Medicinal Mushrooms

The wood woollyfoot, Gymnopus peronatus (Bolton) Antonín, Halling & Noordel.
  Credit: 'Strobilomyces'
  Source: Wikimedia Commons, GFDL licence

Synonyms

Agaricus peronatus Bolton
  Hist. fung. Halifax 2: 58 (1788)
Agaricus urens Bull.
  Herbier de la France 11: tab. 528, fig. 1 (1791)
Collybia peronata (Bolton) P. Kumm.
  Führer Pilzk. (Zwickau): 116 (1871)
Collybia urens (Bull.) P. Kumm.
  Führer Pilzk. (Zwickau): 115 (1871)
Marasmius peronatus (Bolton) Fr.
  Anteckn. Sver. Ätl. Svamp.: 52 (1836)
Marasmius urens (Bull.) Fr.
  Anteckn. Sver. Ätl. Svamp.: 52 (1836)

Cap: 2.5-6 cm diameter, convex to plane, often with broad umbo and irregularly lobed margins; glabrous; sometimes grooved above gills; yellow-brown to pink-brown with paler margin; hygrophanous; context white to pale yellow.
Stem: 3-7.5 cm long and 0.3-0.8 cm thick; smooth or floccose at apex becoming fibrillose-striate below, usually expanded towards base; ochre-brown to yellowish, often more orange-brown towards the base which is covered with buff to yellowish hairs.
Gills: free, distant, sometimes forked near stem; pale or yellowish changing to brownish; edges entire or finely whitish granulose fringed.

  Credit: James Lindsey
  Source: Wikimedia Commons, via James Lindsey's Ecology of Commanster Site
Spores: 8.5-10 x 3-4 µm, smooth, elliptic to subcylindrical.
Odor: mild.
Taste: peppery to pungent/acrid.
Edibility: considered too acrid to eat. Furthermore, reports of the presence of the toxic compound hydrocyanic acid (Bach, 1948) indicate consumption be avoided.
Habitat: usually found in dense groups in forest litter, on conifer and hardwood debris.

Bioactive compounds

Two 3-indolinone dimers have been isolated from EtOAc extracts of the fruit bodies of Collybia peronata, peronatins A and B (shown below). The diastereoisomeric compounds are formed in the fruit bodies upon injury, from enzymatic hydrolysis of an indole precursor and oxidative coupling of the derived indoxyl radicals (Pang and Sterner, 1994). Further work on the synthesis and isomerization of these indole-compounds has been reported (Stachel et al., 1997).

Peronatin A

Peronatin B: R=R'=H

The sesquiterpene deoxycollybolidol (3β-(3-furyl)-3,4,4aα,8β,9,9aα- hexahydro- 5-β-methyl-5,8-methano-lH-pyrano[3,4-d]oxepin- l,6(5H)-dione, shown below) was first identified from the chloroform-methanol extract of G. peronatus (Fogedal and Norberg, 1986), and its presence later confirmed (Castronovo et al., 2001).

The sesquiterpene deoxycollybolidol, consisting of a tricyclic nucleus bearing both a γ- and a δ-lactone group, and a benzoate and a furan ring as substituents.

Medicinal properties
Antitumor effects

Reporting on the favorable influence of sodium citrate on the production of antibiotics in Marasmius spp (Öblom, 1950), it is suggested that this species has antibacterial activity: "Recent work on antibiotics has shown that Marasmius urens (Bull). Fr. is highly active against several pathogenic bacteria (Öblom and Wallmark, unpublished)." This work (i.e., the effect of organic acids on antibiotic production) was later elaborated and expanded (Öblom, 1951), and Staphylococcus aureus was used as the test bacteria.

An extract of the fruit bodies inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers in mice by 60% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

See a photo gallery at Biopix

References

Bach E.
Marasmius peronatus and Marasmius perforans form hydrocyanic acid.
Friesia. 1948 3(5):377-8.

Castronovo F, Clericuzio M, Toma L, Vidari G.
Fungal metabolites. Part 45: The sesquiterpenes of Collybia maculata and Collybia peronata.
Tetrahedron. 2001 57(14):2791-8.

Dix NJ, Simpson AP.
Decay of leaf litter by Collybia peronata.
Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 1984 83(AUG):37-41.

