Xeromphalina campanella
Encyclopedia
Xeromphalina campanella is a species
of mushroom
. The common name
s of the species include the golden trumpet and the bell Omphalina. The genus
name Xeromphalina means "little dry navel" and campanella means "bell-shaped", respectively describing the mature and young shapes of the pileus, or cap
. The mushroom is also called fuzzy-foot.
of X. campanella has a small umbrella-shaped cap
and a thin brown stalk
with yellow hairs at the base. The gills are pale yellow to pale orange. The stalk is thick, dry, yellow at the apex, is dark reddish brown below, and the base has long orangeish hairs. The spore print
is pale buff. Xeromphalina kauffmanii resembles the species, but it grows on decaying wood of broad-leaved trees. Xeromphalina brunneola also remembles the species, except for the odor, taste, color of the cap, and by the smaller, narrowly elliptical spores. When the species is young, their caps are bell-shaped. As they mature, the outer part of the cap expands and rises which leaves the center depressed, resembling a navel
.
. David Arora
suggests that the mushroom is a small morsel that is hardly worth eating. Despite many authors calling the mushroom inedible, author Bill Russell knows people that eat the mushroom frequently.
. At times, the species almost entirely covers old tree stumps. The species can be found in any wet season
of the year.
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 name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
s of the species include the golden trumpet and the bell Omphalina. The genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
name Xeromphalina means "little dry navel" and campanella means "bell-shaped", respectively describing the mature and young shapes of the pileus, or cap
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
. The mushroom is also called fuzzy-foot.
Description
The fruit bodyBasidiocarp
In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome or basidioma , is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures...
of X. campanella has a small umbrella-shaped cap
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
and a thin brown stalk
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
with yellow hairs at the base. The gills are pale yellow to pale orange. The stalk is thick, dry, yellow at the apex, is dark reddish brown below, and the base has long orangeish hairs. 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 pale buff. Xeromphalina kauffmanii resembles the species, but it grows on decaying wood of broad-leaved trees. Xeromphalina brunneola also remembles the species, except for the odor, taste, color of the cap, and by the smaller, narrowly elliptical spores. When the species is young, their caps are bell-shaped. As they mature, the outer part of the cap expands and rises which leaves the center depressed, resembling a navel
Navel
The navel is a scar on the abdomen caused when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby...
.
Edibility
Although the species is not poisonous, the mushrooms are small and bitter tasting with no value as ediblesEdible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
. David Arora
David Arora
David Arora is an American mycologist, naturalist, and writer. He is the author of two popular books on mushroom identification, Mushrooms Demystified and All That the Rain Promises and More.......
suggests that the mushroom is a small morsel that is hardly worth eating. Despite many authors calling the mushroom inedible, author Bill Russell knows people that eat the mushroom frequently.
Habitat
The fruiting occurs in clumps or very dense clusters on decaying logs, stumps, and woody debris of coniferous trees. The species is commonly found in North AmericaNorth 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...
. At times, the species almost entirely covers old tree stumps. The species can be found in any wet season
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
of the year.