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Bitter Leucopax
Scientific Name: Leucopaxillus amarus
Family Name: Tricholomataceae
Edibility: Too Bitter
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Description: Fleshy, dry, reddish-brown cap and chalky stalk set in dense, white mat; taste bitter. Cap: 2 - 5 inches (5-12.5 cm) wide; convex to nearly flat; margin incurved at first; dry, smooth; reddish-brown, pinkish toward margin. Odor and taste unpleasant, bitter. Gills: attached, close, narrow; white. Stalk: 2 - 3 inches (5-7.5 cm) long, 1/4 - 3/4 inches (0.5-2 cm) thick, with bulbous base; whitish to brown tinged; embedded in thick, cottony-white mat (mycelium). Spores: 4-6 X 3-5 microns; almost round, ornamented with amyloid warts, colorless. Spore print white. Season: July-September. Habitat: On the ground under conifers; also under live oak. Comments: This fleshy, attractive, distinctive species is too bitter to eat. Also known as Leucopaxillus gentianeus. [Lincoff, Gary H., The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1981]