A gray, pink-spored gilled mushroom of eastern North American hardwood forests that is best known for the whitish, irregular lumps (the 'aborted' form) that appear alongside it. Those lumps were long thought to be Entoloma fruitbodies deformed by honey mushrooms (Armillaria), but culture and field work published in 2001 concluded the reverse: they are mostly malformed Armillaria fruitbodies permeated by Entoloma hyphae, so E. abortivum is the parasite. The gilled form is hard to separate from many other gray-brown Entoloma species, some of them poisonous.
Edible with caution. The aborted (lumpy) form is widely eaten in eastern North America as 'shrimp of the woods'. The gilled form is not recommended: it is easily confused with poisonous Entoloma species such as E. sinuatum. Cut every lump in half: a deadly Amanita 'egg' (amatoxins) shows the outline of a cap, gills and stem inside. Eat only firm, fresh lumps, cook them well and try a small amount first, since some people get stomach upset.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.
Habitat
Parasitic on Armillaria species and probably also saprobic on woody debris; scattered to gregarious on or near rotting wood, stumps and buried roots in hardwood forests, and in leaf litter, lawns or wood chips near decaying wood, often where honey mushrooms are fruiting. Late summer and fall.
Distribution
Eastern North America, widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains; also known from Mexico (where the aborted form has the local name 'totlcoxcatl').
Characteristics
Cap: 2-8 cm, convex with an inrolled margin, later flatter, sometimes with a low central bump; dry, bald to finely fibrous; gray to grayish brown; margin not lined. Gills: close to crowded, attached or more often running down the stem; pale gray, becoming pink as spores mature. Stem: 2-8 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm thick, sometimes off-center, often enlarged at the base, solid, with white basal mycelium. Flesh: thick, white, not changing when cut. Odor and taste: strongly mealy. Aborted form: irregular, lumpy whitish masses 2-10 cm high that age brownish; firm inside, with whitish and pinkish marbled tissue. Spore print: pink. Spores: angular, 5- to 8-sided, 8-10 x 4-6 um (MushroomExpert).
