References

Lyophyllaceae Fungi described in 1971 Fungi of Japan {{Agaricales-stub