Clitocybe catinus

A name with competing taxonomic treatments

Clitocybe catinus is the checklist name used here, but it is not the only name under which the mushroom appears. The Natural History Museum accepts Infundibulicybe catinus, while Species Fungorum's record points the combination back to Clitocybe catinus. The nomenclatural history includes Agaricus catinus and the later Infundibulicybe combination; older literature also contains names such as Omphalia catina and Clitocybe infundibuliformis var. catinus. These names are useful for searching, not proof that every old record represents the same biological species.

Identification limits go beyond a disagreement over genus. A 2022 Italian checklist notes that pale specimens historically called C. catinus have been treated by some authors as pale forms of Infundibulicybe gibba. A photographed cap or a checklist name cannot settle that boundary. The supplied global index lists the name from a Chinese edible-fungi catalogue and a Brazilian audit, but explicitly says it has not been independently assessed.

A pale funnel form, not a field identification

European descriptions characterize the mushroom as a pale cream to nearly white funnel or bowl, with crowded whitish gills running down the stem and a slender pale stem. Published accounts differ on cap surface, size and habitat, and similar pale funnels occur in the same broad settings. These are features used in published descriptions, not a diagnostic key for a specimen. The sources reviewed do not provide a single modern, voucher-backed description that reconciles the competing concepts.

Habitat and season vary across European accounts

The local descriptions range from mountain conifer woodland and occasional grassy or sandy ground in Slovenia, to mixed woods, parks and hedges in a German guide, and mixed broad-leaved trees on calcareous ground in a French regional record. An older British and Irish summary describes saprobic growth on dead conifer litter. That spread may reflect ecological flexibility, broad historical identifications, or both; no single tree or substrate is established here as diagnostic.

The dated European records and regional guides place fruiting mainly from summer into autumn: the Slovenian society gives June to October, a Polish atlas September to November, and labelled photographs are dated in August, September and October. These are local reports and observations, not a range-wide calendar. The Chinese edible catalogue supplies no season, and the Brazilian occurrence itself is doubtful.

What the edible listings establish

China's 2026 scientific catalogue lists Clitocybe catinus (亚白杯伞) as edible. This supports a country-scoped catalogue classification. The entry does not establish how frequently people gather it, a community's traditional preparation, a recipe, a medicinal use, or a safe serving method. It gives no species-specific handling or storage advice.

European culinary judgements are not consistent: a Slovenian society calls it edible and mentions drying; a Polish atlas calls it conditionally edible; a French mycological association marks edibility unknown; and a German page discourages eating because dangerous pale funnels can be confused with it. These reports document the sources' classifications, not a shared culinary practice or a reliable identification safeguard. No species-specific fermentation method or validated preservation schedule was found. Drying is mentioned by one guide, but without a safe process or a way to resolve mistaken identity.

Brazil remains an unresolved historical report

The supplied index cross-references a 2024 Brazilian audit and flags source-occurrence confidence as variable. That audit separates a source's edibility classification, occurrence evidence and evidence of consumption; a checklist inclusion should not be recast as proof that people eat a mushroom locally. A 2025 Brazilian Tricholomataceae review is more specific: for historical Rio Grande do Sul citations under C. catinus, it reports that no authentic material was cited or located and calls the country's occurrence doubtful. It also notes an old Clitocybe tuba citation assigned to C. catinus without preserved material. Brazil therefore belongs in the research trail as uncertain, not as a confirmed growing or food-use location.

Food safety and identification boundary

Some regional guides warn that dangerous pale funnel mushrooms can resemble this taxon, and the taxonomy itself remains unsettled. A country-level edible-list entry, website photograph, cap colour, smell or taste cannot identify a wild specimen or establish safety. This account records the disagreement in the sources; it is not advice to gather or eat wild mushrooms. Do not use fermentation or drying as a way to make an uncertain specimen safe.