FermenteaWhere food goes to change
← Ingredients

Mushrooms

Yellow knight

Loading ratings…

Tricholoma equestre, the yellow knight, is a yellow ectomycorrhizal fungus of pine woods whose long market history in Europe is overshadowed by serious rhabdomyolysis poisonings, so the sources read do not support eating it.

Suggest a correction
Two whole yellow knight mushrooms and two lengthwise halves display brown-yellow caps, yellow gills and pale flesh on a warm ivory background.

What it is

Tricholoma equestre is a fungus of the genus Tricholoma that forms a mycorrhizal partnership with pine trees. Its cap is about 5 to 15 centimetres across, usually yellow with brownish areas toward the centre. The stem is yellow and brownish at the base, and the gills are yellow. The spore print is white.

The species is known as the yellow knight and as the man on horseback. The name Tricholoma flavovirens is an older name the article calls superseded. It was first described by Linnaeus in 1753 as Agaricus equestris, and that name takes precedence.

Sources for this section

Food history

For a long time the yellow knight was prized as an edible mushroom and sold in European markets, and some authors still regard it as tasty. The Wikipedia article states that the poison in the mushroom remains unknown.

The catalogue records the species as historically eaten and recorded in Yunnan markets. That record rests on a cited ethnobiology paper that could not be read in this recovery, and the Wikipedia article does not confirm it.

Sources for this section

Poisoning reports

Concern about the species was first raised in southwestern France, where patients had eaten three or more meals containing it within two weeks before treatment. Symptoms began one to four days after the last meal and included muscle weakness, sometimes with pain and stiffness, and dark urine. Nausea, sweating and facial reddening were also reported, without fever.

The suspected mechanism is rhabdomyolysis, the breakdown of muscle tissue. The Wikipedia article describes deaths among patients treated for the poisoning and cites a 2001 New England Journal of Medicine paper on wild-mushroom intoxication as a cause of rhabdomyolysis. No poisoning cases were reported in North America, and look-alike species may be involved.

Sources for this section

Conflicting studies and the current advice

A 2018 Polish study fed ten volunteers 300 grams of fried mushroom each and reported no consequences. A 2020 systematic review by Nieminen and Mustonen raised concern and advised not to harvest and consume the species. The sources read therefore disagree about the risk, and the review is the more cautious of the two.

The catalogue carries the workbook label SAFETY CONFLICT and keeps the species outside an approved edible list. That label is a supplied flag, not an identification or toxicology conclusion.

Sources for this section

Safety

The sources read do not support eating this mushroom. The Wikipedia infobox gives its edibility as not recommended or poisonous, and the cited review advises against harvesting and consuming it.

This record is not a guide to identifying wild mushrooms, and it does not identify a specimen. Do not eat a fungus identified as yellow knight, or any yellow Tricholoma, on the strength of a market or a historical account. Tricholoma contains species that are not safe to eat, so identify any specimen with an expert before eating it.

Sources for this section

Places

Europe

Historical attestation · Region evidence

Region-level record. The article says the species was long prized and sold in European markets; the poisoning reports come from southwestern France.

See Europeon the mapLocation source 1 →

Yunnan, China

Relationship not established · Region evidence

The catalogue records use in Yunnan markets. The Wikipedia article does not mention Yunnan, and the cited ethnobiology paper was not readable in this recovery, so the record is not verified here.

See Yunnan, Chinaon the mapLocation source 1 →

Related

More from Yunnan

  • Akahatsu

    Akahatsu, Lactarius akahatsu, is a wild milkcap of East Asian pine and mixed forests that is sold in Yunnan markets, with its edibility and identity still needing species-level review.

  • Amanita subhemibapha

    A wild Amanita of China, first reported there and listed as edible in a Yunnan ethnomycology study. The genus contains deadly species, so this page does not support identifying or eating it.

  • Armillaria bruneocystidia

    A wood-associated Armillaria recorded in Yunnan and Sichuan, China, and listed as edible in a 2026 Chinese catalogue.

  • Asian black truffle relative

    Tuber pseudohimalayense is a wild black truffle from Yunnan, China, listed as edible in a Chinese species catalogue. No independent assessment of its culinary use or safety is available.

  • Asian hedgehog mushroom

    Hydnum berkeleyanum is a toothed, ectomycorrhizal forest fungus sold in food markets in Yunnan, China. Its regional identification is published, but its current name and local safety still need species-level review.

  • Auricularia thailandica (red ear mushroom)

    Auricularia thailandica is a thin, gelatinous wood ear described from Southeast Asian collections. Research reports it edible and experimentally cultivable, but species-specific recipes and everyday handling guidance are scarce.

  • Boletellus indistinctus

    A 2023 Chinese taxonomic treatment accepts Boletellus indistinctus as a species. A separate Yunnan market record uses this name, but its specimen identification and local food safety have not been confirmed here.

  • Boletus botryoides

    Boletus botryoides, the grape-coloured bolete, is a porcini-like wild bolete of central and south-western China. It is listed as edible in Chinese catalogues, but no dish or preparation is documented for it.

Community

No community contributions have been published for this entry yet.

Share what you made

Sign in to contribute. Published comments and photos are free to read.

Share a creation photoSuggest a correction

Sources