Rosy Bonnet

Description

The rosy bonnet is a slender mushroom with a cap 2–6 cm across, pale pink to pink, with a distinct umbo in the centre. When moist the cap is striate, and in dry weather the umbo turns yellowish. The gills are distant, first white, then pale pink. The stem, 4–7 cm tall, is thin, whitish or whitish-pink, with no ring. The flesh smells of radish.

It grows from May to October on leaf litter in deciduous and mixed forests, preferably on calcareous soils. It is common in Europe.

It is poisonous and contains muscarine. It can be confused with the amethyst deceiver and with the lilac bonnet, which has a more violet shade and grows in coniferous forests. Do not collect small, delicate bonnet mushrooms for eating, and if you are not sure of the species, do not eat the mushroom.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 2–6 cm; globose or convex when young, then flat, finally fully expanded, with a distinct umbo in the centre. Strongly hygrophanous: when moist it is striate because the gills show through. Colour from pale pink to pink; in dry weather the umbo dries to cream-yellow or yellow.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills distant, ventricose, notched and narrow at the stipe, with smooth edges. Initially white, later pale pink.

Stem

Height 4–7 cm, thickness up to 0.7 cm; cylindrical, straight, with a slightly thickened base. Solid in young specimens, hollow in older ones. Colour whitish or whitish-pink, surface finely fibrous. No ring.

Flesh

Thin, white; taste mild, smell radish-like. The species is poisonous — do not taste the flesh.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white. Spores broadly ellipsoid, amyloid, smooth, with a bent apiculus (beak) on one side; 6–9 × 2.5–5 µm (descriptions give different ranges).

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Saprotroph. Grows on the ground, on leaf litter in deciduous and mixed forests, especially often on calcareous soils.

Distribution. Occurs on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Common in Europe. Not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. From May to October.

What can it be confused with?

• Mycena pura (lilac bonnet) — Colour more violet; grows in coniferous forests.
• Mycena sororia — A closely related species, reliably distinguishable only by laboratory methods (isozyme electrophoresis); it has larger spores, 7.5–10 × 4.8–5.5 µm.
• Laccaria amethystina (amethyst deceiver) — Violet rather than pink in colour; it has thicker, more distant gills and is not hygrophanous like the rosy bonnet.

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

• It was first described in 1803 by the Danish botanist Heinrich Schumacher as Agaricus roseus; its current name was given in 1912 by Eugen Gramberg.
• The species is bioluminescent.
• The red pigments mycenarubin A and B occur only in this species and are related to the damirones of marine sponges.
• The English name "rosy bonnet" means a pink cap (bonnet).