Willow Shield

Pluteus salicinus (Pers.: Fr.) P. Kumm.

Forests, parks, on dead deciduous trees, especially goat willows and aspens. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies small. Cap convex-flattened, flattened, sometimes slightly depressed with a raised centre, matt, fibrous, grey, greyish-brown, with a greenish tinge, margins grooved. Gills white, quickly greyish-pink, pinkish-rose, crowded, narrow, free. Stem 3-7x0.2-0.8 cm, fragile, white, greyish, with a greenish tinge. Flesh white, thin, with a woody smell, not bitter. Characteristic features: most often found on fallen goat willows and aspens. Grows singly or in small groups. Edible, of low value. Not rare, quite common in places. 21 species of shield mushrooms (Pluteus) have been found in Lithuania; none are poisonous. Saprotrophs of wood and humus.