Spring Funnel (Clitocybe sinopica)

Clitocybe sinopica

Coniferous forests, most often old fire sites, burnt areas. Spring, summer (rarely).

Fruiting bodies small. Cap 3-6 cm across, flattened, irregularly depressed, funnel-shaped, finely fibrous, margins bent downwards, reddish-brown, brownish-orange. Gills cream, brownish, running far down the stem. Stem 3-6x0.3-1.3 cm, elastic, often bent, crooked, fibrous, the colour of the cap. Flesh whitish, when old brownish, tough, with a strong mealy smell, not bitter. Characteristic features: fruiting bodies tough, cap irregularly depressed, stem crooked, gills decurrent; appears only in spring. Grows singly or in small groups in pine forests, less often spruce forests, most often on bonfire sites. Edible; suitable for inoculating pine seedlings when planting burnt areas.