Fogedal M, Norberg T.
Deoxycollybolidol, a sesquiterpene from Collybia peronata.
Phytochemistry. 1986 25(11):2661-3.

Higham CA, Jones ERH, Keeping JW, Thaller V.
Natural Acetylenes .45. Polyacetylenes from cultures of fungus Collybia peronata (Bolt Ex Fr) Kummer.
J Chem Soc-Perkin Transactions 1. 1974 (16):1991-4.

Öblom K.
Effects of nutrition of Marasmius urens upon the production of antibiotic substances.
Nature 1950 166(4231): 950-1.

Öblom K.
Nutritional effects upon the antibiotic production of Marasmius urens (Bull) Fr .1. The influence of organic acids.
Physiologia Plantarum 1951 4(3): 563-73.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Pang ZJ, Sterner O.
The isolation of 2,2'-biindoline-3,3'-diones from injured fruit bodies of Collybia peronata and Tricholoma scalpturatum.
J Nat Prod 1994 57(6):852-7.

Stachel SJ, Nilges M, VanVranken DL.
Synthesis and isomerization of biindolinones from Collybia peronata and Tricholoma scalpturatum.
J Org Chem. 1997 62(14):4756-62.

Tyler G.
Accumulation and exclusion of metals in Collybia peronata and Amanita rubescens.
Trans Br Mycol Soc. 1982 79(Oct):239-45.

The stubble rosegill, Volvariella gloiocephala (DC.) Boekhout & Enderle.
   Credit: Jean-Pol Grandmont
   Source: Wikipedia

Agaricus gloiocephalus DC.
  in de Candolle & Lamarck, Fl. franç., Edn 3 (Paris) 5/6: 52 (1815)
Agaricus speciosus Fr.
  Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 2: 1 (1818)
Amanita speciosa Fr.
  Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 2: 1 (1818)
Volvaria gloiocephala (Fr.) Gillet
  Hyménomycètes (Alençon): 388 (1876)
Volvaria speciosa (Fr.) P. Kumm.
  Führ. Pilzk. (Zwickau): 99 (1871)
Volvaria speciosa var. gloiocephala (DC.) R. Heim, (1936)
Volvariella gloiocephala (DC.) Wasser
  Ukr. bot. Zh. 45(6): 78 (1988) var. gloiocephala
Volvariella gloiocephala var. speciosa (Fr.) Bon
  Docums Mycol. 22(no. 88): 40 (1993)
Volvariella speciosa (Fr.) Singer
  Lilloa 22: 401 (1951) [1949]
Volvariella speciosa f. gloiocephala (DC.) Courtec.
  Bull. Sem. Soc. Mycol. Nord 34: 16 (1984)
Volvariella speciosa (Fr.) Singer
  Lilloa 22: 401 (1951) [1949] f. speciosa
Volvariella speciosa var. gloiocephala (DC.) Singer
  Lilloa 22: 401 (1951) [1949]
Volvariella speciosa (Fr.) Singer
  Lilloa 22: 401 (1951) [1949] var. speciosa

Cap: 5-14 cm diameter, white with a grayish-brown center; initially ovoid, becoming convex and finally more or less expanded, greasy or viscid when damp, otherwise smooth; flesh white and firm.
Gills: at first white, becoming light pink at maturity, free, broad, crowded.

  Credit: Darvin DeShazer
  Source: Mushroom Observer, licensed by-nc-sa2.5
Stem: 5-18 cm x 1-2.5 cm, white, smooth, tapering upwards, the base enclosed in a white or grayish volval sheath; flesh white and firm.
Odor: earthy
Taste: not distinctive.
Spores: pink, smooth, ellipsoid, non-amyloid, 13-18 x 8-10 µm.
Spore print: pale pink.
Edibility: edible, but beware of poisonous Amanita look-alikes (Amanitas have white spore prints).
Habitat: on grassy soil or on rich soil such as dung heaps, rotted straw, manured ground, compost heaps; summer to fall; infrequent.

