Pinecone Cap

The cap is initially convex before flattening out, sometimes retaining a small central papilla, and sometimes developing a central depression; the cap diameter reaches 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in). The smooth cap is hygrophanous (i.e., it changes colour as it loses or absorbs moisture), and has shallow radial grooves extending about halfway up the cap. Its colour is reddish to brownish, and is often paler in the center than the margin; when dry, the colour fades to greyish. The greyish-white gills have a free to deeply emarginate (notched) attachment to the cap. They are somewhat crowded together, numbering 20–25 gills with 1 to 7 tiers of interspersed lamellulae (short gills that do not extend fully from the cap margin to the stipe). The cylindrical stipe measures 4–7.5 cm (1.6–3.0 in) long by 0.5–2 mm thick, and has at its base a root-like pseudorrhiza that extends into the substrate. The upper stipe is yellowish brown, while lower it is dark orange-brown to reddish brown. The flesh has no odour and usually has a bitter taste. While the fruit bodies are sometimes described as are edible, they are too small to be of culinary interest. The spore print is white. Spores are roughly elliptical to tear-shaped, with dimensions of 5.0–7.5 by 2.4–4.0 μm. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored, and measure 20–40 by 7–11 μm. …

Strobilurus tenacellus is a saprobic wood-rotting fungus. It fruits singly or in small groups on fallen and often partially buried cones of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), European black pine (Pinus nigra) and sometimes spruce (Picea) in coniferous and mixed forests. It is found in Europe and Asia, where it has been recorded in Japan and Jordan. In Europe, the fungus usually fruits from March to June. Its occurrence is occasional.