Stunning Entoloma

[FungiJohn]

Hello all

This Entoloma was found in the meadow at Longshaw during my NT fungi photography event.



Nick kindly commented 'Entoloma poliopus with the particularly distinctive shade of blue BUT, E. poliopus has pale brown edges to the gils - and , yours hasn't !!!'

Any thoughts before it goes to Kew?

John

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

Hello all

This Entoloma was found in the meadow at Longshaw during my NT fungi photography event.



Nick kindly commented 'Entoloma poliopus with the particularly distinctive shade of blue BUT, E. poliopus has pale brown edges to the gils - and , yours hasn't !!!'

Any thoughts before it goes to Kew?

John

lovely fungus, John, and you would think that it is so characterful that a name would immediately leap out; but unfortunately that isn't the case - I've been very confused by these blue Entoloma species in the past . . .

Chris

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

lovely fungus, John, and you would think that it is so characterful that a name would immediately leap out; but unfortunately that isn't the case - I've been very confused by these blue Entoloma species in the past . . .

Chris

Thanks Chris. Yes, these are really difficult I imagine Melanie has come across this one too!

John

[solus]

What a beautiful colour!

[Ditiola]

Hi
I do not know much about Entoloma's but I have checked through my photo data base and E.atrocoeruleum (From Mycokey) is the best photo match I can find is this is any help?

Peter

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

E.atrocoeruleum (From Mycokey) is the best photo match I can find

I'm with Chris on these blue Entoloma species. They look like they ought to be straightforward but invariably they are difficult to key out with any confidence.

If you look closely at the picture of Entoloma atrocoeruleum you should be able to make out that the stem is slightly fibrillose. In the keys for this group e.g. by Noordeloos or Vesterholt, you need to know whether the species has a fibrillose stem or a smooth/polished stem. The stems of the specimens in John's photo look smooth to me, without any fibrils, so that would rule out Entoloma atrocoeruleum, even though at first glance it looks a good possibility. It's these fine nuances which make it so difficult to key the species out on the basis of macroscopic characters.

Ken

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

Nick kindly commented 'Entoloma poliopus with the particularly distinctive shade of blue BUT, E. poliopus has pale brown edges to the gils - and , yours hasn't !!!'

Interestingly, both Noordeloos and Vesterholt consider Entoloma poliopus to be a species with a brown cap, so you wouldn't be able to key your specimens out to this species using their keys because your specimens have a distinctive blue cap. Although some species have blue caps that fade to brown with age, Entoloma poliopus has a brown cap from the start.

Another character which is needed in the keys is whether the gills are blue in young specimens. In species with blue gills, even in older specimens you can often pick up a trace of blue underneath the pink of the ripening spores. In John's photo I can't really see any hint of blue on the gills. In addition, there is no hint of a coloured edge to the gills (some species can have blue/black or brown gill edges).

Keying out John's specimens with Vesterholt's key takes you to Entoloma caeruleum but you would really need to check the microcharacters to have any confidence in this identification. In any event it seems that this species is rare and little known, and there could be other species in the list of options (e.g. if the gills were actually blue in young specimens).

The description by Vesterholt of Entloma caeruleum says it is "characterised by having a blue cap, a pale blue, smooth stem and a sterile gill edge with simple cheilocystidia. The cap is not translucently striate... From the beginning the cap is rather dark blue, but it becomes pale blue with age, and finally it may turn ochraceous or brownish."

So sending it off to Kew seems the best option for getting an identification for this distinctive species.

Ken

[Ditiola]

Hi
Did we get a name from Kew for this Entoloma?

Peter

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

Hi
Did we get a name from Kew for this Entoloma?

Peter

Hi Peter

No chance with Kew at the moment since the herbarium closed a month ago to facilitate the merger with the CABI / IMI herbarium and doesn't look like opening for 'normal' business until spring 2010

John