Gomphidius subroseus
Mycologia 17: 120. 1925.
Common Name: none
Cap 3-6 cm broad, convex, becoming broadly convex to plane, sometimes depressed at the disc; margin at first inrolled to incurved, then decurved, plane to occasionally uplifted in age; surface viscid when moist, smooth, rose-red to pale pink, lighter at the margin; flesh thick, white, firm, unchanging or slowly darkening when cut; odor and taste mild.
Gills decurrent, subdistant, white, thick, waxy, becoming greyish-black at maturity from deposited spores.
Stipe 3-7 cm long, 0.7-1.8 cm thick, solid,more or less equal or abruptly narrowed at the base, surface white, moist, with scattered appressed scales at the apex; below the veil, viscid, white, shading to yellowish at the base, glabrous to fibrillose, sometimes discoloring brownish where handled; veil thin, white, fibrillose, embedded in clear slime, forming a thin, glutinous ring, soon blackish from adhering spores.
Spores 16-20 x 4.5-6.5 µm, subfusiform to narrowly elliptical, smooth; spore print black.
Solitary to scattered under conifers, especially Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); fruiting from early to mid-winter.
Edible, but mediocre; the viscid cuticle (pellicle) should be removed.
This handsome Gomphidius is characterized by a rose-red to pink, viscid cap, white, decurrent gills, thin slimy veil, and a yellowish stipe base. The well-spaced, white, waxy gills of young specimens sometimes causes confusion with species of Hygrophorus. The latter, however, can be distinguished by white to pale-colored, not blackish spores. Other Gomphidius species in our area include Gomphidius glutinosus and G. oregonensis. Gomphidius glutinosus is found commonly under Douglas fir and has a greyish to lilac-grey, viscid cap. Gomphidius oregonensis tends to be larger, frequently occurs in clusters, has a dingy-orange, reddish-brown, to greyish-brown, viscid cap, and smaller spores.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Kauffman, C.H. (1925). The Genus Gomphidius in the United States. Mycologia 17(3): 113-126. (Protologue)
Miller Jr., O.K. (1971). The genus Gomphidius with a revised description of the Gomphidiaceae and a key to the genera. Mycologia 63(6): 1129-1163.
Miller Jr., O.K. (2003). The Gomphidiaceae revisited: a worldwide perspective. Mycologia 95(1): 176-183.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Singer, R. (1949). The genus Gomphidius Fries in North America. Mycologia 41: 462-489.
Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p. (PDF)
