Unknown Gymnopilus

[colinaj]

I think this is G. hybridus, very common at Dunwich Suffolk, today. although cannot rule out G. Penetrans. Should have taken one home but thought I could name it.
What do the other experts think?

[GerryNick2]

Certainly no expert but I would say it is a closer match to G. hybridus than G. Penetrans. I may be wrong but a couple of good indications are the slightly inrolled margin on the smaller one and the hollow stem on the other.

Gerry

[colinaj]

Thanks, sometimes the comfort of another experts view makes me sleep better at night.

[Angelo_Xanthi]

Hi

If we consider G. penetrans and G. hybridus two different species, then certainly yours is a G. hybridus, i. a. for the persistent silvery cortina forming a visible ring zone. There is, however, a different view, as quoted below from Breitenbach and Kranzlin's "Fungi of Switzerland", volume 5, page 140, remarks under Gymnopilus sapineus:

"Gymnopilus sapineus belongs to the group of species on firs, with the following species mentioned in the lit.: G. penetrans, G. hybridus, and G. liquiritiae. Various authors differ completely on the relative taxonomic rank of the species. While MOSER and WATLING et al. consider them to be different species, other authors, such as KRIEGLSTEINER and HOILAND concluded that they are all one species, or at the most two species, G. sapineus and G. penetrans. Since we could not find any relevant microscopic differences upon examining our various collections, we follow the latter authors..."