Minnesota Seasons - Aborted Entoloma

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Kirk Nelson

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Aborted Entoloma is both a typical mushroom and an infection of other mushrooms. As a typical mushroom, it obtains nutrients from non-living organic matter (saprobic), specifically woody debris and leaf litter. As an infection, it grows with and obtains nutrients from (parasitizes) Honey Mushroom (Armillaria mellea group). When a Honey Mushroom is infected, it forms a lumpy mass called a carpophoroid. Aborted Entoloma is common and widespread in eastern North America in hardwood forests. It is found from mid-September through October on the ground, scattered or in groups, near decaying wood or in leaf litter. It is most often found with or near Honey Mushrooms. It is easily identified in its aborted (carpophoroid) form, and nearly impossible to identify in its mushroom form. Mushroom The cap is ¾″ to 3″ in diameter and convex at first. It is gray to grayish-brown, hairless, and dry. The margins are rolled under. As it ages it becomes broadly convex or flat, with or without a raised bump in the center. The stalk is ¾″ to 3″ long and 3 ⁄16″to ⅝″ thick. It is solid, hairless or finely hairy, and sometimes somewhat enlarged at the base. The base of the stalk is covered with a white fuzz that is part of the underground, vegetative component (mycelium). The flesh is white and dense. It is edible but difficult to distinguish from other poisonous Entolomas. For this reason, only the aborted carpophoroid version should be eaten. The gills are pale gray at first, becoming pink due to a covering of spores. They are close and slightly run down the stalk. The spore print is pink. Carpophoroid The aborted form is an irregular, often lumpy mass. It is ¾″ to 3″ high and often depressed in the middle. It is white at first, becoming brownish with age. The flesh is marbled white and pinkish. The stalk, if present, is short. There are no gills. A carpophoroid is the above-ground structure of a fungus whose development suggests a fruiting body but stops before developing a normal mushroom shape and does not become reproductive. When this fungus was first described, it was thought that the lumpy mass was a Entoloma abortivum (then called Clitopilus abortivus) mushroom that never developed properly. Studies by Roy Walting in 1974 showed it to be a fungus parasitized by another fungus. He concluded that the aborted fruiting body was an E. abortivum mushroom parasitized by a Honey Mushroom (Armillaria mellea group). In 2001, research published in Mycologia (Czederpiltz, Daniel Linder, Thomas J. Volk, and Harold H. Burdsall, Jr. 2001) suggested that the carpophoroid is in reality a Honey Mushroom parasitized by the E. abortivum fungus. This conclusion remains controversial because Honey Mushroom is only found growing on wood and Aborted Entoloma is only found growing on the ground. If true, Volk suggests that the common name is incorrect and should be changed to Aborted Armillaria.

	Similar Species



	Habitat and Hosts
	Hardwood forests


	Ecology
	Season
	Mid-September through October


	Distribution
			Sources 4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.
	8/30/2022

	Occurrence
	Common and widespread in eastern North America


	Taxonomy
	Kingdom	Fungi (fungi)
	Subkingdom	Dikarya
	Phylum	Basidiomycota (club fungi)
	Subphylum	Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)
	Class	Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)
	Subclass	Agaricomycetidae
	Order	Agaricales (common gilled mushrooms and allies)
	Suborder	Tricholomatineae
	Family	Entolomataceae
	Genus	Entoloma (pinkgills)
	Subgenus	Claudopus

	Synonyms
	Agaricus abortivus Clitopilus abortivus Pleuropus abortivus Rhodophyllus abortivus

	Common Names
	Aborted Entoloma shrimp of the woods

Glossary

Carpophoroid

The above-ground structure of a fungus whose development suggests a fruiting body but stops before developing a normal mushroom shape and does not become reproductive.

Parasitic

Obtaining nutrients from another living organism.

Saprobic

A term often used for saprotrophic fungi. Referring to fungi that obtain their nutrients from decayed organic matter.


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	Scott Fluegel




	Honey Fae (Farah)




	Stephanie Segner




	dg99




	Kirk Nelson





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	Other Videos


	Aborted Entoloma Mushroom MiWilderness

	About Published on Sep 27, 2011 Thanks for watching MiWilderness.



	Aborted Entoloma Griseum? Midwest Wild Mushrooms Earthwalker40

	About Published on Oct 20, 2013 Please comment, share, like and subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/Earthwalker40 These appear to be a type of Entoloma mushroom which have been parasitized by an invading mycelium(Armillaria). I could find no Armillaria mushrooms, but many entolomas. One aborted appears to be growing from the same mycelium as an Entoloma mushroom. Aborted Entoloma Griseum? Midwest Wild Mushrooms Wild mushroomhunting how to find mushrooms edible wild mushrooms midwest wild mushrooms ohio muwshrooms



	Aborted Entoloma Chris Matherly

	About Published on Nov 16, 2007 Video of Aborted entoloma mushrooms



	Found some Abortive Entoloma, Entoloma abortivum today! MushFarmer

	About Published on Oct 18, 2016 The controversy, does abortive entoloma parasite honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) or is it the other way around? Or something completely different. https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=QuONatMdIp4Of9RSs-c8IFzsROp8MTUwNjUyOTExOEAxNTA2NDQyNzE4&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mushroomexpert.com%2Fentoloma_abortivum.html In my limited experience it seems to me that honey mushrooms would not be growing in the locations where I found these entoloma. Notice the first set around a healthy young tree. I have yet to find any honeys growing off of healthy trees, especially young. The second set growing off the dead rootball of the tree seems an unlikely location for honey mushrooms to grow either, growing from the muddy side. I did not see any honey mushrooms in the immediate area of both groups (doesn't mean they were not there though). I do see honey's growing in small amounts all through the forest. I did not see any entolomas around the large honey mushroom grow site of my previous video (and most of those honeys were breaking down now). I am thinking about experimenting next year and spraying entoloma liquid culture/spores in that large honey mushroom area to see if I can force the parasitification. The Lobster mushrooms: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=QuONatMdIp4Of9RSs-c8IFzsROp8MTUwNjUyOTExOEAxNTA2NDQyNzE4&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mushroomexpert.com%2Fhypomyces_lactifluorum.html



	Abortive Entoloma (snow shrimp) Mark Robie

	About Published on Oct 7, 2013

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Scott Fluegel 9/26/2023	Location: Nerstrand Big Woods State Park



Honey Fae (Farah) 8/26/2022	Location: Dakota County, MN



dg99 10/3/2021	Location: Washington County, MN



Stephanie Segner 9/24/2021	Location: Long Lake, MN



Kirk Nelson 9/10/2017	Location: Lebanon Hills Regional Park



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