Paxillus involutus (Batsch.) Fr. 1838
Paxillus involutus is the type species for the genus Paxillus. It is a mycorrhizal mushroom associated with both conifers and hardwoods. It can also be saprotrophic when attached to wood. The brownish-ochre cap with a depressed center has a ‘hairy’ inrolled margin. It may appear funnel-shaped when fully expanded. The yellow-brown gills are decurrent, close to crowded, stain brown with handling, and like all species within the Boletales, has a hymenium that is easily removable. Spore print is yellow-brown to brown. While many people, especially in Europe, eat this mushroom, it is now known to cause an immunologic reaction which can lead to organ failure and death. Typically this occurs in susceptible people quite suddenly - usually after going many years eating it without any symptoms. Therefore, I do not recommend any one eat this mushroom. (see ‘Paxillus involutus and Paxillus Syndrome’ by Andrus Voitk, Fungi Magazine, Vol. 5:2 Summer 2012, pp. 17-18.