Pig's Ear

Gomphus clavatus

Deciduous and mixed forests. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies large, fleshy, 3-9 cm tall, shaped like an irregular blunt funnel or a rolled ear, when young purplish-violet, later pinkish-brownish, greyish-yellowish, greenish-yellowish; hymenophore veined and folded, net-like, greyish-violet, yellowish-violet. Stem short, tapering towards the base. Flesh whitish, soft, pleasant in taste, not bitter. Grows in mixed forests, likes calcareous soil. A good edible mushroom, but it must not be collected. Very rare, only two sites are known, in the Vilnius and Pakruojis districts. Endangered, protected.