ID help please

[zosoman88]

I found this yesterday in a conifer forest in the Pacific Northwest. It was mostly buried and has a very strong smell like cinnamon and feet. Its gills are not attached to the stem. Is this a matsutake? Thanks for any help.

[Cedric]

Not 100% sure but this looks similar to Paxillus Involitus.

Cheers

[zosoman88]

I don't think so because the gills aren't attached. Here's a closer view of them.

Thanks

[Dave W]

I think this is some type of white-spored mushroom; I doubt Paxillus. Looks like there may be a small remnant of a veil connecting the cap margin to the stem (first photo). The gills look too ragged and widely spaced for Matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare). Also, Matsutake should have a flaring ring on the stalk. I don't know the PNW mushrooms very well. I checked some sources for Catathelasma species, but those all seem to have decurrent gills and flaring rings.

Maybe this is one of the types I just mentioned... but not a normally developed specimen. Sometimes gills that are attached to the stem break/pull away from the stem. And a ring on an old specimen may erode or become appressed to the stalk.

I'm pretty much stumped by this one.

[zosoman88]

I sliced a piece off the cap, added a few pics of the inside

[Dave W]

The gills in cross-section look thick and waxy, which points toward Hygrophorus. But I know of no Hygrophorus species that features a membraneous partial veil. There are a few with fleeting cortinate veil, but the one seen here appears to feature a mebraneous veil.

[vitog]

This specimen looks like it could be a fairly old Matsutake, with the ring rubbed off. The strong aroma points to that possibility, but I don't know how to describe the smell. To me it's unmistakable, but I don't know anything else that has a similar aroma. Another characteristic is a hard, tough stem, unless it's riddled with worm holes. What kind of trees were closest to this find? It's called the pine mushroom, but I find them associated with Douglas-Firs primarily.

[zosoman88]

Mostly pine, but there were a fair number of scattered doulas firs too. Oh and I cut it all the way open

[Feral Boy]

I've never seen matsutake, living in the midwest, but the smell seems compelling.

[vitog]

A sure way to identify it is to go to the Pike Place Market in Seattle and find Matsutakes for sale. One sniff will tell you if you have one.

[Cedric]

Yup, sorry. Not paxillus. I got off track with the first pictures.