Kuehneromyces mutabilis - Wood Tuft

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Other common names for this attractive species are Brown Stew Fungus and Two-toned Pholiota, so-called because the cap is a shiny cinnamon-orange when wet but dries a light tan colour.

This attractive, edible fungus appears throughout the year, often in large tufts. You may find it recorded under the scientific synonyms Galerina mutabilis or Pholiota mutabilis in some books.

Identification Guide

	Cap 3 to 8cm in diameter, convex becoming flattened with a broad umbo; bright tan, drying out to pale ochre from the centre and giving a two-toned (zonate) appearance. The cap flesh is pale tan and quite thin.
	Gills Adnate and crowded, the gills are pale ochre at first and become cinnamon as the spores mature. Stem Pale and smooth above the ragged stem ring; fibrous, scaly and dark tan below, graduating to almost black at the base. 5 to 10mm in diameter and 3 to 8cm tall; usually curved. The flesh of the solid stem is pale tan at the apex, graduating to dark brown at the base.
Spore print	Reddish-ochre.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On stumps, felled trunks and logs of broad-leaf trees, particularly birch.
Season	Throughout the year, but most plentiful in summer and autumn.
Occurrence	Very common.
Similar species	Flammulina velutipes, commonly called Velvet Shank, has a darker, velvety stem and leaves a white spore print. Galerina marginata is very similar and sometimes only separable for certain by microscopic examination; it is deadly poisonous.