Paxillus involutus
Paxillus involutus is a basidiomycete fungus that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. It has been inadvertently introduced to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America, probably transported in soil with European trees. The fruit body grows up to 6 cm high and has a funnel-shaped cap up to 12 cm wide with a distinctive inrolled rim and decurrent gills.
About Paxillus involutus in brief
Paxillus involutus is a basidiomycete fungus that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. It has been inadvertently introduced to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America, probably transported in soil with European trees. The fruit body grows up to 6 cm high and has a funnel-shaped cap up to 12 cm wide with a distinctive inrolled rim and decurrent gills that may be pore-like close to the stipe. Although it has gills, it is more closely related to the pored boletes than to typical gilled mushrooms. It was first described by Pierre Bulliard in 1785, and was given its current binomial name by Elias Magnus Fries in 1838. Genetic testing suggests that Paxillus involutus may be a species complex rather than a single species. Previously considered edible and eaten widely in Eastern and Central Europe, it has since been found to be dangerously poisonous. It had been recognized as causing gastric upsets when eaten raw, but was more recently found to cause potentially fatal autoimmune hemolysis, even in those who had consumed the mushroom for years without any other ill effects. An antigen in the mushroom triggers the immune system to attack red blood cells. Serious and commonly fatal complications include acute kidney injury, shock, acute respiratory failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. It is a common mushroom of deciduous and coniferous woods and grassy areas in late summer and autumn.
It forms ectomycorrhizal relationships with a broad range of tree species. These benefit from the symbiosis as the fungus reduces their intake of heavy metals and increases resistance to pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum. The genus was later placed in a new family, Paxillaceae, by French mycologist René Maire who held it to be related to both agarics and boletes. The generic name is derived from the Latin for ‘peg’ or ‘pegplug’, and the specific epithet involUTus, ‘inrolled’, refers to the cap. Common names include the naked brimcapillus, poison paxillus, inrolled paxax, common brown roll-rim, and chanterellellex, in his 1821 compendium of British flora and genetics. One study found that three populations of P.involUTus were unable to breed with each other, while the other two were found in nearby parklands, with conifers and birch trees associated with birchlands, and other nearby woodlands. The mushroom was found in a field near Uppsala, Sweden, in 1981 to 1983, and there were three populations that were associated with nearby birch, birch and conifer woodlands, while there were two other populations of the same species. The species was later found in the UK, where it is known as P. volunteus, and in the U.S. and Canada.
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This page is based on the article Paxillus involutus published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 29, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
