Mycena Rosella - The Pink Bonnet

Mycena Rosella - The Pink Bonnet

Mycena rosella, the pink bonnet, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It is one of the more distinctive (although notoriously difficult to identify) members of a group of mushroom called bonnets, which are set apart by their colour and size. The pink bonnet is distinguished from the much more common Mycena pura or lilac bonnet by its larger size and the fact that it is not usually yellow in colour. It also contains muscarine, which is toxic in large quantities, while the lilac bonnet does not.

It is found in woodlands throughout Europe, particularly in Britain and Ireland, although it is not so common as the lilac bonnet. It is a common sight beneath beech trees, on roadside verges bordered by beech hedges but it has also been found in spruce plantations. The caps are 2 to 6 cm wide, bell-shaped and crowded when fresh but become more squat when dry. They are suffused with a deep pink colour which becomes paler as the mushroom ages and when the cap surface is touched. The stem is short, white and smooth. This species has a number of synonyms, including Agaricus rhodellus, Agaricus rosellus, Mycena rosea, and Mycena strobilina, although the current accepted name of Mycena rosella dates only from 1912 when Prussian-born mycologist Eugen Gramberg transferred this mushroom to the genus Mycena.

The hat is trimmed with ribbon or self-fabric of a medium tone, and has a bow in front at the join of the brim and caul. The brim is flattened across the front and is somewhat narrower than in many black bonnets, perhaps reflecting a design choice for this particular bonnet as part of a satirical print; compare the bonnets in The slip or Miss willing to be in the ton and Catchpenny 140 ("...the moon and the balloon").

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