Pluteus salicinus

The species was originally described by Christian Hendrik Persoon as Agaricus salicinus in 1798. Paul Kummer transferred it to the genus Pluteus in 1871. ==Description==

• Cap: 2 — 5(8) cm in diameter, convex becoming broadly convex to plane, silver-gray to brownish-gray, often with blue or greenish tint in age, smooth, with tiny scales near the center, darker at the margin, slightly translucent-striate when moist, unlined cap margin, flesh white with a grayish tinge, thin to moderate. Cap skin fibrous. • Gills: Crowded, broad, free, at first white, becoming pink-flesh colored; ventricose. Edges discoloring or bruising grayish. • Stipe: 3 — 5(10) long, 0.2 — 0.6 cm thick, more or less equal or slightly swollen at the base, flesh white with grayish-green to bluish-green tones, especially near the base. Ring absent. Firm, full or stuffed. • Taste: Unpleasant, indefinite or somewhat raphanoid (like radish). • Odor: Unpleasant, indefinite or somewhat raphanoid. • Spores: pink, smooth, 7 — 8.5 x 5 - 6 μm. Spore print pink-flesh colored to brown-pink. • Microscopic features: Pleurocystidia fusiform with slightly thickened walls 50 — 70 x 11 — 18 μm; with 3 — 5 horn-like projections. ==Habitat and distribution==

This mushroom is widely distributed across western Europe and Siberia. It is found on hardwoods - Alnus, Eucalyptus, Fagus, Populus and Quercus. It is always found growing on wood. Summer-fall, solitary or gregarious on dead wood of hardwoods, in damp forests on flood-plains. ==Common name==

The 'knackers crumpet' is a localised, common name referring to Pluteus salicinus. Its use is most prominent in the North of England. ==Chemistry==

The concentration of psilocybin and psilocin in the dried sample of P. salicinus has been reported in the range of 0.21-0.35 and 0.011-0.05%, respectively. ==See also==