About this fungus
Aniseed Funnel is a fungus in the Tricholomataceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A blue-green to grey-green woodland funnel with a strong aniseed or liquorice odour when fresh.
What to check
Look for a smooth non-greasy cap that flattens and becomes shallowly funnel-shaped, pale gills that are attached or run slightly down the stem, and fine white down at the stem base. The spore print is white, with no ring or volva. Confirm both colour and structure because the odour may weaken with age.
Variation
Young mushrooms are most strongly blue-green. The cap and gills can fade through grey-green to pale cream or brownish tones, and old specimens may also lose much of their aniseed odour. Some modern taxonomic sources use the name Collybia odora.
Lookalikes
Clitocybe fragrans is pale rather than blue-green and is treated as toxic or suspect because of possible muscarine. Blue-green Stropharia species have slimy or scaly caps and purple-brown spores. Faded funnels should not be identified by odour alone because other pale Clitocybe-like mushrooms can be poisonous.
Habitat and range
Saprotrophic in broadleaf or conifer leaf litter. European records often emphasize beech, while North American records include oak woods and conifer forests.
Food safety
Edible.
Use this profile to learn what to examine and compare, not as proof that a mushroom is safe to eat. Check the whole specimen and every important lookalike before reaching an identification.
Photographs
Jerzy Opioła / CC BY-SA 3.0
J. Marqua / CC BY-SA 3.0