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Pholiota squarrosa

 

Pholiota squarrosa, commonly known as the Shaggy Pholiota, appears at the base of old trees and sometimes on the stumps of felled trees. It is often confused with Honey Fungus.

Cap

4 to 12 cm in diameter; yellow-ochre or straw-yellow; covered in upturned triangular brown scales in more or less concentric rings.

Convex at first, the caps flatten with age but retain an in-rolled margin.

The cap flesh is very pale yellow, and it is quite firm.

Gills

The crowded adnate gills are pale yellow at first, becoming cinnamon as the spores mature.

A cortina-like veil covers the young gills.

Stipe

 7 to 15 mm in diameter and 6 to 15 cm tall, the stem has a distinctly scaly ring below which it is covered in scales very similar to those on the cap. The upper section of the stem above the ring is paler and smooth.

Spore print

rusty brown.

Odour/taste

Smells and tastes like radish (a bitter taste).

Habitat

In small clusters at the base of stumps or standing dead broad-leaf trees, particularly beech; also occasionally at the base of conifer stumps.

Season

August to November.

Occurrence

Infrequent.

Similar species

  1. Some forms of Armillaria mellea, the Honey Fungus, are scaly but their spore prints are white rather than brown and the gills do not darken significantly with age.

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