''Pluteus leoninus'', commonly known as lion shield, can occasionally be found growing on dead wood in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. The underside of the cap is typical of the genus ''
Pluteus'' — the gills are pale, soon becoming pink when the spores ripen. But the upper surface is a bright tawny or olivaceous yellow. The species name ''leoninus'' (meaning
leonine) refers to this cap colour.
Description
This description is combined from several references.
[
*The golden to olive-yellow convex cap is 3–7 cm in diameter, is hygrophanous, and usually has a grooved edge. The darker central disc has a slight velvety ]tomentum
Tomentum may refer to:
* Plant trichomes, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves.
* Tomentum (anatomy)
Tomentum may refer to:
* Plant trichomes, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves.
* Tomentum (ana ...
.
*The gills are yellowish at first, then salmon pink (the colour of the spore powder).
*The stipe is up to about 7 cm, often striate, being white to cream, and often darker near the base.
*The mushroom grows on stumps and wood debris of broad-leaved trees and sometimes of conifers.
*At the microscopic level, the filamentous cap cuticle is a trichoderm
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 th ...
. The gills have scanty bladder-shaped pleurocystidia, and abundant fusiform
Fusiform means having a spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a structure that continues from one or both ends, such as an aneurysm on a b ...
cheilocystidia. The spores are smooth, almost globular, approximately 7×6 μm.
Many authorities consider ''Pluteus fayodii'' to be a synonym of ''P. leoninus'',[ but according to Species Fungorum, they are distinct.][
]
Edibility
According to some sources,[ it is edible but has little to no taste.
]
See also
* List of ''Pluteus'' species
References
Edible fungi
leoninus
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of Africa
Fungi described in 1871
{{Agaricales-stub