https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Calocybe_indicaCalocybe indica - Revision history2026-09-07T13:13:08ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Calocybe_indica&diff=110693&oldid=prev>John of Reading: /* Description */copyedited one phrase2020-08-29T16:06:47Z<p><span class="autocomment">Description: </span>copyedited one phrase</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{taxobox<br />
| image = <br />
| regnum = [[Fungi]]<br />
| divisio = [[Basidiomycota]]<br />
| classis = [[Agaricomycetes]]<br />
| ordo = [[Agaricales]]<br />
| familia = [[Lyophyllaceae]]<br />
| genus = ''[[Calocybe]]''<br />
| species = '''''C. indica'''''<br />
| binomial = ''Calocybe indica''<br />
| binomial_authority = Purkay. & A. Chandra, 1974<br />
}}<br />
'''''Calocybe indica''''', commonly known as the '''milky white mushroom''', is a [[species]] of [[edible mushroom]] native to India. The sturdy all-white mushrooms appear in summer after rainfall in fields and on road verges. Traditionally eaten in West Bengal, it is being grown commercially in several Indian states and other tropical countries.<br />
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==Taxonomy==<br />
''Calocybe indica'' was formally described in 1974, from material collected in Calcutta. The authors—botanists R.P. Purkayastha and Aindrila Chandra—had noted it to be a popular mushroom in markets in West Bengal. They placed it in the section ''Calocybe'' of the genus ''Calocybe'', noting that it appeared closely related to and was similar morphologically to ''[[Calocybe gambosa]]'', from which it differed by having slightly larger oval spores, and a stouter mushroom.<ref name=Purkayastha1974>{{cite journal | journal = Transactions of the British Mycological Society | volume = 62|issue = 2| year= 1974 |pages =415–18 | title=New species of edible mushroom from India | vauthors= Purkayastha RP, Chandra A | doi=10.1016/S0007-1536(74)80052-5}}</ref> Botanist A. S. Krishnamoorthy found it growing in Tamil Nadu in the mid 1990s, and its commercial production was overhauled and improved.<ref name=Krishnamoorthy15>{{cite journal | journal =Mycobiology | year= 2015 | volume= 43| issue=3| pages= 184–94 | doi=10.5941/MYCO.2015.43.3.184 | pmid= 26539033 | title= A Comprehensive Review of Tropical Milky White Mushroom (''Calocybe indica'' P&C) | vauthors=Krishnamoorthy AS, Bala V| pmc=4630423}}</ref><br />
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==Description==<br />
The robust mushroom is all-white in colour and has a firm consistency. Its cap is {{convert|10|to|14|cm|in|frac=2}} across, convex initially before flattening out with age. The cuticle (skin) can be easily peeled off the cap. The crowded gills are white but gradually develop into brown with age, and the cylindrical stem is {{convert|10|cm|in|frac=2}} high with no ring nor volva. It has a subbulbous base, being {{convert|1.8|cm|in|frac=4}} wide at the apex (top), {{convert|3.5|cm|in|frac=4}} in the middle and {{convert|2.4|cm|in|frac=4}} wide at the base. The mushroom does not change colour on cutting or bruising, though old dried specimens have a buff colour. The flesh has a mild flavour that has been described as oily, and a faint smell reminiscent of radishes it tastes like an unripened coconut that which we can eat it without any cooking. The [[spore print]] is white, and the oval spores measure 5.9–6.8 μm long by 4.2–5.1 μm wide.<ref name=Purkayastha1974/><!-- cites para --><br />
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==Distribution, habitat and ecology==<br />
''C. indica'' grows in grasslands, fields and road verges in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, generally on substrate rich in organic material. The mushrooms appear between May and August after spells of rainfall. The fungus is [[saprophytic]], though it has been reported to form [[Ectomycorrhiza|extomycorrhizal]] relationships with the roots of the coconut tree (''[[coconut|Cocos nucifera]]''), palmyra palm (''[[Borassus flabellifer]]''), tamarind (''[[tamarind|Tamarindus indicus]]'') and yellow poinciana (''[[Peltophorum pterocarpum]]'').<ref name=Krishnamoorthy15/><!-- cites para --><br />
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==Cultivation==<br />
''C. indica'' is cultivated commercially in southern India and becoming more popular in China, Malaysia, and Singapore; it can be grown in hot humid (60% to 70%) countries with a temperature range of 25 to 35&nbsp;°C year-round, It undergoes the two phases dark phase and the light phase where in dark phase the mycelium development will takes place and in the light phase the pin heads start growing. The entire process will take 45 days to get the complete milkywhite mushroom.<ref name=Krishnamoorthy15/><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q44140422}}<br />
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[[Category:Fungi described in 1974]]<br />
[[Category:Fungi of India]]<br />
[[Category:Lyophyllaceae]]<br />
[[Category:Edible fungi]]</div>>John of Reading