Crepidotus mollis is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

. The common names of the species is soft slipper and jelly crep.

Description

The cap is kidney shaped. The cap is white when it is young and when it gets older, it turns ochre

Ochre

Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...

. The flesh of the cap is white and can be broken easily. The gills are pale brown and soft. The cap is flabby and has brown spores. The upper layer of the cap is elastic and can be stretched slightly at the margin. The spores are short elliptic and smooth. The spore print

Spore print

thumb|300px|right|Making a spore print of the mushroom Volvariella volvacea shown in composite: mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print...

 is snuff brown. The stalk is rudimentary or lacking. Crepidotus crocophyllus looks similar to this species and is sometimes confused with it. The species resemble a globe in moist weather. The species has a relative large size compared to other species in the genus Crepidotus. The fungus Hypomyces tremellicola is a parasite that deforms this species' cap.

Edibility

The species edibility is unknown. Since very little is known about the edibility of the mushrooms in the genus Crepidotus, none of the species should be eaten. The authors Orson K. Miller and Hope Miller said that the species is too small to consider it edible.

Habitat

The species grows in groups or overlapping tiers on hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

. The hardwood includes tree trunks, fallen branches, and sawdust. Rarely, the species grows on coniferous trees. The species is widely distributed and very common. The months that the species can commonly be found in are from July to September. The species can be found in temperate zones of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, and The British Isles. It can also be found in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 during spring

Spring (season)

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...

, summer

Summer

Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...

, and autumn

Autumn

Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....

.