Gypsy mushroom

Appearance

The ochre-coloured cap is up to 10 cm across and has a fibrous surface. The clay-colored gills are attached to the stipe under the cap, and the stipe is whitish with a whitish ring.

''C. caperatus'' has a buff to brownish-ochre cap 5–10 cm diameter, which is covered with whitish fibres. The surface has a wrinkled and furrowed texture. It may have a lilac tinge when young. It is convex initially before expanding and flattening with a boss in the centre. The stipe is 4–7 cm high and 1–1.5 cm thick and slightly swollen at the base, and is whitish with a whitish ring, which is initially attached to the cap. Also known as a partial veil, this is a key identifying feature of the mushroom. The clay-coloured gills are free—they do not reach the stipe under the cap. The spores give an ochre-brown spore print, and the warty almond-shaped spores measure 10–13 µm long by 8–9 µm wide. The flesh is cream-coloured and the flavor mild.

Similar-looking North American species include ''Agrocybe praecox'', which lacks the wrinkled cap and is found in cultivated areas, and ''Phaeolepiota aurea'', which has powdery-granular surface. In central Europe, old specimens could be mistaken for the highly poisonous ''Inocybe erubescens'' in summer, and young mushrooms for the inedible ''Cortinarius traganus'', although the latter is readily distinguished by its unpleasant odour.

Naming

It was known as ''Rozites caperata'' for many years before genetic studies revealed that it belonged to the genus ''Cortinarius''.

Distribution

''C. caperatus'' is found across northern Europe, mainly in Scandinavia, where it is common, although it is uncommon in Denmark and Iceland. In the British Isles it is uncommon outside the Scottish Highlands and the New Forest. It has been classified as ''vulnerable'' in Germany and Great Britain and ''endangered'' in the Netherlands. ''C. caperatus'' had become less common in the vicinity of Salzburg in Austria between 1937 and 1988, thought due to picking.

It is widely found in northern parts of North America, as far south as Mendocino County on the west coast. It is uncommon in California. ''C. caperatus'' is a rare component of subarctic areas of western Greenland. The gypsy mushroom also grows in temperate Asia, having been recorded growing with bilberry near oriental beech and fir near Pamukova in the Marmara Region of Turkey. It is also found in boggy areas of the taiga in western Siberia.

Fruiting bodies sprout from August to October in conifer and beech woods, as well as heather in Scotland. It is mycorrhizal but non-selective in its hosts. Mushrooms appear from September to November in North America, and July and August in Alaska. It prefers acidic and sandy soils and avoids chalky ones, and may be found in the same habitats as bay bolete , brown rollrim , and chanterelles. It forms relationships with Scots pine . It is often found under Sitka spruce , or near huckleberry in North America. In Alaska it grows with dwarf birch and American dwarf birch . In Greenland, it grows in association with white birch .

Uses

Popular with mushroom foragers, ''C. caperatus'' is picked seasonally in throughout Europe. Although mild-tasting and highly regarded, the mushrooms are often infested with maggots. In central Europe, old specimens could be confused with the poisonous ''Inocybe erubescens'' in summer. Fruiting bodies of ''C. caperatus'' have been found to bioaccumulate mercury and radioactive isotopes of caesium.