About this fungus
Spotted Collybia is a fungus in the Omphalotaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A robust cream woodland mushroom that develops reddish-brown spots and blotches on the cap, gills and stem as it ages or is damaged. The crowded growth in conifer litter can be conspicuous.
What to check
Look for crowded white to cream gills that are notched at the stem, a tough ringless stem and a pale cream to pinkish-buff spore print. Rust-brown spotting usually increases with age, but young fruit bodies may be almost spotless.
Variation
Caps begin cream or pinkish-white with an inrolled margin, then broaden and acquire scattered spots or larger rusty patches. Stems may be straight, twisted or slightly rooting, and gills can spot later than the cap.
Lookalikes
Butter Cap, Rhodocollybia butyracea, is usually darker with a greasy cap and lacks the same progressive spotting. Rhodocollybia prolixa is more tan to reddish-brown and also lacks the characteristic rust spotting. Young spotless specimens may require microscopy.
Habitat and range
Saprotrophic in conifer needle litter and on well-rotted or buried wood, occasionally in broad-leaved woodland and heathland. It is recorded across Europe, Asia and North America.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0 de
James Lindsey / CC BY-SA 3.0