# Volvopluteus

**Volvopluteus** Vizzini, Contu & Justo is a small genus of saprotrophic agaric fungi in the family [Pluteaceae](https://www.edgepedia.org/pluteaceae) (order [Agaricales](https://www.edgepedia.org/agaricales), Basidiomycota), recognized by a sac-like volva at the stem base, free pinkish gills, large spores, and a gelatinous cap cuticle. It was established in 2011, when molecular data showed that *Volvariella gloiocephala* and its close allies form a clade that is the sister group of the genus *[Pluteus](https://www.edgepedia.org/pluteus)* rather than part of *Volvariella*.<sup>[1](https://iris.cnr.it/handle/20.500.14243/50986)</sup> The type species is *Volvopluteus gloiocephalus*.<sup>[2](https://www.creamjournal.org/pdf/Cream_5_4_3.pdf)</sup> The genus name combines the Latin *volva*, the sheathing universal veil, with the genus name *Pluteus*.<sup>[3](https://enciclopedia.funghiitaliani.it/termine.php?show=3142)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Family and order | Pluteaceae, Agaricales, Basidiomycota; type species *V. gloiocephalus*<sup>[2](https://www.creamjournal.org/pdf/Cream_5_4_3.pdf)</sup> |
| Defining characters | Average basidiospore length over 11 µm; pileipellis an ixocutis of hyphae averaging under 15 µm wide embedded in a very thick gelatinous matrix; a volva at the stipe base<sup>[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11003440/)</sup> |
| Origin of the genus | Proposed in 2011 after nSSU, ITS, and nLSU data placed *Volvariella gloiocephala* and allies as the sister clade of *Pluteus*<sup>[1](https://iris.cnr.it/handle/20.500.14243/50986)</sup> |
| Best-known species | *V. gloiocephalus*, widely distributed around the world, formerly *Volvariella gloiocephala* or *V. speciosa*<sup>[5](https://doi.org/10.48130/mycosphere-0026-0015)</sup> |
| Ecology | Saprotrophic on dead organic matter such as compost, manure, and nutrient-rich grass; not tied to any tree species<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup> |
| Edibility of the type | *V. gloiocephalus* is considered edible but watery and poor in quality, and is classed as not recommended because it resembles the deadly *Amanita virosa*<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup> |

## Why the genus was created

The family Pluteaceae was traditionally divided by veil characters: *Volvariella* had a well-developed volva, *Chamaeota* a ring on the stipe, and *Pluteus* neither.<sup>[7](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878614610001595)</sup> Molecular phylogenies using nuclear ribosomal genes (nSSU, ITS, nLSU) showed that this arrangement did not reflect evolutionary history. *Volvariella* proved polyphyletic, with most of its species falling outside the pluteoid clade and showing affinities to hygrophoroid genera such as *Camarophyllus* and *Cantharocybe*. The *gloiocephala* group, however, clustered beside *Pluteus*, and the new generic name *Volvopluteus* was proposed for these taxa.<sup>[1](https://iris.cnr.it/handle/20.500.14243/50986)</sup>

Morphology and molecules point the same way. Three characters separate *Volvopluteus* from both *Pluteus* and *Volvariella* sensu stricto: an average basidiospore length over 11 µm, and a pileipellis arranged as an ixocutis, built of relatively thin hyphae averaging less than 15 µm wide, embedded in a very conspicuous gelatinous matrix.<sup>[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11003440/)</sup> The volva is an additional separator from *Pluteus*, though inconspicuous but constant volva-like remnants are also known in one *Pluteus* species, *P. stephanobasis*.<sup>[4](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11003440/)</sup> Species formerly placed in *Volvariella* that combine a gelatinous pileipellis with large basidiospores, such as *V. canalipes*, are now recognized in *Volvopluteus*.<sup>[8](https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.505.3.3)</sup>

The fate of the old genus *Volvariella* has since been settled further: modern taxonomy recognizes *Pluteus* and *Volvopluteus* as members of Pluteaceae, while *Volvariella* is placed outside the family in its own family, Volvariellaceae.<sup>[5](https://doi.org/10.48130/mycosphere-0026-0015)</sup>

## Species and distribution

The 2011 revision that established the genus also described *Volvopluteus asiaticus* as new from Japan, redescribed the American *V. michiganensis* in detail (basionym *Pluteus michiganensis* A.H. Sm., 1934), and provided a morphology-based key to all species known at the time.<sup>[9](https://iris.cnr.it/handle/20.500.14243/50985)</sup> *V. michiganensis* had originally been described in *Pluteus* and was transferred to *Volvopluteus* as a new combination.<sup>[10](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49738016_Phylogeny_of_the_Pluteaceae_Agaricales_Basidiomycota_Taxonomy_and_character_evolution)</sup> A second record of *V. asiaticus* in the world was published in 2023.<sup>[11](https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.706.3.5)</sup>

