There are many edible species under this genus, there being only two, so far as I know, not edible; and no one is likely to touch those on account of their strong odor. They are T. sulphureum and T. saponaceum.
Tricholoma transmutans. Pk.
The Changing Tricholoma. Edible.
Transmutans means changing, from changes of color in both stem and gills in different stages of the plant. This species has a cap two to four inches broad, viscid or sticky when moist. It is at first tawny-brown, especially with advancing age. The flesh is white and has a decided farinaceous odor and taste.
The gills are crowded, rather narrow, sometimes branched, becoming reddish-spotted with age.
The stem is equal or slightly tapering upward; bare, or slightly silky-fibrillose; stuffed or hollow; whitish, often marked with reddish stains or becoming reddish-brown toward the base, white within. Spores subglobose, 5µ.
The species grows in woods and open places, also in clover pastures, either singly or in tufts. I have seen large tufts of them, and in that case the caps are more or less irregular on account of their crowded condition. I found it frequently about Salem, and this fall, 1905, I found it quite plentiful in a clover pasture near Chillicothe. Found in wet weather from August to September.
Tricholoma equestre. Linn.
The Knightly Tricholoma. Edible.