Mushroom Monday: Laccaria bicolor

Mushroom Monday: Laccaria bicolor

Happy Mushroom Monday!  Today’s Mushroom Monday mushroom is Laccaria bicolor.  This mushroom is interesting in appearance and has an important distinction.  Learn more about it below.

What do Laccaria bicolor Mushrooms Look Like?

Laccaria bicolor mushrooms have caps that are orange/brown to pink/brown in color with flesh that has a pale purple or white color.  The caps are around 0.40 to around 2.75 inches across, convex when young but flattening with age, and can have fine hairs or scales.  They have an interesting quality in that they look different when they are wet vs. when they are dry.

The gills of the mushroom are connected to the stem and are a faint purple color when young, but become more pink as the mushroom ages.  The stems are tough in texture, around 1.2 to 4 inches tall, around 0.4 inches thick, and are the same color as the cap.  

When the mushrooms are young, the mycelium at the base can be lilac in color, but this fades as the mushroom ages.  They can look like other species of Laccaria and the lilac color can help distinguish them, when it’s present.

Where can Laccaria bicolor Mushrooms be Found?

Laccaria bicolor mushrooms grow beneath conifer trees and can be alone or in groups growing with moss.  They can be found in Europe, in the western states of North America and around the Great Lakes, and in other places.

What Interesting Distinction to Laccaria bicolor Mushrooms Have?

Laccaria bicolor mushrooms had their genome sequenced in 2008.  Interestingly, they are mycorrhizal mushrooms and were the first one of them to have this done for their full genome.  This work helped to further the understanding of the mycorrhizal relationship between mushrooms and plants.

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