**New combinations and new species continue to accumulate.** In 2021, a volvarioid fungus with a distinctive grooved stipe found in sandy soil in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico was compared with the type of *Volvariopsis canalipes* from Florida and shown to be conspecific; ITS and LSU sequences placed it in *Volvopluteus*, sister to *V. gloiocephalus*, and the combination *V. canalipes* was proposed.<sup>[8](https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.505.3.3)</sup> Also in 2021, multigene analyses (ITS, 28S, and 18S) reported *V. earlei* for the first time in Turkey and provided the first Turkish ITS, 28S, and 18S sequences of *V. gloiocephalus*.<sup>[12](https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/vol45/iss3/5/)</sup> In 2025, *V. yunnanensis* was described from [Yunnan Province](https://www.edgepedia.org/yunnan-province), China, characterized by basidiospores larger than 11 µm, a gelatinous pileipellis, a pileus with a dark blonde center and birch gray margin, and a smooth membranous volva; nrITS analysis supports it as a distinct lineage within the genus.<sup>[11](https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.706.3.5)</sup> Two further species from Northwest China, *V. longipes* and *V. platensis*, were described in *Phytotaxa* in 2024; *V. platensis* is terrestrial and solitary in the alpine meadows of the [Tibetan Plateau](https://www.edgepedia.org/tibetan-plateau), with a collection examined at 3,300 m altitude in Qinghai Province.<sup>[5](https://doi.org/10.48130/mycosphere-0026-0015)</sup>

## Volvopluteus gloiocephalus

The type species is by far the most frequently encountered member of the genus. It has a large, viscid gray-white pileus, a white volva, clavate cheilocystidia, and clavate to fusiform pleurocystidia often with an apical papilla, and it is widely distributed around the world.<sup>[5](https://doi.org/10.48130/mycosphere-0026-0015)</sup> In China it fruits extensively across a wide range, and specimens from different regions form a single well-supported phylogenetic clade with consistent morphology.<sup>[5](https://doi.org/10.48130/mycosphere-0026-0015)</sup>

**Habitat and look-alikes.** The species grows in gardens, compost, manure heaps, and nutrient-rich grassland, and is a saprotroph on dead organic matter rather than a mycorrhizal partner of trees.<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup> In Sweden it is assessed as resident and reproducing, and rated of least concern (LC) in the 2025 red list.<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup> Its cap is conical to bell-shaped, white to gray-brown and slightly sticky in wet weather; the free gills are white at first and turn pink with spore maturity, and the flesh smells more or less of radish.<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup>

The practical difficulty is the deadly look-alike. *[Amanita virosa](https://www.edgepedia.org/amanita-virosa)*, the destroying angel, is also a white mushroom with a large sac-like volva, so the volva itself distinguishes nothing between the two. The gill color is the only difference visible at a distance, and it appears only in older specimens, since young *V. gloiocephalus* also has white gills; *A. virosa* keeps white gills, has a thin and often disappearing ring on the stem, and a sweetish sickly odor, while the habitat differs, with *A. virosa* mycorrhizal with spruce or beech in forest.<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup> Swedish sources describe *V. gloiocephalus* as considered edible but usually not recommended as a food mushroom because of this confusion risk, and the species is not on the poison center's register of mushrooms that commonly cause serious poisoning.<sup>[6](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)</sup>

## References

1. [Justo, A. et al. (2011). Phylogeny of the Pluteaceae (Agaricales, Basidiomycota): taxonomy and character evolution. CNR IRIS record.](https://iris.cnr.it/handle/20.500.14243/50986)
2. [(xv) Genus: Mycena (Pers.) Roussel, CREAM journal PDF, noting Volvopluteus type species V. gloiocephalus.](https://www.creamjournal.org/pdf/Cream_5_4_3.pdf)
3. [Volvopluteus: nome di Genere, Glossario Illustrato Micologico, Funghi Italiani.](https://enciclopedia.funghiitaliani.it/termine.php?show=3142)
4. [Family matters inside the order Agaricales: systematic reorganization and classification of incertae sedis taxa, PMC11003440.](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11003440/)
5. [Phylogeny and species delimitation of Pluteaceae (Agaricales) with documentation on the species from China, Mycosphere.](https://doi.org/10.48130/mycosphere-0026-0015)
6. [Vit slidskivling (Volvopluteus gloiocephalus), Sveriges Svampar.](https://sverigessvampar.se/svampar/vit-slidskivling)
7. [Justo, A. et al. Phylogeny of the Pluteaceae, ScienceDirect abstract page.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878614610001595)
8. [Montoya, L., Bandala, V.M. & Esqueda, M. (2021). Volvopluteus canalipes comb. nov. (Pluteaceae) from the Sonoran Desert of Mexico. Phytotaxa 505(3): 275–285.](https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.505.3.3)
9. [Justo, A. et al. (2011). Species recognition in Pluteus and Volvopluteus (Pluteaceae, Agaricales): morphology, geography and phylogeny. CNR IRIS record.](https://iris.cnr.it/handle/20.500.14243/50985)
10. [Justo, A. et al. Phylogeny of the Pluteaceae: taxonomy and character evolution, ResearchGate full text.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49738016_Phylogeny_of_the_Pluteaceae_Agaricales_Basidiomycota_Taxonomy_and_character_evolution)
11. [Zheng, D.-G. et al. (2025). Volvopluteus yunnanensis (Pluteaceae, Agaricales), a novel species from Yunnan Province, China. Phytotaxa 706(3): 269–280.](https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.706.3.5)
12. [Kaygusuz, O. et al. (2021). Volvopluteus and Pluteus section Pluteus (Agaricales: Pluteaceae) in Turkey based on morphological and molecular data. Turkish Journal of Botany 45(3): 224–242.](https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/vol45/iss3/5/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Microorganisms and fungi › Fungi and mycology › Basidiomycete taxa › Agaricomycetes › Agaricales › Pleurotoid and pluteoid Agaricales › Pluteaceae*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*

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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license