Identification: Clitocybe/Rhodocybe harperi -- question for H. Harmaja...

Hello,

if someone has Harri Harmaja's e-mail I'd be very greatful.

Does this look like Clitocybe harperi?

http://pontix.com/mushrooms/Clitocybe harperi/

The lack of iconography in this Genus presents serious problems for me.

Regards,

Dimitar
www.pontix.com/mushrooms

 

Hi,

I've bumped your user level up, so you can now private message Harri through these forums.

 

Dear Dimitar!

You have a very interesting website dealing with fungi! Numerous rare or otherwise interesting species are included, and modern nomenclature is mostly used. Amazingly many species were found in springtime in Sierra Nevada as 'snowbank fungi'.

Concerning those fungi that I know, only a few identifications should be corrected: the images of Clitocybe gibba and Lactarius scrobiculatus from Europe are O.K. while those from N.A. with these names are something else. The true Tricholoma caligatum only occurs in Europe and North Africa. It does not grow in N.A., neither does the true matsutake (T. matsutake nom. cons. prop. = T. nauseosum). The identifications of Collybia nivalis, Clitocybe vermicularis var. americana and C. vibecina appear doubtful.

As to the question proper that you posed for me, Rhodocybe (Clitocybe) harperi appears to be correctly identified! In fact, the species has originally been described from San Francisco, California.


Warmest regards Harri
http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/harmaja/index.htm

 

Dear Harri,

thank you so much for the review effort. All suggestions, corrections, critique are deeply appreciated.

I am studying your comments very carefully.

The comments about the 'matsutake' are extremely interesting. We recognize two versions (West No. Am.) -- the white and the brown Matsutake. The two names T. magnivelare and T. caligatum have been published locally by authoritative sources (~15-20 yers old). I will do some more research on that. Do you know whether it has been determined what the proper names for our taxons should be?

I am in a process of cleaning up the site from doubtful ids. I used to get excited and put some half baked names, but I've stopped doing that now.

The hygrophanous Clitocybes are really hard subject for me. Once I wetted a dry collection in an attempt to see what the colors would be of the wet specimen, but it didn't quite work. Is there a technique for doing something like that?

Best regards and your input is very much appreciated. I do not know how many people in the World would know for sure what C. harperi is, so please bear with me if I have more questions. We need good pictures for a lot of the more esoteric species, particularly for North America. The latest European literature is miles ahead in that area.

Dimitar

 

Regarding the Matsutake:

Just read some more on that -- indeed, it is has been determined that genetically the Matsutake's of Western North America are not the same as those from Eastern North America, Europe and Asia. Apparently though, the commercial pickers in Oregon and the gourmet connoisseurs in Tokyo have missed that important taxonomic news.

Dimitar

 

Chefs don't care if the DNA sequences are identical of not; as long as the mushrooms look & taste the same. In this case, The matsutake of Western North America & those from Eastern North America, Europe & Asia sure do taste the same.