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Tag Archives: Plums and custard

An inedible dessert

17 Friday Oct 2025

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi

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Tags

autumn colour, autumn fungi, British fungi, fungi on wood, Plums and custard, Tricholomopsis rutilans

When you read the name Plums and Custard, you might well think, as I always do, that it sound like a delicious dessert. If only!

In this instance, Plums and Custard is not your Friday night after-dinner delight but a fungus, also known as Tricholomopsis rutilans. The two parts of the name come from the cap, which starts off a rich plum colour but fades over time, and the custard yellow colour of the gills. And, no, you shouldn’t eat it, no matter how edible it looks.

Though you can’t always see this – and you certainly can’t in my photos, these fungi grow on wood, specifically decayed conifers, usually pine. They’re often found in large groups, and are common throughout the UK.

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340/365 Plums and custard

06 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, trees, winter

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Tags

British fungi, fungi on conifers, Plums and custard, Tricholomopsis rutilans, winter fungi

In this case, Plums and custard does not refer to a tasty Friday night dessert, sadly, but rather to a deliciously named fungus with the scientific name Tricholomopsis rutilans, which certainly does not roll off the tongue.

191206 plums and custard (1)

The Plums and custard name (and the alternate, Strawberry fungus) don’t refer to taste or edibility, however – at its most vibrant, this fungus displays rich shades of a plum-like colour on its cap and its gills are a lovely custard yellow.

191206 plums and custard (2)
191206 plums and custard (3)
191206 plums and custard (4)
191206 plums and custard (5)

These wood-rotting fungi are usually found growing on decaying conifers, and you can read more about them, their habitats, and their identification features on the First Nature website.

191206 plums and custard (6)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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