Laccaria laccata

Laccaria laccata, commonly known as the deceiver, or waxy laccaria, is a white-spored species of small edible mushroom found throughout North America and Europe. It is a highly variable mushroom (hence “deceiver”), and can look quite washed out, colorless and drab, but when younger it often assumes red, pinkish brown, and orange tones. The species is often considered by mushroom collectors to be a “mushroom weed” because of its abundance and plain stature.

Taxonomy

The deceiver was first described by Tyrolian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1772 as Agaricus laccatus, before being given its current binomial name by Mordecai Cubitt Cooke in 1884. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin adjective laccatus “varnished” or “shining”.Clitocybe laccata is an old alternative name. Var. pallidifolia, described by Charles Horton Peck, is the commonest variety found in North America.

It is the type species of the cosmopolitan mushroom genus Laccaria; where their relations lie among the gilled mushrooms is unclear, but they are currently classified in the family Hydnangiaceae.