Tricholoma saponaceum    (Fr.:Fr.) P. Kumm. 

common name(s) : Soapy Knight, Soap Tricholoma, Soapy Tricholoma 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Agaricomycetidae/Agaricales/Tricholomataceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Tricholomatales/Tricholomataceae/Tricholomatoideae/Tricholomateae  

synonyms: Tricholoma saponaceum-saponaceum 

edibility : discard

photo gallery of  Tricholoma saponaceum
photo gallery of  Tricholoma saponaceum potential confusions with  Tricholoma saponaceum toxicity of Tricholoma saponaceum genus Tricholoma  

The cap is olive, greyish-brown, grey-green, blackish, convex then expanded, sometimes with a broad umbo; its margin is smooth, thin, incurved, possibly wavy or split. The cap surface is smooth (sometimes slightly scaly for certain varieties), shiny, somewhat greasy but not viscid nor sticky.

The stem is white, red towards base, rooting, without ring nor ring zone.

The flesh is white, turning red when exposed to air; its taste is slightly mild to bitter, not unpleasant; the odour is soapy; its texture is fibrous.

The gills are white with greenish shades, emarginate, distant (nb of gills per 90° ~ 20 ). The spore print is white. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in deciduous or coniferous woods, on a rather acid, but also calcareous soil, most of the time with oak, also with spruce.

The fruiting period takes place from June to December.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 9 cm (between 3 and 15 cm)
  height of stem approximately 9 cm (between 5 and 20 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 20 mm (between 10 and 30 mm)

Chemical tests : none.

Distinctive features : Cap of very variable colours, usually with an olive tinge; odour of soap; the whole mushroom tends to become pink in places when manipulated; gills cream, turning pinkish with age; white stem dotted with red at the often rooting base

Tricholoma saponaceum is quite rare and scattered in the forest of Rambouillet, and is frequent, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Tricholoma saponaceum in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Tricholoma saponaceum in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18