taricha

Almost no odor. Unfortunately, no cinnamon spicy smell like the desirable relative, and also my specimens all had a mildly bitter taste. seems a good fit for mushroomexpert's description of Tricholoma "caligatum"...

That's strange. Everything about it fits Laccaria ochropurpurea I see here in MS...except that sliced open stem. All the ones I see have pale stem interiors like what's described elsewhere. I even find them with lavender/purple mycelium like yours, but nothing like that stem.

Nailed it. Y'all rock! From mushroomexpert "The booted stem is, I think, the coolest thing about Tricholoma "caligatum." Although the stem is white and naked at the top, just below the cap, its lower portion is sheathed with a brown to brownish veil that flares outward, forming a ring. The cap is brown and streaky-looking, like the booted part of the stem..."

Can anyone point me in the general ballpark on these? Larger than palm size, brown dry hairy/scaly cap, white close gills, white thick very fibrous stem, growing on ground under mostly oak, stem comes out clean of mycelia, ring on stem, margin inrolled, not much noticeable odor, doesn't appear to bruise/stain much. Spore print in progress...(white, I think). 1st pic: two specimens, one looks munched on. 2nd -4th pic: 3rd specimen Last pic: young button

Thought I'd say hello! Just getting into mushrooms. I'm a science guy who loves a puzzle, so hunting for cool fungus and identifying is a pretty irresistible draw.