Medicinal activity
Antitumor effects

An extract of the fruit bodies inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers in mice by 90 and 80%, respectively (named as Volvariella speciosa (Fr.) Sing.; Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

There's photos of the stubble rosegill from all angles at Biopix
Picture and description at CalPhotos (as Volvariella speciosa (Fries: Fries) Singer)

References

Boekhout T, Enderle M.
Typification of Volvariella gloiocephala (DC: Fr) Boekhout & Enderle.
Persoonia. 1996 16:249-51.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Ouzouni PK, Riganakos KA.
Nutritional value and metal content profile of Greek wild edible fungi.
Acta Alimentaria. 2007 36(1):99-110.

 

Xeromphalina cauticinalis (With.) Kühner & Maire, photographed November 17, in Sonoma County, California.
  Credit: Darvin DeShazer
  Source: Mushroom Observer, licensed by NCSA3.0

Agaricus caulicinalis sensu Sowerby
  [Col. Fig. Engl. Fung. Vol. 2, pl. 163 (1789)];
  fide Checklist of Basidiomycota of Great Britain and Ireland (2005)
Agaricus cauticinalis Bull.
Marasmius cauticinalis (Bull.) Fr.
  Epicr. syst. mycol. (Upsaliae): 383 (1838)
Marasmius fulvobulbillosus R.E. Fr.
Omphalia parvibulbosa Kauffman & A.H. Sm., (1933)
Omphalia pubescentipes Peck
Xeromphalina cauticinalis (With.) Kühner & Maire
  Bull. trimest. Soc. mycol. Fr. 50: 18 (1934) subsp. cauticinalis
Xeromphalina cauticinalis subsp. pubescentipes (Peck) Redhead
  Can. J. Bot. 66(3): 492 (1988)
Xeromphalina cauticinalis var. acida O.K. Mill., (1968)
Xeromphalina cauticinalis (With.) Kühner & Maire
  Bull. trimest. Soc. mycol. Fr. 50: 18 (1934) var. cauticinalis
Xeromphalina cauticinalis var. subfellea Bon
  Docums Mycol. 29(no. 115): 33 (1999)
Xeromphalina fulvobulbillosa (R.E. Fr.) Kühner & Romagn.
  Publ. Inst. Bot. Barcelona 3(4): 68 (1937)
Xeromphalina parvibulbosa (Kauffman & A.H. Sm.) Redhead
  Can. J. Bot. 66(3): 497 (1988)

Cap: 1-2 cm diameter, convex with incurved margin initially, becoming plano-convex to plane and centrally depressed with recurved margin, faintly striate, ochreous with fulvous-colored disc and amber to pale luteous edges, fleshy, moist; context concolorous.
Gills: adnate to decurrent, moderately spaced, pale luteous to yellowish ochreous, lamellulae in 2-3 tiers.

  Credit: Darvin DeShazer, as above
Stem: 25-70 x 0.6-2.5 mm (but usually slightly larger at the base), stuffed, ochreous to luteous apically, red-brown to brown, tomentose, powdered apically with ochreous-coloured cystidia, with a swollen ochreous- to fulvous-coloured base.
Spore print: white.
Spores: ellipsoid to ovoid, smooth, entire, thin-walled, hyaline, amyloid, 5-6 x 3-3.5 µm.
Habitat: solitary or several, sometimes in groups on conifer seeds, needs and sticks; wide distribution, fruiting in summer and fall.
Odor: not distinctive.
Taste: bitter
Edibility: unknown.
Chemical reactions: Singer (1936) reported changes in the yellow pigments to red or pink when mounted in alkaline solution (eg. 3% KOH).

Description adapted from Redhead (1988) and Stevenson (1964). See the former reference for a thorough discussion of microscopic features.

Medicinal properties
Antitumor effects

An extract of the fruit bodies inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers in mice by 90 and 80%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

Natura Mediterraneo has an impressive number of photographs of this species, as well as several microscopy pics.

References

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Redhead SA.
Notes on the genus Xeromphalina (Agaricales, Xerulaceae) in Canada: biogeography, nomenclature, taxonomy.
Can J Bot. 1988 66(3):479-507.

Singer R.
Bemerkungen über einige Basidiomyceten.
Ann Mycol. 1936 34:423-34.

Stevenson G.
The agaricales of New Zealand: V.
Kew Bulletin. 1964 19(1):1-59.

