Pluteus cervinus

Scientific name:  Pluteus cervinus (Schaeffer:Fries) Kummer
Derivation of name: Cervin- pertains to "deer" or "fawn-
colored"  
Synonyms:  Pluteus atricapillus (Batsch) Fr.
Common name(s):  Fawn mushroom; Deer mushroom.
Phylum:   Basidiomycota
Order:   Agaricales
Family:   Pluteaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate:  Saprobic; solitary or in
small groups on or around decaying deciduous and conifer
stumps and logs, on sawdust and wood chips; May through
October.  
Dimensions:  Caps 3-12 cm wide; stipes 5-10 cm long and
0.5-1 cm thick.   
Cap: Smooth, sometimes streaked with radially oriented fibers;
variable in color: brown to grayish-brown to pale cinnamon-
brown.
Gills: Free; white at first, becoming salmon-pink.
Spore print: Salmon-pink.
Stipe: White to grayish-brown.
Veil: Absent.
Edibility: Edible.
Comments:  The similarity of the cap color to the hair of deer
gives rise to the common names.
 
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Figure 1. Fawn mushroom fruiting on wood. Photo © William
Roody.

Figure 2. A beautiful view of the pink gills and white stipe of
this specimen. Photo © Pam Kaminski.

Figure 3. The gills are initally white but become pinkish as
the pinkish spores mature.

Figure 4. The distinctly free gills of Pluteus cervinus.