Club Foot

Description

The club foot has a cap 4–8 cm across, grey-brown, sometimes with an olive tinge and a paler margin; in dry weather it fades to ochre. When young it is convex with a low boss, later becoming flat and depressed in the centre. The gills are cream-yellow and run deep down the stem. The stem has a characteristic club-shaped swollen lower end, from which the species name derives.

It grows on the ground in coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests, also in juniper thickets and on wasteland, most often from August to November, and in Poland in places already from May. It is common in Poland.

It can be confused with the clouded funnel and other funnel caps (Clitocybe), especially when the swelling of the stem base is barely visible. It is poisonous in combination with alcohol, and some descriptions consider it outright inedible. Do not collect it for eating.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 4–8 cm. Young cap arched or convex, with a blunt boss, flat with age, finally depressed in the centre. Margin at first inrolled, later straightened, thin and sharp, paler. Surface smooth, bare or covered with fine fibrils, usually moist. The cap is hygrophanous: pale ochre in dry weather, grey-brown to olive-grey in wet weather.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills crowded, strongly decurrent on the stem, whitish or cream at first, later yellowish; they contrast with the darker cap. Short gills (lamellulae) occur between the gills, and near the stem the gills are sometimes forked. Gill edges straight, sometimes wavy in older fruiting bodies.

Stem

Height 3–9 cm, thickness 0.8–1.8 cm. The base is distinctly club-shaped and swollen (the feature behind the species name), attached to the substrate by white mycelium; the swelling is not always well developed. Surface smooth, silky-fibrous, whitish-grey, cream or light brown, similar to the cap. Interior cottony and soft; the surface of the stem is firmer.

Flesh

White, slightly yellowish at the base of the stem, soft and watery; it does not change colour when damaged. Taste indistinct. Smell faint, described variously: from stale flour to sweetish, resembling almonds, orange blossom or cinnamon. The species is poisonous in combination with alcohol, so the flesh should not be tasted.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white. Spores ovoid, elliptical or roundish, smooth (finely ornamented under SEM), non-amyloid, 4.5–8.5 × 3.5–5 µm (descriptions give different ranges).

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. A mycorrhizal fungus growing on the ground in coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests (especially under beech), in juniper thickets, among grass and fallen leaves, and on wasteland. Old fruiting bodies are sometimes parasitised by the mushroom-loving volvariella (Volvariella surrecta).

Distribution. Europe (from Spain to northern Scandinavia and Iceland), North America, also Korea, Japan and Australia. Common and increasingly frequent in northern Europe; in North America common under pines in the east, less frequent in the north-west. Common in Poland. Not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. In Poland from May to November; in northern Europe mainly from August to November.

What can it be confused with?

• Clitocybe nebularis (clouded funnel) — Larger, with firmer and slightly sour flesh; the gills separate easily from the cap when rubbed with a finger; lacks a distinctly club-shaped stem base, gills less decurrent, overall paler colour.
• Clitocybe costata (ribbed funnel) — Even older specimens have an inrolled, wavy cap margin; usually without a boss, and a more reddish-brown colour.
• Ampulloclitocybe avellaneialba — A North American species; larger, with a darker cap and white gills.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The species name comes from Latin clava “club” and pes “foot”; the English name “club foot” has the same meaning.
• The genus Ampulloclitocybe was established on 5 November 2002, and the competing genus Clavicybe on 31 December 2002; under the principle of priority, the first name prevails.
• Cases of a disulfiram-like reaction were described after eating mushrooms collected in Michigan in 1974, 1976 and 1977; similar reports also come from Japan.
• Old fruiting bodies are sometimes parasitised by the mushroom-loving volvariella (Volvariella surrecta).