Giant funnelLeucopaxillus giganteus
Expert-verifiedUpdated October 3, 2026
Passport
- Edibility
- Conditionally edible
- Season
- Aug — Nov
- Hymenophore
- Gilled
- Cap color
- White
- Size
- Giant (>25 cm)
- Smell
- Pleasant
- Reviewed
- Yes ✓
Quick answers
Where to look?
Mixed forest, Deciduous forest
When does it appear?
Aug — Nov
Active months: August, September, October, November.
How to recognize it? Three signs
- Cap color: White, Cream
- Cap shape: Funnel-shaped
- Smell: Pleasant, Floury
Fruiting season
August – November
Description
The giant funnel (Leucopaxillus giganteus, often listed in Ukrainian sources as Clitocybe gigantea) is the largest of the "funnel-shaped" mushrooms of our forests and woodland edges. A mature cap reaches 25-30 cm, and in exceptional cases even 40 cm across. It's a hefty white mushroom with a funnel-shaped cap and a thick, fleshy stem, usually growing in rings — true "fairy rings". Finding one of these giants is pure delight for a forager: a single cap weighs 1-1.5 kg, and a few specimens from one ring will keep your kitchen in mushroom dishes for a week.
This is an edible mushroom of real culinary value. The flesh is thick, firm and white, with a distinct mushroomy, nutty flavor. Young mushrooms (cap not fully opened) are the best: more tender flesh, a finer aroma. Good for frying, stewing, pickling, and adding to soups and sauces. Old specimens with a wide, flat funnel are on the tough side — better stewed longer or dried. In a number of European countries (Italy, Spain, Poland) it is a traditional autumn mushroom.
In Ukraine it is widespread in the forest-steppe and steppe zones — in meadows, along woodland edges, in forest clearings, pastures, gardens and parks. Saprotroph. It often grows in open or semi-open places with fertile soils. Season August-November, peaking in September-October. It forms conspicuous "fairy rings" — rings 5-15 meters in radius with dozens of fruiting bodies. In the Carpathians and Polissia it is rarer; in the Forest-Steppe, more abundant.
Cap
Cap very large: 8-30 cm across, convex with an inrolled margin when young, becoming funnel-shaped over time with a depressed center; the margin is often wavy and slightly wrinkled. Color white to cream, developing pale ochre patches with age. In young mushrooms the surface is silky and glossy, in mature ones matte; the skin may crack slightly in dry spells. The skin is firm and does not peel.
Hymenophore
Gilled hymenophore. Gills crowded, thin, strongly decurrent down the stem. Color white to cream, becoming creamy ochre with age. Spore print white.
Stem
Stem robust: 5-15 cm tall, 3-6 cm thick, cylindrical or thickening toward the base, with white mycelial fuzz at the bottom. Color white to cream. Surface smooth or with fine lengthwise fibers. No ring. Stem flesh very firm, hollow in old specimens.
Flesh
Flesh thick, white, very firm, meaty. Does not change color when cut. It has a pleasant mushroomy, nutty flavor with delicate sweet notes. Old mushrooms have a slightly sourish aftertaste.
Smell
Strong, pleasant and mushroomy, with a hint of fresh flour or nuts. One of the signature aromas of large meadow mushrooms. Taste mild, delicate in young specimens.
›Scientific synonyms (4)
Agaricus giganteus Sowerby (1799), Clitocybe gigantea (Sowerby) Quél. (1872), Aspropaxillus giganteus (Sowerby) Kühner & Maire, Clitocybe gigantea
Lookalikes
Related species
Mushrooms of the same genus and habitat — to study side by side and never mix up.
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Booted knight
Tricholoma focale
Charbonnier
Tricholoma portentosum
Field blewit
Collybia personata
Giant knight
Tricholoma colossus
Grey knight
Рядовка наземна
Matt knight
Tricholoma imbricatum
Plums and custard
Рядовка червона
Plums and custard
Tricholomopsis rutilans
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to eat?
Yes, it's an edible mushroom of good culinary value. Its poisonous lookalikes are other Clitocybe (C. dealbata, C. phyllophila), but they are much smaller (2-5 cm versus 15-30 cm). A large white funnel-shaped mushroom growing in a ring is almost certainly the safe Leucopaxillus giganteus. Careful: young specimens (5-8 cm) can be confused with their poisonous relatives — don't pick those, wait until they grow.
How do you cook it properly?
Clean it and cut it into thick slices. Young mushrooms (with an inrolled margin) — fry right away for 15-20 min with onion and cream. Mature ones (wide funnel) — stew longer with cream, or boil for 5-7 min and then fry. Pickles well — the firm flesh holds its shape. Drying gives a wonderful aroma for winter soups. One large mushroom = 4-6 servings.
Can children eat it?
From age 4-5, in small portions as part of cooked dishes (stew, mushroom sauce, soup). Children tolerate the firm, meaty flesh well. Cook it thoroughly. Children under 3 should not be given any mushrooms at all.
Where should you look for it?
In meadows, along woodland edges, in forest clearings, in pastures, gardens and parks. It loves open or semi-open grassy places with fertile soils. It often grows in fairy rings — if you've found one specimen, walk around it 5-15 meters out looking for the ring: dozens more are waiting for you.
Which regions of Ukraine is it found in?
Mainly the forest-steppe and steppe zones — Podillia, Kyiv, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the south of Ukraine. Rarer in the Carpathians and Polissia. It prefers a warmer, more open climate than woodland Clitocybe. It often grows on cultivated meadows, around villages and in dacha settlements.
When should you look for it?
August — November, peaking in September-October. It withstands the first light frosts. In a wet autumn — full rings with dozens of mushrooms; in a dry one — just single specimens. It doesn't fruit in the summer heat.
What is it confused with?
With the clouded funnel (Clitocybe nebularis) — that one is grayish-smoky, not white. With the trooping funnel (C. geotropa) — that one is reddish-tan with a brown central bump, not white. Among the more dangerous: the ivory/frosty funnel — much smaller (2-5 cm), also whitish, also in meadows. The key difference is size: a mature Leucopaxillus giganteus is 15-30 cm, while poisonous Clitocybe never exceed 5-7 cm.
How can you identify it for certain?
Four features together: (1) very large size, 15-30 cm; (2) a white cap; (3) a funnel shape with decurrent gills; (4) growth in fairy rings in meadows. If all four match, you can be confident it's Leucopaxillus giganteus. Young specimens under 8 cm — don't pick them yet; let their size show itself.
Is Giant funnel edible or poisonous?
Does Giant funnel have gills or pores?
What does the cap of Giant funnel look like?
What does the stem of Giant funnel look like?
Sources
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine