Tricholoma focale
No common name
Tricholomataceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
No common name
Tricholomataceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Photograph
Species Information
Summary:
Tricholoma focale is distinguished by a dry, dull brownish to orange russet cap, innately streaked with red, gills that are narrow and white, a stem with a sheath on its lower part that is fibrillose-scaly to banded with orange-red below the ring, the ring thick and membranous. |The names Tricholoma focale, Tricholoma zelleri, and Tricholoma robustum refer to either the same or similar species according to different authors. The online Species Fungorum, accessed May 2, 2016, treats them separately but that does not necessarily mean that they are all present in the Pacific Northwest. The holotype for Tricholoma zelleri is from WA: Washington DNA matches what is called T. focale in Europe. |Tricholoma zelleri was described from Washington by D. Stuntz and A.H. Smith in 1949, with reference also to its occurrence "in quantity both in Washington and Oregon". They emphasize that T. zelleri has a viscid cap (with differentiated gelatinous pellicle) and cannot be referred therefore to A. focale or A. robustum. Their description is used in a separate entry under Tricholoma zelleri. |Tricholoma zelleri has been the most commonly used name, but if it is a synonym of Tricholoma focale then the latter would take priority. |The name Tricholoma robustum has been used by some authorities and was attached to collections by Zeller from Washington in 1911 and from Oregon in 1932. Smith(15) says in the original description that Armillaria zelleri was the fungus described as Armillaria robustum by Zeller(1). |Moser(1) keeps T. robustum and T. focale separate from each other in Europe on the basis of a chestnut- to reddish date brown cap and spores 4.5-5.5(6) x 3-3.5 microns for Tricholoma robustum, as opposed to foxy red, orange-brownish cap with margin almost cinnabar and spores 3-4.5 x 2.25-3 microns for Tricholoma focale. [The Smith(15) measurement for the spores of T. zelleri by comparison is 4-5(5.5) x 3.5 microns and the Zeller(1) measurement was 6-7.5 x 3.7-5 microns.] |Bon(2) says T. focale is more slender and brighter colored (reddish orange as opposed to coppery reddish brown for T. robustum), and the stem is girdled with fleecy flakes that are concolorous with cap (for T. robustum concolorous with cap up to a shaggy ring). |For other differences among T. focale, T. zelleri, and T. robustum, see SIMILAR section. As Paul Kroeger describes them in that section, he has found Tricholoma focale, Tricholoma zelleri, and Tricholoma robustum in the Pacific Northwest including British Columbia, but the colors he gives do not match well with the descriptions given here. Kroeger has deposited 10 collections from BC under the name T. robustum, the earliest three with a question mark. During the same time period (2004-2010) he deposited three BC collections of T. focale and seven BC collections of T. zelleri.
Gills:
narrow; white, (Courtecuisse)
Stem:
6-8cm x 1-1.5cm, "tapered at base, foxy brown fibrous-scaly as far as woolly ring", (Moser), up to 10cm long and 1.5cm wide, tapering; sheath fibrillose to banded with orange-red under a thick ring, (Courtecuisse)
Odor:
mealy (Courtecuisse)
Taste:
mild (Courtecuisse)
Microscopic spores:
spores 3-4.5 x 2.25-3 microns, short elliptic, (Moser)
Spore deposit:
white (Barron)
Notes:
Tricholoma focale has been reported from Washington by Jumpponen(1), and there are collections at the University of Washington from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Wyoming but many of these reports may be including Tricholoma zelleri in their concept (see Trudell(4) for instance).
EDIBILITY
severe GI symptoms all night after 2 slices in a 2010 report, not clear whether raw, (Beug)
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Tricholoma robustum has less bright colors, a cap that is not fibrillose-striate (T. focale has darker fibrillose streaks), and a thick ring, (Ricken). |In Paul Kroeger''s view, Tricholoma focale has a dry, fibrillose-scaly, drab brown cap, stem likewise drab, dry and fibrillose, and Tricholoma zelleri has a bronze to coppery, smooth and sometimes +/- viscid or shiny cap, often whitish at the margin, smooth but sometimes breaking into scales, odor of raw potato, gills with a decurrent tooth, spotting ochraceous brown, and surfaces staining ochraceous then brown, whereas Tricholoma robustum has bronze to olivaceous bronze cap with innate black radiating fibrils especially over center, margin usually dark, surface smooth but merely lubricous to dry, sometimes breaking into scales, gills whiter and more crowded than the others and attached straight across, spotting less and then yellow then ochraceous or orangy brown, surface staining yellow to yellow-orange then ochraceous, odor of green corn or soil Actinomyces [musty], persisting after drying, (Paul Kroeger, pers. comm.). |Tricholoma aurantium lacks the membranous veil although there is usually a sharp contrast in stem color where a ring would occur, (Trudell(4)). T. aurantium "lacks a ring, usually is smaller, and often has well-developed snakeskin banding on its stalk", (Bessette(5)). |Tricholoma aurantio-olivaceum is similar q.v. |Tricholoma dulciolens is a whitish mushroom with a brownish cap and stem scales, lacks orange and green tones, and lacks the farinaceous odor.Habitat
in conifer woods, especially pines, (Moser), especially under conifers, on sand, (Courtecuisse), fall (Buczacki)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Tricholoma zelleri (D.E. Stuntz & A.H. Sm.) Ovrebo