Bleach Cup

Disciotis venosa – Edible

Forests, lake shores, riverbanks, parks. Spring.

Fruiting bodies 3-12 (13) cm across, shaped like a broad-bottomed, irregular dish with spreading margins, the surface veined and ridged, wrinkled, yellowish-brown, pinkish-brown, dark brown. Hymenium pale greyish-brown, brown. Stem short, up to 1 cm, merging into the cap, whitish pale brown. Flesh white, soft, with a smell of chlorine that disappears on boiling. Characteristic features: cap large, shaped like an irregular dish. Grows singly or in small groups in coniferous and deciduous forests and parks; likes sandy, humus-rich, damp soil, even rotten wood. Fairly rare, edible.