Chroogomphus vinicolor Peck (O. K. Miller)
Mycologia 56:536. 1964.

Common Name: Pine Spike

Synonym: Gomphidius vinicolor Peck

• Pileus

  Cap 3.0-9.0 cm broad, convex, broadly so in age, occasionally with a pointed umbo; margin inrolled, then incurved, decurved at maturity; surface viscid when moist, drying shiny, glabrous to to appressed fibrillose, mahogany brown to reddish-brown; flesh thick, orange to salmon, unchanging, vinaceous with 3% KOH; odor not distinctive, taste mild.

• Lamellae

  Gills decurrent, subdistant, orange-brown, becoming greyish brown in age; lamellulae in up to four-series.

• Stipe

  Stipe 4.5-12.0 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm thick, solid, slender to stout, often flexuous, narrowed towards the base; surface dry, orange-brown with scattered fibrils; partial veil fibrillose, ephemeral, leaving remnants high on the stipe.

• Spores

  Spores 15-21 x 5-7 µm, smooth, thin-walled, narrowly elliptical in face-view, subfusoid in profile, hilar appendage inconspicuous; pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia thick-walled; spore print dark-grey to black.

• Habitat

  Scattered to gregarious under pines; frequent with Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) in the San Francisco Bay Area; fruiting from early fall through mid-winter, often with Suillus pungens; common.

• Edibility

  Edible, but mediocre fresh; best when dried.

• Comments

  Chroogomphus vinicolor is recognized by a mahogany-colored cap, salmon-orange flesh, orange-brown stipe, decurrent gills and a tapering stipe. Chroogomphus ochraceus with which it is often confused has a more greyish-brown cap and paler gills at maturity. (for additional differences see Comments under Chroogomphus ochraceus). Microscopically, Chroogomphus vinicolor differs from Chroogomphus ochraceus in possessing thick-walled rather than thin-walled cystidia.

• References

  Kauffman, C.H. (1925). The Genus Gomphidius in the United States. Mycologia 17(3): 113-126.
  Miller Jr., O.K. (1964). Monograph of Chroogomphus (Gomphidiaceae). Mycologia 56: 526-549.
  Miller Jr., O.K. (2003). The Gomphidiaceae revisited: a worldwide perspective. Mycologia 95(1): 176-183.
  Singer, R. (1949). The genus Gomphidius Fries in North America. Mycologia 41: 462-489.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Dimitar Bojantchev: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Dimitar Bojantchev: Chroogomphus (CP) -- Comparison of C. ochraceus (left) and C. vinicolor (right)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Taylor F. Lockwood: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP) -- closeup of gills and stipe apex
  • Fred Stevens: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP) -- thick walled cystidia
  • Fred Stevens: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Robert Rich: Chroogomphus vinicolor (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 485 (D), plate 113 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 148 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 651 (D), plate 219 (CP)
  • Phillips: p. 213 (D & CP)
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 89 (D & CP)
  • Thiers (1985 #2): p. 11 (D)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)