The mica cap, Coprinellus micaceus (Bull.) Vilgalys growing on woodchips.
  Credit: Robert Sasata, © healing-mushrooms.net

Agaricus congregatus sensu Sowerby
  [Col. Fig. Engl. Fung. Vol. 3, pl. 261 (1800)]
  fide Checklist of Basidiomycota of Great Britain and Ireland (2005)
Agaricus micaceus Bull.
  Herbier de la France 6: tab. 246 (1786)
Coprinus micaceus (Bull.) Fr.
  Epicr. syst. mycol. (Upsaliae): 247 (1838) [1836]

Glistening Coprinus
Mica cap
Brownie mushroom
Coprin micacé (French)
Glimmer-Tintling (German)
Gewone glimmerinktzwam (Dutch)

Cap: 2-4 cm diameter, oval to campanulate, later expanding to broadly convex, margin upturned in age; color variable from tawny brown, reddish brown, to ochre brown, fading with age and becoming grayish near the margin; hygrophanous; surface striate, initially covered with glistening particles that easily wash or wear off; margin prominently lined nearly to the center; flesh thin fragile, pale brown.
Gills: adnexed or free, close, white when young, then purplish-brown to black, eventually deliquescing; 3-8 mm broad.

  Credit: Robert Sasata, © healing-mushrooms.net
Stem: 3-10 cm x 2-6 mm, white, pruinose, equal or with base clavate or bulbous, often with a volva-like margin; hollow, fragile
Spores: 6.5-10.0 x 4.5-7.0 x 4.5-5.5 µm, ellipsoid or ovoid with conical base (mitriform) and truncate apex, brown.
Spore print: black.
Taste: mild, pleasant.
Edibility: edible before the gills deliquesce.
Habitat: fasciculate or gregarious around dead trunks or stumps, on lawns and along sidewalks and streets; saprobic; spring-fall; common. Stewart (1926) claims to have gathered 38 pounds from a single large elm stump in one season (between May 1 and October 1, combining 8-10 successive crops).

An old reference (Stewart, 1926) mentions that autodigestion results in 72-74% of the weight of the caps transforming into liquid. This liquid, when pure, is light reddish brown, but usually appears black, due to the admixture of spores and particles of undigested residue. Another ancient report (Pady, 1941) mentions that 5-7 days are required for the mushroom to reach maturity - at least when growing in the crack of a hardwood floor!

Two novel compounds have been isolated from the methanolic extract of C. micaceus,  micaceol (a sterol), and (Z,Z)-4-oxo-2,5-heptadienedioic acid. The latter compound, present at a concentration of 32 µg/mL, inhibited the enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST) by 26.8% (Zahid et al., 2006). GST has been implicated in the resistance of cancer cells against chemotherapeutic agents, and GST inhibitors have the potential to be used as adjuvants in cancer chemotherapy.

The slightly antibacterial sterol micaceol

GST inhibitor (Z,Z)-4-oxo-2,5-heptadienedioic acid

Medicinal properties
Antitumor effects

An extract of the fruit bodies of the mica cap inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers in mice by 70% and 80%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

The antioxidant activity of cultured liquid, mycelial extract and biomass suspension from cultures of C. micaceus have been shown to have antioxidative potential to inhibit the reaction of free-radical peroxide oxidation of lipids in rat brain homogenate (Badalyan, 2003).

The antimicrobial activity of various species of the genus Coprinus, including 2 strains of C. micaceus (VKM F-2945 and VKM F-2946) were evaluated against Bacillus subtilis AONN 6633, B. mycoides 537, B. pumilis NCTC 8241, Leuconostoc mesenteroides VKPM B-4177, Micrococcus luteus NCTC 8340, Staphylococcus aureus FDA 209P, INA 00761, INA 00762, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Comamonas terrigena ATCC 8461, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Aspergillus niger INA 00760, Saccharomyces cerevisiae RIA 259, and Candida albicans INA 00763 (Efremenkova 2003).

The compound micaceol (described above) has demonstrated modest anti-bacterial activity against Corynebacterium xerosis and Staphylococcus aureus, with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 82.35 and 146 µg/mL, respectively (Zahid et al., 2006).

