Gymnopil (Gymnopilus liquiritiae)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Hymenogastraceae (Hymenogastric)
- Genus: Gymnopilus (Gymnopil)
- Species: Gymnopilus liquiritiae (Endangered Gymnopil)
The disappearing hymnopil belongs to the genus Gymnopil, the Stropharia family.
The diameter of the mushroom cap is from 2 to 8 cm. When the mushroom is still young, its cap has a convex shape, but over time it acquires a flat-convex and almost flat appearance, sometimes it has a tubercle in the center. The cap of this mushroom can be either dry or wet, it is almost smooth to the touch, it can be yellow-orange or yellow-brown
The flesh of the disappearing hymnopil has a yellowish or reddish color, while it has a bitter taste and a pleasant smell, similar to that of a potato.
The hymenophore of this fungus is lamellar, and the plates themselves are either adherent, or notched. The plates are frequent. In the young hymnopil of the disappearing plate, the plates are buffy or reddish, but with age they acquire an orange or brownish color, sometimes mushrooms with brownish spots are found.
The leg of this mushroom is from 3 to 7 cm in length, and its thickness reaches from 0.3 to 1 cm. Often, the leg of the disappearing hymnopil is almost even and hollow, it is fibrous or smooth in structure, and it is whitish or reddish in color, and more light shade at the top.
As for the ring, this mushroom does not have it.
The spore powder has a rusty brown color. And the spores themselves are ellipsoidal in shape, moreover, covered with warts.
The toxic properties of the disappearing hymnopil have not been studied.
The mushroom grows in North America. The disappearing hymnopil usually grows singly or in small groups, mainly on decaying wood among coniferous, sometimes broad-leaved, tree species.
Gymnopilus rufosquamulosus is similar to the disappearing hymnopile, but it differs in the presence of a brownish cap, which is covered with small reddish or orangey scales, and also in the presence of a ring located in the upper part of the leg.