The Rooting Shank (Hymenopellis radicata) is a tall, elegant woodland mushroom with a secret below ground. Its long, slender stem continues down as a tapering root to buried wood or tree roots, so it often looks as if it is growing from soil. Dig it out carefully and the rooting part can be as long again as the stem above ground.
The greasy, grey-brown cap is usually wrinkled towards the centre and sits above white, widely spaced gills that often have a dark edge. It is a wood-rotter, fruiting from late spring to autumn around broadleaf trees, especially beech. The rooting stem and white spore print separate it from the Deer Shield (Pluteus cervinus), which has a pink print. You may also see it under its older names, Xerula radicata and Oudemansiella radicata.
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Distribution
Common and widespread.
Habitat
Occurs around living deciduous trees, especially Fagus, from roots or buried wood.
Etymology
Hymenopellis combines Greek hymen, 'membrane' (the spore-bearing surface), and Latin pellis, 'skin'. radicata is Latin for 'rooted', after the long rooting stem.
Associates
Fagus
Cap
Greasy to slightly sticky when damp, often radially wrinkled around a low umbo.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Convex, Umbonate |
| Surface | Smooth, Rugulose |
| Width | 2 - 12 cm |
| Margin | Smooth |
Gills
The gills are white to pale cream, adnexed to emarginate and widely spaced. They often have a dark brown edge, most obvious in mature specimens.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Attachment | Adnexed, Emarginate |
Flesh
Thin and white.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Odour | Not distinctive |
| Taste | Mild |
Stem
Long, slender and finely striate, paler at the top and browner below, tapering into a deep root to buried wood.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 - 25 cm |
| Width | 3 - 10 mm |
| Texture | Smooth |
| Shape | Cylindric |
Spores
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Subglobose, Broadly ellipsoid |
| Size | 12-17 x 9-14 μm |
Classification
- ↳ Phylum: Basidiomycota
- ↳ Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
- ↳ Class: Agaricomycetes
- ↳ Subclass: Agaricomycetidae
- ↳ Order: Agaricales
- ↳ Family: Physalacriaceae
- ↳ Genus: Hymenopellis
Synonyms
- Agaricus radicatus Relhan
- Collybia radicans P. Kumm.
- Collybia radicata (Relh. ex Fr.) Quel.
- Collybia radicata (Relhan) Quél.
- Gymnopus radicatus (Relhan) Gray
- Hymenopellis radicata var. bispora (Redhead, Ginns & Shoemaker) R.H. Petersen,
- Mucidula radicata (Relh. ex Fr.) Boursier
- Mucidula radicata (Relhan) Boursier
- Mucidula radicata f. marginata Konrad & Maubl.
- Oudemansiella radicata
- Oudemansiella radicata (Relhan) Singer
- Oudemansiella radicata var. marginata (Konrad & Maubl.) Bon & Dennis
- Xerula radicata (Relhan) Dorfelt
- Xerula radicata (Relhan) Dörfelt
- Xerula radicata var. alba Dörfelt
- Xerula radicata var. marginata (Konrad & Maubl.) anon. ined.
- Xerula radicata var. marginata (Konrad & Maubl.) ined.
Reference Sources
T. Læssøe, J. H. Peterson (2019) Fungi of Temperate Europe Vol. 1. Princeton University Press.
G. Kibby (2020) Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain & Europe Vol. 2. Geoffrey Kibby.
Genus Hymenopellis
No other species found in this genus.
