Pioppino (Agrocybe aegerita) Liquid Culture

Black Poplar (Piopinno in Italian) mushrooms (Agrocybe aegerita) are a fungus in the Cyclocybe genus of the Strophariaceae mycological family, recognizable by their long, thin stems and flat, silky caps. Also known as Black Poplar mushrooms, Pioppinos grow in clusters primarily found on Poplar trees.

It belongs to the white rot fungi and is a medium-sized agaric having a very open and convex cap, almost flat, with a diameter of 3–10 centimetres (1–4 inches). Underneath, it has numerous whitish radial plates adherent to the foot, later turning to a brownish-grey colour, and light elliptic spores of 8–11 by 5–7 micrometres. The white fibre foot is generally curved, having a membranous ring on the top part which promptly turns to tobacco colour due to the falling spores. When very young, its colour may be reddish-brown and later turn to a light brown colour, more ochre towards the centre, whiter around its border. It grows in tufts on logs and holes in poplars, and other large-leaved trees.