#cortinariaceae

Gymnopilus junonius

Some fungi look so impressive you would think detailed observation and a good manual with keys will be enough to find out their identity, but this was further from the truth for this species, which kept me puzzled for months. When I finally gave up and submitted photos and info to the British Mycological Society, it turned out to be a fairly common one, generally known as laughing gymorspectacular rustgill. 

Widely distributed around the world, it is a saprobic fungus often found in large colonies on the wood of conifers. Its fruiting bodies emerge from the long-lived mycelium every autumn and can grow fairly large: the cap of the ones you see in the first photo were slightly larger than the palm of my hand, probably around 15 cm across.

I haven’t really been able to find anything regarding practical uses, but it’s decidedly inedible and more or less toxic and hallucinogenic depending on subspecies and origin.