The deer mushroom, a common saprotroph on decaying wood with a brown cap, free gills that turn from white to pink, and a pinkish-brown spore print. DNA studies (Justo et al. 2014) show the traditional concept includes several cryptic species, which morphology cannot always separate. It lacks a ring and a volva.
Edible but of poor quality; young caps can be added to cooked dishes. Caution: similar-colored Entoloma species, some poisonous, have attached (not free) gills and angular spores. Confirm free gills, growth on wood and a pinkish-brown spore print.
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Habitat
Saprotrophic on deadwood of hardwoods, less often conifers; on logs, stumps, roots, sawdust and buried wood (so can appear terrestrial). Fruits spring through fall, and in winter in warm climates; April to December in Europe.
Distribution
Common in Europe and eastern North America (about the 45th parallel southward, from the Great Plains east). Rare and possibly introduced in western North America, where P. exilis is more common; P. rangifer replaces it in boreal forests.
Characteristics
Cap: 4.5-10 cm (up to 12 cm); convex, becoming nearly flat; shiny, often radially streaked; dark to pale brown, sometimes olive or gray tinged; tacky when fresh. Gills: free, close or crowded; white, becoming pink, then deep flesh color. Stem: 5-13 cm long, 5-15 mm thick; whitish, browning near the base, finely fibrillose; no ring or volva. Flesh: white, unchanging. Odor/taste: odor indistinct to radishlike; taste usually slightly radishlike. Spore print: brownish pink. Spores: ellipsoid, smooth, 6-8 x 4.5-6 um. Microscopy: thick-walled pleurocystidia with 2-5 apical prongs or hooks.
