False Matsutake (Tricholoma caligatum) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

Tricholoma caligatum, sometimes called European matsutake, is a large mushroom of Mediterranean pine and evergreen oak woods, with a chestnut-brown scaly cap and a stem wrapped in dark scales like a boot. It is not native to the US. Mushrooms called false matsutake in eastern US oak woods have long carried this name too, but they are probably different species.

Appearance

Appearance: The Mediterranean species has a cap 4¾–6 in (12–15 cm) across, rounded at first, with chestnut to dark brown fibrous scales. The gills are whitish to cream and spot reddish-brown with age. The stem has a cottony ring, with dark scale bands below it like a boot. The is white. Eastern US forms are smaller (cap 1½–4½ in / 4–11 cm), brown streaked over white, and have no distinctive smell.

Look-alikes

western matsutakeTricholoma murrillianum

It has a strong, cinnamon-like smell and grows with conifers (in California sometimes with tanoak and madrone). Eastern US mushrooms called false matsutake grow with oaks and lack that smell.

Why they get mixed upBoth are whitish, ringed mushrooms with a sheathed stem.

American matsutakeTricholoma magnivelare

It has a pungent, cinnamon-like smell and grows with conifers. Eastern US mushrooms called false matsutake usually have no distinctive smell and grow with oaks.

Why they get mixed upBoth look alike and share the matsutake-style ring.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: Mediterranean pine woods
evergreen oak woods
Range: Southern Europe and North Africa, around the Mediterranean. In the US, mushrooms under this name occur east of the Great Plains (for example Kentucky and Illinois), with look-alike forms in Colorado and California, but they are probably other species.
Preferred conditions: The Mediterranean species grows on the ground in autumn and winter, in coastal and high-altitude woods. Eastern US forms grow scattered or in groups with hardwoods, especially oaks, in fall; a Colorado form grows with spruce.

Cautions

Cautions: The Mediterranean species is eaten in Europe but is often bitter, especially under hardwoods. Edibility of the North American forms is not well documented, and a California form is reported as extremely bitter.

Name and classification

About the name: The name means 'wearing boots,' after the dark scales on the lower stem. Strictly, it belongs to the Mediterranean mushroom. North American mushrooms called by this name are likely different species, and the North American group still needs study and revision.