Comparison
Sheathed woodtuft or sulphur tuft? How to tell them apart
Sheathed woodtuft is an edible mushroom, while the sulphur tuft is a poisonous mushroom. Compare the two mushrooms point by point.
The sulphur tuft has a sulphur-yellow cap, greenish and purple-black gills, a dark spore print, no membranous ring and a bitter taste.
The sheathed woodtuft has a membranous ring, a warm brown cap, rusty-brown gills and spore print, and a mild taste. Note: the edible conifer tuft (Hypholoma capnoides; grey gills, mild taste, grows on conifers) is also similar – only for the experienced.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Sheathed woodtuft | Sulphur tuft |
|---|---|---|
| Edibility | Edible | Poisonous |
| Cap | 2–7 cm across, flat with a blunt umbo, hygrophanous: cinnamon-brown when moist, dries from the centre – centre pale ochre, margin darker (two-toned). | Up to 7 (12) cm, sulphur-yellow with a darker, orange-rusty centre, smooth, dry; margin with remnants of a yellowish, cobweb-like veil. |
| Under the cap | Gills crowded, whitish at first, then rusty-brown (cinnamon), adnate or slightly decurrent. | Gills crowded, sulphur-yellow in young specimens, then greenish (olive), finally purple-black from the spores. |
| Stem | 5–7 cm × 5–8 mm, fibrous, hollow; a leathery ring, smooth above, covered below the ring with raised dark brown scales. | Thin (up to 1 cm), curved, hollow, yellowish, brown towards the base; instead of a ring only a cobwebby zone; stems in a cluster fused at the base. |
| Flesh | Thin, whitish, watery in the cap; rusty-brown in the stem; does not change colour. | Thin, sulphur-yellow, brown at the stem base; does not change colour (the stem turns brown when pressed). |
| Smell and taste | Smell pleasant, like freshly cut wood; taste mild. Spore print rusty-brown. | Smell indistinct; taste very bitter. Spore print purple-violet-brown. |
| Habitat | Common; gregarious in dense clusters on stumps and trunks of broadleaf trees (alder, birch, beech, hornbeam, willow), rarely on conifers (mainly in the mountains), in forests, parks and gardens. | Very common; in masses, in clusters on rotting stumps and trunks of broadleaf trees, less often conifers, also on buried wood (then it “grows from the ground”). |
| Season | April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December | April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December |
How to recognise it: sheathed woodtuft
- Dense clusters on stumps of broadleaf trees
- Two-toned cap – dries from the centre
- Raised dark brown scales below the ring
- Rusty-brown spore print
- Smell of fresh wood
How to recognise it: sulphur tuft
- Sulphur-yellow clusters on stumps
- Gills yellow, then greenish and purple-black
- Dark, purple-brown spore print
- No membranous ring
- Very bitter taste
Safety rule
Never eat a mushroom identified only from a website, a photo or an app. Show any doubtful specimen to a certified mushroom inspector at the sanepid (state sanitary inspection); in season the advice points are free. Do not give wild-picked mushrooms to children.
The golden rules of foraging →Frequently asked questions
Sheathed woodtuft or sulphur tuft: how can you tell them apart?
The sulphur tuft has a sulphur-yellow cap, greenish and purple-black gills, a dark spore print, no membranous ring and a bitter taste. The sheathed woodtuft has a membranous ring, a warm brown cap, rusty-brown gills and spore print, and a mild taste. Note: the edible conifer tuft (Hypholoma capnoides; grey gills, mild taste, grows on conifers) is also similar – only for the experienced.
Sulphur tuft: what to do if you have eaten it?
Call 112 at once or go to A&E (SOR), and take any leftover mushrooms with you. Fasciculols (triterpenes) – gastrointestinal syndrome (abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea). Latency according to Wikipedia up to 3 hours, according to First Nature usually 5–10 hours; rarely a severe course.
Sources
- Wikipedia (pl): Łuskwiak zmienny
- grzyby.pl (atlas M. Snowarskiego): Kuehneromyces mutabilis
- First Nature: Kuehneromyces mutabilis
- Wikipedia (pl): Maślanka wiązkowa
- grzyby.pl (atlas M. Snowarskiego): Hypholoma fasciculare
- First Nature: Hypholoma fasciculare
Last checked: 9 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Write to us.