Links

Mushroom Expert
California Fungi
Fungi on Wood

References

Badalyan SM.
Edible and medicinal Higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms as a source of natural antioxidants.
Int J Medi Mushrm. 2003 5(2):153-162.

Dursun N, Ozcan MM, Kasik G, Ozturk C.
Mineral contents of 34 species of edible mushrooms growing wild in Turkey.
J Sci Food Agric. 2006 86(7):1087-94.

Efremenkova OV, Ershova EY, Tolstych IV, Dudnik YV.
Antimicrobial activity of medicinal mushrooms from the genus Coprinus (Fr.) S. F. Gray (Agaricomycetideae).
Int J Medi Mushrm. 2003 5(1):37-41.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

Pady SM.
Notes on Coprinus micaceus growing in an unusual habitat.
Mycologia. 1941 33(4):411-4.
View 1st page

Reid DA, Thomas A.
Observations on the fruiting of a mycelium of Coprinus micaceus.
Bull Br Mycol Soc. 1981 15(1):57-8.

Stewart FC.
The mica ink-cap or glistening Coprinus.
New York [Geneva] Agric Exp Sta Bull. 1926 535:1-30.

Zahid S, Udenigwe CC, Ata A, Eze MO, Segstro EP, Holloway P.
New bioactive natural products from Coprinus micaceus.
Nat Prod Res. 2006 20(14):1283-9.

 

The hygrophanous, striate appearance of the fragrant funnel, Clitocybe fragrans (With.) P. Kumm.
  Credit: James Lindsey
  Source: James Lindsey's Ecology of Commanster Site

Agaricus fragrans With.
  Bot. Arr. Brit. Pl., Edn 2 3: 307 (1792)
Clitocybe deceptiva H.E. Bigelow
  Beih. Nova Hedwigia 72: 108 (1982)
Clitocybe depauperata (J.E. Lange) P.D. Orton
  Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 43: 174 (1960)
Clitocybe fragrans var. depauperata J.E. Lange
  Dansk bot. Ark. 6(no. 5): 56 (1930)
Clitocybe obsoleta sensu auct.; fide Checklist of Basidiomycota of Great Britain and Ireland (2005)
Lepista fragrans (With.) Harmaja
  Karstenia 15: 14 (1976)
Omphalia fragrans (With.) Gray
  Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. (London) 1: 613 (1821)
Pseudolyophyllum fragrans (With.) Raithelh.
  Metrodiana 7(P4): 73 (1979) [1978]

Fragrant funnel
Slim anise mushroom
Slanke anijstrechterzwam (Dutch)
Clitocybe parfumé (French)
Dufttrichterling (German)

Cap: 1.5-4 cm diameter, when young flat (applanate), then shallowly infundibuloform, with margin involute when young, hygrophanous, translucently striate or not striate, sometimes with a dark brown to dark red-brown center, much paler in the outer part, other times with a less contrasting center (as depicted above), becoming pale on drying to almost whitish, but center remaining dark, or pale throughout, smooth and glabrous.
Gills: thin, crowded, up to 3 mm broad, adnate to decurrent, white.

  Credit: James Lindsey, as above.
Stem: 3-6 x 0.2-0.5 cm, cylindrical, equal, stuffed, finally hollow, light brown, smooth, white-tomentose at base, sometimes curved at base. Context hygrophanous, concolorous with cap and stem.
Smell: strong, like aniseed or Melilot (sweet clover)
Taste: indistinct.
Spore print: very pale cream to orange cream.
Habitat: in groups, often growing amongst moss, under deciduous trees on nutrient-rich soil, sometimes under coniferous trees or in juniper scrub or in calcareous grassland; summer to autumn.
Edibility: edible, but their similarity to other poisonous mushrooms suggests that consumption be avoided.

Description adapted from Noordeloos et al., 1985, p. 59

Medicinal properties
Anti-tumor effects

An extract of the fruit body inhibited growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers in mice by 80% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

There's a number of pictures at Mushroom Observer
Rogers Mushrooms has pictures and a description

References

Noordeloos ME, Boekhout T, Vellinga EC, Arnolds EJM. (1988).
Flora Agaricina Neerlandica: critical monographs on families of agarics and boleti occurring in the Netherlands, v. 3.
CRC Press.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.