''Stropharia ambigua'', sometimes known as the questionable Stropharia, is a

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

agaric 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 "mushroom ...

mushroom, commonly fruiting in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

and

wood chips Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, stumps, roots, and wood waste. Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are raw materia ...

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 ...

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 broad, obtuse to convex, becoming flat or uplifted in age; it has a smooth surface, is slimy when moist, and yellowish. The edge may have bits of white

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent ...

hanging from it. 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 white, thick, and soft. The

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 ...

are pale gray and gradually darkens to purplish-gray or purplish-black. The gills occasionally pull away from the stipe with age. The stipe is long, 1–2 cm wide and is stuffed or hollow. It may have bits of white veil hanging from it and, less commonly, a brittle ring. The veil is soft and white. 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 dark purplish to nearly black. The species fruits in the spring and fall. It does not have a volva. The species has been said to taste like old leaves.

Edibility

Alexander Hanchett Smith and Nancy S. Weber state that the species is not poisonous. Contrarily, one source regards it as possibly poisonous. Because of conflicting reports on its edibility, the authors

David Arora David Arora (born October 23, 1952)Barnard J. 1993. "Self-taught mushroom maven travels world for fungi". ''Associated Press'' December 31, 1993. Accessed 2008-01-20, via LexisNexis Academic. is an American mycologist, naturalist, and writer. He ...

, Orson K. Miller, Jr. and Hope Miller do not recommend eating the species.

Distribution and habitat

''Stropharia ambigua'' appears in late fall as a solitary to scattered mushroom or in groups on rich humus, usually under conifers. It can also be found with

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

and other

hardwoods Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

in the Pacific Coast. It has frequently been found in disturbed areas, such as where wood was handled. The species will colonize outdoor mushroom beds after wood chips have been decomposed by a primary

saprotroph Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

. It favors a cold and damp environment.

Similar species

Similar species include '' Stropharia aeruginosa'', '' S. coronilla'', ''S. riparia'', and '' S. semiglobata''.

References

External links

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''Stropharia ambigua''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7624795 Strophariaceae Fungi described in 1898 Fungi of North America Taxa named by Charles Horton Peck