Galerina marginata - Funeral Bell

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

This member of the Galerina genus contains the same deadly poisonous toxins that occur in Amanita phaloides, the Death Cap. The notorious Funeral Bell appears on conifer stumps and occasionally on the stumps of broadleaf trees. Some people gather for food the superficially similar Kuehneromyces mutabilis, nowadays generally referred to as Wood Tuft but formerly more often referred to as Brown Stew Fungus;it is a close relative of the Funeral Bell and looks very similar.

Identification guide

	Cap Initially hemispherical and then broadly convex or almost flat, the hygrophanous caps are rufous brown in the centre, fading to honey yellow towards the edge. The margins are sometimes faintly striate. Cap diameter at maturity ranges from 1 to 7cm.
	Gills The close, pale cream-fawn to ochraceous honey-coloured adnate gills turn slightly rusty as they mature.
Stem	2 to 7mm in diameter and 2 to 7cm long, the fragile stems are often curved. Buff at the apex and browner towards the base, the stems are longitudinally fibrilose below a fragile pale ring. The ring sometimes disappears with age.
Spore print	Snuff brown.
Odour/taste	Mealy taste and odour. (NB This species is Deadly Poisonous: it must NOT be eaten!)
Habitat	On stumps, dead trunks and fallen branches of conifers and very occasionally of deciduous trees.
Season	June to December.
Occurrence	Infrequent.
Similar species	Kuehneromyces mutabilis, a popular edible mushroom, is similar in size and colour range but has a pale cap centre and darker rim and is mainly confined to hardwood substrates; it does not have a mealy smell.