Lentinellus ursinus
Le Botaniste 17: 99. 1926.
Basionym: Agaricus ursinus Fr. (Protologue)
Common Name: none
For descriptions see Siegel & Schwarz & 'California Mushrooms'.
Solitary or more often clustered in overlapping shelves on hardwood, occasionally conifer logs; fruiting from fall through mid-winter in coastal and montane regions; common.
Inedible, unpleasant taste.
Lentinellus ursinus can be distinguished by its pleurotoid shape, tomentose-tufted, sessile cap, pallid serrate gills, and quickly acrid taste. Lentinellus montanus is similar, but has a paler, less tufted cap, more widely spaced gills, and fruits on conifer branches in the spring in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1991). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 3: Boletes and Agarics (1st Part). Strobilomycetaceae, Boletaceae, Paxillaceae, Gomphidiaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Tricholomataceae, Polyporaceae (lamellate). Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 361 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Gilbertson, R.L. (1974). Fungi That Decay Ponderosa Pine. University of Arizona Press: Tuscon, AZ. 197 p.
Lindsey, J.P. & Gilbertson, R.L. (1978). Basidiomycetes that Decay Aspen in North America. J. Cramer: Vaduz. 406 p.
Petersen, R.H. & Hughes, K.W. (2004). A preliminary monograph of Lentinellus (Russulales). J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 270 p.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Watling, R. & Gregory, N.M. (1989). British Fungus Flora: Agarics and Boleti. Vol 6. Crepidotaceae and other pleurotoid agarics. Royal Botanic Garden: Edinburgh, Scotland. 157 p.
— gills
— closeup of the coarsely toothed gills
— closeup of the coarsely toothed gills
— closeup of cap texture
— gills
— banana slug food
