╔══ Identifications · 7 October 202611 sightings
speciesRussula langei
locationRappenweg (Grainau)
habitatMycorrhizal with deciduous and coniferous trees, late summer to autumn, often in mountain forests
edibilityEdible
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Cap wine-red to purple-violet, often with an olive or grey flush, smooth and matt
- │ ▸ Firm, hard white flesh with a mild taste
- │ ▸ White stem, often flushed pink towards the base
- │ ▸ Brittle gills that chip rather than smear when pressed — unlike the pliable gills of the Charcoal Burner (Russula cyanoxantha)
└─ A firm-fleshed relative of the Charcoal Burner (Russula cyanoxantha), from which it is separated by hard flesh and the pink-flushed stem base. Cap colour is extremely variable, so a firm white stem and a mild taste carry more weight than the hue.
└─ Distinct pink flush on stem. If purple could be Charcoal Burner (Russula cyanoxantha)
speciesHydnellum peckii
locationSchlattan
habitatConiferous forest
edibilityInedible
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ White to pinkish-brown velvety cap exuding red droplets when young
- │ ▸ Teeth/spines underneath instead of pores or gills
- │ ▸ Irregular, tough, fan-shaped fruit body
- │ ▸ Found growing on ground among moss in coniferous forest
└─ Exudes bright red droplets when young, giving it a "bleeding" appearance; turns brown and tough with age
speciesSuillellus luridus
locationSchlattan
habitatBroad-leaf forest
edibilityEdible but not recommended
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Olive-brown cap
- │ ▸ Small orange pores
- │ ▸ Stains blue when bruised or cut
- │ ▸ Red network on stem
speciesSuillus bovinus
locationSchlattan
habitatIn troops in dry, open pine woodland; mycorrhizal with pine
edibilityEdible, but soft and little regarded; best when young
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Convex, ochre, clay-brown to olive cap, slimy when wet, wavy at the margin
- │ ▸ Large, compound angular pores, olive-grey to dull brown, running down the stem
- │ ▸ Slender, ochre stem without a ring
- │ ▸ Often in close troops under pines, frequently alongside the Rosy Spike (Gomphidius roseus)
└─ A gregarious late-summer and autumn bolete of dry pine woodland. Its unusually large, maze-like compound pores and the absent ring separate it from the Slippery Jack (Suillus luteus).
speciesDacrymyces chrysospermus
locationWamberg approach
habitatDead conifer wood, especially spruce
edibilityInedible — no culinary value
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Bright orange-yellow, gelatinous fruit bodies, cushion- to disc-shaped
- │ ▸ Several centimetres wide, limp and slimy
- │ ▸ Grows on dead conifer wood, often in large clusters
- │ ▸ Dries out to a reddish-brown, horny film
└─ In Europe the Dacrymyces jelly fungi grow mainly on conifer wood and can be confused with the yellow witch's butter (Tremella mesenterica) found on hardwoods.
└─ Assumed growing on conifer. If deciduous -> Tremella mesenterica
locationWamberg approach
habitatIn mossy spruce and fir woodland, parasitic on buried truffles (Elaphomyces), late summer to autumn
edibilityInedible — a small, uncommon parasite without culinary interest
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Slender, club- to spindle-shaped, pale yellowish-brown fruit body, often tipped with a paler point
- │ ▸ Rises from buried deer truffles (Elaphomyces), on which it is parasitic
- │ ▸ Smooth, matte surface, only a few centimetres tall, singly or in small groups
- │ ▸ In mossy conifer forest, growing out of the ground litter rather than from wood
└─ A member of the truffleclub genus, parasitic on underground Elaphomyces ("deer truffles") and easily overlooked among moss. The epithet longisegmentatum refers to the long, multisegmented part-spores — hence the literal translation of the name.
speciesClavulina coralloides
locationPflegersee
habitatOn the ground in coniferous and broadleaf forest, in litter and moss
edibilityEdible but of little culinary value
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Cream-white to greyish, coral-like branched fruit body
- │ ▸ Branches end in comb-like crests or pointed tips
- │ ▸ No distinct stem; grows directly from needle and leaf litter, often in tufts
- │ ▸ Turns greyish with age or in dry weather
speciesHygrocybe acutoconica
locationWamberg approach
habitatGrasslands, mossy lawns, woodland edges and rides, often in small groups
edibilityEdible but of little culinary value
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Conical, acutely pointed cap, bright lemon-yellow when young, fading pale as it dries or ages
- │ ▸ Waxy, pale cream-yellow gills, free or slightly adnexed
- │ ▸ Slender, hollow, shiny yellowish stem, longitudinally fibrous
- │ ▸ No ring or veil; thin, watery, yellowish flesh with no distinctive smell
└─ One of the larger waxcaps, most often seen on old grassland and mossy woodland rides; the erect, sharply conical caps give it a very distinct silhouette. The epithet acutoconica ("sharply conical") describes exactly that cap.
speciesHydnum repandum
locationKramerplateau
habitatMycorrhizal with beech, oak and spruce in broadleaf and mixed forest
edibilityExcellent edible mushroom
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Fleshy, irregular cap in warm cream to orange-buff tones
- │ ▸ Soft spines (teeth) instead of gills under the cap
- │ ▸ Spines run decurrently down the short, often off-centre stem
- │ ▸ Firm white flesh with a pleasant fruity smell
└─ Unmistakable thanks to its spines, which makes it safe to collect; young specimens can be pickled.
speciesLaetiporus sulphureus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatA brown-rot decay fungus of trunks and stumps of broadleaf trees, especially oak and cherry
edibilityEdible when young and properly cooked, though it disagrees with some people
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Bright sulphur-yellow bracket fans with an orange centre, in overlapping clusters
- │ ▸ Soft, watery, crumbling sulphur-yellow flesh
- │ ▸ Tiny, sulphur-yellow pores underneath; no stem, attached directly to the wood
- │ ▸ Usually on trunks and stumps of oak, wild cherry and other broadleaves
└─ The "chicken of the woods": a large, unmistakable bracket whose young fans are a celebrated wild food. It must always be thoroughly cooked, and it upsets some people, so a first taste should be small.
speciesPodofomes mollis
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatSaprotrophic on dead broadleaf wood, especially beech trunks and stumps
edibilityInedible — tough, corky and without culinary value
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Effused-reflexed brackets and crusts on dead hardwood, grey-brown to fuscous
- │ ▸ Pore surface whitish to grey-brown with angular pores that become irregular, maze-like and cracked with age
- │ ▸ Soft and tough when fresh, drying hard and brittle; paler, sterile margin
- │ ▸ Typically at the base of standing trunks and on fallen beech logs, well into winter
└─ Long known as Datronia mollis (a name still in wide use); molecular work places the species in Podofomes. The English name Common Mazegill points to its ageing, maze-like pores.