#rooting shank

[raverams]

Beukwortelzwam

[deathandmushrooms]

Brittlestems - destroying angel - violet cort - rooting shank(?)

It has been raining for a week but there was a break this morning where it was just muggy and buggy as all hell, and the forest floor was soaked to the bone and making mosquitos very happy. So naturally, I went to the deep woods to hike for three miles in search of mushrooms because I have a problem.

[mushroomgay]

Some shroomy Bois I found hiking last fall. Been wanting to get out into woods too, this quarantine is driving me nuts. Miss seeing cool fungi (that's also the first lobster mushroom I've found!)

[Submitted by @winking-owl​]

How gorgeous!! Sorry it’s taken me a while to reply. I’m super jealous of that lobster mushroom - I’ve never actually found one myself, and really want to try one. 

Top photo looks like a variable oysterling (Crepidotus varibilis), though more golden than I’d expect, so perhaps not!

Second is definitely the distinctive rooting shank (Xerula radicata) - you can’t mistake that elegant stem. You got super lucky on edibles here; did you gather any of them?

Thanks for sharing your cool fungi, I’m missing the woods a lot.

[mushroomgay]

South Downs, UK, August 2019

Rooting shank (Xerula radicata)

Although a reasonable edible, I’ve never considered rooting shanks much worth gathering unless to supplement some other foraged species, as they grow singularly, and are quite insubstantial. They were absolutely covering the woodland parts of the trail I was hiking for four days, however, in numbers I’ve never seen further north in the UK, and would have been worth picking, but unfortunately I had no way to safely transport them along the hike and home again.

[mushroomgay]

Barnet, London, UK, August 2018

Rooting shank (Xerula radicata)

These elegant fungi are common across Britain. They are edible, but not particularly desirable, and rarely found in large enough numbers to be worth collecting (additionally, this one had been taken over by a group of small insects). You are better off admiring their long, elegant, and finally grooved stem, their most recognisable feature. If you do pick them, try digging gently down around their base - they often have as long a stem below the earth as they do above, as they most commonly grow on deeply buried well-rotted wood. 

[libutron]

Rooting Shank - Xerula radicata

Xerula radicata (Physalacriaceae) is a tall and very graceful mushroom with the cap radially wrinkled, and much of its stem below the forest floor as above. This species, which occurs in Europe and North America, is generally regarded as an edible mushroom, but it is not highly rated and, because it rarely occurs in any great numbers, not worthwhile.

Synonym: Oudemansiella radicata

References: [1] - [2]

Photo credit: ©Claude-Alain Berdoz | Locality: not indicated (2014)