(12 votes, average: 3.42 out of 5)
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Trooping Funnel
Edible 
Autumn 
Winter 
Best fried when young and used in soups and stews when more mature. One fairy ring in France measured half a mile across and is estimated to be 800 years old.
| Mushroom Type | |
| Common Names | Trooping Funnel, Monks Head |
| Scientific Name | Clitocybe geotropa |
| Season Start | Sep |
| Season End | Dec |
| Average Mushroom height (CM) | 20 |
| Average Cap width (CM) | 20 |
Cap
Convex with in-turned edge and obvious umbo becoming flattened then funnel-shaped but keeping an in-turned edge. Buff/yellow to having a salmon pink tinge.
Gills
Gills pale buff/yellow sometimes with a salmon pink tinge. Running down the stem. Crowded.
Stem
Swollen and a bit woolly at the base. Pale buff/yellow sometimes with a tinge of salmon pink. The stem is very tough and fibrous and usually requires a knife to harvest them. When cooking the stem cut it into discs.
Flesh
White and firm.
Habitat
Mixed woodland, especially clearings and roadsides. Mainly grows in troops or rings but can be found individually.
Possible Confusion
Potentially deadly Clitocybe rivulosa and Clitocybe dealbatta, pictured, although these mushrooms do not get any where near as big as the Trouping Funnel, so when identifying these mushrooms size matters!
Entoloma sinuatum is a bit similar but has notched gills and a mealy smell.
Melanoleuca grammopodia again similar but with a pale brown cap and musty smell. If you stick to large specimens, over a foot tall, it would be difficult to confuse this mushroom with any other.
Spore Print
White. Subglobose. You should scrape your spores into a small pile to get an accurate spore colour.
Taste / Smell
Mushroomy. Best eaten young although the larger fungi have a really strong taste and are great used in soups and stews. Should be cooked before consumption.
Frequency
Fairly common.
1 comment for Trooping Funnel
Thank you! For the photos and video. This all just confirms that, finally, I’ve found my luck in a mixed forest just outside Reigate, Surrey, on a mid-October weekend.