Tricholomopsis platyphylla

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Don: I recently returned from a trip to Missouri where
I got the opportunity to hunt (and find!) morels with some dear friends.
I found some other mushrooms too!

As you can see, these are fairly large and meaty mushrooms.
They have white spores, and were growing on a dead hardwood tree.
The gill attachment is notched, and the gills are somewhat waxy feeling and very broad.
There was no visible annulus on the stipe, and the stipe was very tough and hollow.

The question is: 1) Is this enough information to identify to genus?
2) species?

Mike P. It looks like Trichlomopsis platyphylla to me,
a species I used to see while picking on the east coast.

Cloudwaterfall: Is this Pluteus cervinus?

Godsavethecheese: Pluteus cervinus has pink spores,
free gills that are crowded and turn from white to a pink, flesh color.
Here's a pic click for link


Sava: Nice and exciting!
Don, thanks for sharing these pictures.
Mike, it's great to have you here with your knowledge of eastern species.
I believe your ID is correct.
The match with the description of Tricholomopsis platyphylla
in "Mushrooms Demystified" is good.
I've never seen this mushroom and didn't know what it was when I saw Don's photos.
Now I know---thanks again.

Godsavethecheese, you explained well why we should eliminate Pluteus.
You may have added that the gills are distinctly free in Pluteus,
whereas Don observed a notched attachment. And,hmm...,
I'm not violently opposed to the use of pseudonyms,
but I'd really prefer to see your real name with your postings.


Mike P: everyone's questions, guesses, and comments.
As it turns out,
I have an indirect personal connection to this mushroom.
While in grad school in RI, I poisoned myself with Suillus luteus.
I wrote up the incident for publication and asked the school's mycologist,
Dr. Roger Goos, to confirm my ID and be my coauthor.

As it turned out, Dr. Goos had inadvertently poisoned his wife -- twice --
with Trichomopsis platyphylla, and he had written it up both times.
He already had tenure, which dispelled any possible suspicion that he was
sacrificing his family for career, and in a worse way than usual.
More seriously, Roger (who died last year) was a gentleman, and quite modest
-- on mushroom walks, he always deferred to my ID,
but I found out later, he was working on his book The Mycota of Rhode Island,
so obviously he was no slouch at local taxonomy,
but was just helping me learn the species myself.
I first encountered Stropharia rugosoannulata growing in the shrubs outside his office.
Here's a link to my guess,
which apparently is now considered a group of similar species:
http://mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Megacollybia_fallax.html