About this fungus
Rosy Slime Spike is a fungus in the Gomphidiaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A small Pacific North American mushroom with a rosy pink to red, strongly slimy cap, pale gills that darken as spores mature, and a yellow base to the otherwise pale stem.
What to check
Check that the gills run clearly down the stem, begin pale and become smoky grey to blackish, and that the stem base is yellow. A thin slimy veil can leave a faint ring zone that later darkens with falling spores. There is no volva. A dark grey to blackish spore print supports the genus.
Lookalikes
Gomphidius smithii can be very similar and often needs microscopy. Gomphidius roseus is a European pink-capped species associated with pine and Suillus bovinus, not the Douglas-fir species described here. Some Hygrophorus have slimy caps and decurrent gills but retain a pale spore print and lack the characteristic darkening gills.
Habitat and range
Recorded mainly in western North America under Douglas-fir, spruce and fir. It is often found near Suillus species, especially Western Painted Suillus, Suillus lakei, in Douglas-fir habitat. Gomphidiaceae obtain carbon through complex links involving trees and Suillus, so a simple independent mycorrhizal label is incomplete.
Food safety
Edibility is uncertain or disputed.
Photographs
Dick Culbert / CC BY 2.0