Taxon of the Week! (March 17 2010)

Entoloma "bloxamii"

This large, beautiful Entoloma is a common fall and early-winter denizen of redwood habitats in and around UCSC. You can easily learn to recognize this species by noticing:

1. The dry, grey-blue, sky blue or dark midnight blue cap. The depressions on the cap often have a frosty appearance.
2. Pale whitish or light blue-gray, ATTACHED gills that yield a PINK SPORE PRINT
3. The thick, fleshy, white stipe that is often tinged blue.
4. GROWTH ON GROUND.

For those of you who were at Oscar's house on my birthday last year, we ate some of these, simply sauteed. Not cause for much excitement, but notable for being one of the few edible Entoloma locally.

This species was originally described from Europe, where it grows in a radically different habitat. I would be surprised if molecular and further microscopic comparison didn't support the separation of these two species. Hence, the quotes around the species epithet...