Entoloma lividoalbum

Pileus
Cap 7.0-9.0 cm broad, convex, expanding to broadly-convex, eventually nearly plane, frequently with a broad low umbo; margin incurved in youth, at maturity decurved to upturned, translucent-striate, often wavy; surface moist, with dingy-brown, yellowish-brown, to greyish-brown innate fibrils, lighter at the disc; context white, unchanging, soft, 9-13 mm thick near the stipe, quickly thinning towards the margin; odor faint, slightly fragrant to farinaceous when context tissue crushed; taste farinaceous.

Lamellae
Gills adnate to notched, at times with a short decurrent tooth, close, white becoming pinkish, pinkish-grey in age, relatively broad, 7-11 mm in width; lamellulae in four to five series.

Stipe
Stipe 7.0-11.0 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm thick, more or less equal; surface of apex minutely scaly, elsewhere fibrillose-striate, white, discoloring dingy-tan with handling; context white, solid, fleshy-fibrous, unchanging when cut; partial veil absent.

Spores
Spores 6.5-10.0 (11.0) x 6.5-9.0 µm, angular in face-view and profile, mostly five to six-sided, thin-walled, with a conspicuous peg-like hilar appendage; spore pinkish-brown in deposit.

Habitat
Scattered, gregarious, occasionally in arcs under hardwoods, seldom with conifers; fruiting from late fall through mid-winter; common.

Edibility
Unkown, to be avoided; many Entoloma species are toxic.

Comments
Entoloma lividoalbum is characterized by a Tricholoma-like stature, a nearly glabrous, dingy-brown cap often with a lighter disc, a translucent-striate margin, solid stipe, and a faint farinacous odor and taste, the odor most apparent when the cap tissue is crushed. Entoloma lividoalbum belongs to a group of macroscopically similar, not easily separated taxa. To identify a species often requires careful study of the cap, stipe, odors if present, and in some cases microscopic features. Similar Entolomas include Entoloma sericatum, common under oaks, but with a dark-brown cap, lighter towards a striate margin, the cap context <8 mm thick at the stipe, and a momentary nitrous odor that becomes farinaceous; Entoloma rhodopolium is a slender species, with a relatively thin cap < 7 mm thick near the stipe, the margin translucent-striate, sometimes halfway to the disc, a stipe that is often hollow at maturity, and a weak farinaceous odor; Entoloma cinereolamellatum has a dark-brown cap that may become dingy orange-brown at the disc, thus appearing two-toned, the cap context >10 mm thick near the stipe, the gills greyish when young; Entoloma nidorosum is found under conifers, with a yellowish-tan cap and marginal striations reaching halfway to the disc, the cap context < 7mm thick near the stipe, and a strong nitrous odor when fresh. For more information on these and other species, consult the Entolomataceae of the Western United States by David Largent.

Mycophagists should be aware that Entoloma lividoalbum can be confused with unrelated, edible mushrooms such as Lyophyllum decastes and Clitocybe nuda. Lyophyllum decastes has a similar stature and a greyish-brown glabrous cap, but typically grows in clusters. When in doubt it can be distinguished by a white spore print. Clitocybe nuda, the Blewitt, though normally distinctive with a lilac-colored sporocarp, can be nearly brown in age or with weathering, sometimes even mimicking the often wavy cap margin of Entoloma lividoalbum. The pinkish-brown angular spores of Entoloma lividoalbum serve to distinguish it from Clitocybe nuda which has pinkish-buff, elliptical spores.