Flammulina filiformis.
Fungi > Division Basidiomycota > Class Agaricomycetes > Order Agaricales > Family Physalacriaceae.
Most Physalacriaceae species are typical mushrooms with a cap and stalk but there are some crust fungi.
The Flammulina genus has around 10 species.
Flammulina filiformis, commonly called Enoki mushroom is cultivated as food.
In the wild fruit bodies, up to 5 cm high grow in clusters on wood.
The convex cap flattens as they grow and can be up to 4.5 cm across.
The smooth cap surface is pale brown.
Gills under the cap are cream or pale yellow.
The smooth stem, cream at the top and pale brown at the base has no rings.
The spore print is white.
Cultivated Enoki mushrooms are grown in the dark to make them white.
A collar forces the stems to be long and thin.
DNA analysis has shown that Flammulina velutipes is a distinct species.
Cultivated strains of “F. velutipes” are actually Flammulina filiformis.
J.F.
