Armillaria gallica Marxm. & Romagn. - Bulbous Honey Fungus

Distribution - Taxonomic History - Etymology - Identification - Toxicity - Reference Sources

Armillaria gallica - Bulbous Honey Fungus

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

There are many forms of Honey Fungus, and in the past they all shared the scientific name Armillaria mellea. Nowadays it is generally accepted that there are several distinct species, one of which, Armillaria gallica, is distinguished by having a bulbous or swollen stem base.

Armillaria gallica is on average a little smaller and usually darker than Armillaria mellea, and its pallid stem ring is insubstantial and usually not evident on fully mature specimens..

Distribution

This species is an uncvommon find in Britain and Ireland; it occurs also in most parts of central and southern mainland Europe and in North Africa

Taxonomic history

This species was first described in ? by

Synonyms of Armillaria gallica include Armillaria bulbosa and Armillaria lutea Gillet.

Etymology

The specific epithet gallica

Toxicity

Although all Armillaria species were for many years generally considered edible when thoroughly cooked, those members of the honey fungus group (including Armillaria mellea, the type species of this genus) that occur on hardwoods are now considered suspect, as cases of poisoning have now been clearly linked to eating these fungi. We therefore recommend that Armillaria gallica is not collected for the pot.

Identification guide

Cap	4 to 10cm in diameter; colour ranging from ochre-brown to red-brown, usually somewhat darker near the centre. The cap flesh is white and firm. Initially convex with inrolled margins, the caps flatten and become slightly depressed with slightly wavy margins. Fine brown scales with darker tips cover the cap surfaces.
Gills	The adnate or weakly decurrent gills are crowded and initially almost white, gradually becoming yellowish-brown at maturity.
Stem	White at the apex; colour as cap below the ring zone, darkening as the fruitbody matures. 5 to 10mm in diameter and 5 to 12cm tall; bulbous towards the base where stems usually emerge from the substrate in clusters. The stem flesh is whitish, and there is a short-lived cobweb-like ring (reminiscent of the cortina characteristic of the genus Cortinarius) that collapses to leave a yellowish ring zone on the stem.
Spore print	White or very pale cream.
Odour/taste	Sweet odour but sometimes with a bitter taste.
Habitat	Saprobic on woodland litter, dead stumps and buried rotting wood of broad-leaf trees; very occasionally found under conifers.
Season	June to November.
Occurrence	Uncommon.
Similar species	Armillaria mellea, commonly referred to as Honey Fungus, is larger and paler but it has a persistent stem ring. Pholiota squarrosa is generally similar in colour and covered in scales; it retains an in-rolled margin, the gills turn uniformly rusty-brown, and it has a radish-like smell and taste.

Reference Sources

Fascinated by Fungi, Pat O'Reilly 2011.

Pegler DN. (2000). 'Taxonomy, nomenclature and description of Armillaria'. In Fox RTV. Armillaria Root Rot: Biology and Control of Honey Fungus. Intercept Ltd. pp. 81–93. ISBN 1-898298-64-5.

Dictionary of the Fungi; Paul M. Kirk, Paul F. Cannon, David W. Minter and J. A. Stalpers; CABI, 2008

Taxonomic history and synonym information on these pages is drawn from many sources but in particular from the British Mycological Society's GB Checklist of Fungi and (for basidiomycetes) on Kew's Checklist of the British & Irish Basidiomycota.