Special find in the Sihlwald

A highlight of the 2024 mushroom season

In mid-August, mushroom picker Brigitta Danuser was faced with a puzzle. She had found a mushroom in Wildnispark Zurich that she could not easily identify. The Zurich Mushroom Association, where she presented her find, was also initially puzzled as to the identity of the mushroom.

Due to the thick, distant lamellae, a snail mushroom was suggested as the solution. However, the brittle stem revealed that it belonged to the russula family and Christian Klee was able to identify it at home. It was a Russula camarophylla.

Rare mushroom species

According to the GBIF(Global Biodiversity Information Facility) database, the Russula camarophylla, which is widespread in Central and Western Europe, is only known from a few locations. The reasons for its rarity are unclear; it possibly fructifies very irregularly.

In terms of relationship and morphology, it is close to the black russula, but does not have blackening flesh. Microscopically, the very small, sparsely ornamented spores are characteristic.

Other finds in Sihlwald and the surrounding area

Surprisingly, this russula was discovered in September by Urs Frey and Godi Leuthold at other new locations on the Horgenberg and in the Sihlwald. The discovery thus joins a series of other special discoveries in Wildnispark Zurich (Scientific studies on biodiversity in the Sihlwald: Article 1; Article 2).

Source: SwissFungi Newsletter No. 23
Pictures: Godi Leuthold, Christian Klee