Coalman

Description

The coalman is a medium-sized mushroom with a grey cap, with blackish fibres running radially from the centre, often with an olive or yellowish tinge. The cap may be conical with a blunt umbo and a wavy margin, slightly slippery when damp. The gills are white to greyish, and the stem white or slightly yellowish, without a ring; the flesh smells mealy.

It grows in late autumn, from October to December, usually in groups in pine forests on sandy soils, among mosses and lichens. In Poland it is common.

It can be confused with other grey tricholomas, some of which are inedible or acrid in taste, and also with yellowish tricholomas, including the man on horseback, now regarded as dangerous. Some people do not recommend collecting it because of its similarity to dangerous species. Do not collect mushrooms you have doubts about.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 3–10 cm (descriptions also give 3–11 cm); at first conical-convex, later flattened, often with a blunt umbo, margin inrolled and wavy. Surface grey, pale grey to dark grey, often with an olive, yellowish or violet tinge, with characteristic blackish, embedded radial fibres; slightly slippery when damp.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills at first white, then greyish, moderately crowded or crowded, thin, notched with a tooth or adnate (descriptions differ).

Stem

Height 5–10 cm (descriptions also give 3.5–12 cm), thickness about 2 cm (1–3 cm), cylindrical, solid, smooth, shiny; whitish with a yellowish or greyish tinge, in old age yellow-greenish in places. Ring and volva absent.

Flesh

White, bluish-grey only under the cap cuticle; does not change colour when pressed. Taste mild, sweetish and nutty; smell mealy. Do not taste the flesh of unknown mushrooms.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white. Spores ovoid, smooth, colourless, 5–6 × 4–5 µm.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Mycorrhizal fungus, most often with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), sometimes with oak and beech, on sandy soils. Grows in pine forests with a lot of lichens or mosses, almost always in groups, sometimes together with the green knight. Older specimens are often eaten by slugs.

Distribution. Northern Hemisphere: North and Central America, Europe, Africa (according to some descriptions), Asia. In Poland common (locally frequent). In the Netherlands in decline since the 1980s. Not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. From October to December (late autumn).

What can it be confused with?

• Tricholoma virgatum (the ashen knight; Polish: gąska pieprzna) — Cap sharply conical, without fibres, taste acrid, peppery (according to some descriptions bitter, smell of damp earth, silvery-grey cap); inedible.
• Tricholoma atrosquamosum (Polish: gąska czarnołuskowa) — Blackish scales on the cap.
• Tricholoma terreum (the grey knight; Polish: gąska ziemistoblaszkowa) — Cap fibrous-scaly.
• Tricholoma sciodes (Polish: gąska ostra) — Cap silky-shiny, taste acrid.
• Tricholoma pardinum (the tiger tricholoma; Polish: gąska tygrysia) — Poisonous; distinct grey scales give the cap a shaggy or striped look.
• Tricholoma equestre (the man on horseback; Polish: gąska zielonka), Tricholoma sejunctum (Polish: gąska zielonożółta) — Yellowish shades; the man on horseback is now regarded as dangerous after a series of poisonings in France — do not eat.
• Amanita phalloides (the death cap) — DEADLY POISONOUS — The death cap has a ring and a bulbous base with a volva; the tricholoma has no ring or volva (see the reference entry).

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 epithet portentosum means "amazing, extraordinary" in Latin and according to some descriptions refers to its taste.
• In the Netherlands it has been in decline since the 1980s; in France it remains common and is sometimes sold at mushroom markets.
• According to a 2017 study it has the same genetic profile on the three continents where it occurs.
• It appears late in the season (October–December), sometimes together with the man on horseback.