Collybia odora is widespread in North America and Europe
Current name for the aniseed funnel cap, formerly in the genus Clitocybe. Beautiful blue-green coloration when young, fading with age to light blue/whitish. Smells distinctly like black licorice. Likes pine and hardwood forests, growing from pine needle duff and leaf litter. Summer and fall fruiting. Edible.
Oddly, it belongs to a group of mushrooms that contain the neurotoxin muscarine, but Collybia odora, it has been shown, does not produce the poison. See 2023 study below. Out of 19 species tested in Collybia subgenus Collybia, all but Collybia odora were positive for muscarine.
See also:
- MushroomExpert.Com
- First Nature
- Systematic arrangement within the family Clitocybaceae (2023)
- These name changes may revert back to Clitocybe if this recent (March 2024) proposal is accepted. See Proposal to conserve the name Clitocybe (Basidiomycota) with a conserved type