Honey fungus

How to recognise it: honey fungus

1. 1

   Large clusters on wood or tree roots

2. 2

   Membranous ring on the stem

3. 3

   White spore print

4. 4

   Honey-brown cap with fine dark scales in the centre

5. 5

   Do not eat raw – always parboil

Description

Cap

3–13 cm across, honey-yellow to olive- or reddish-brown, darker in the centre, with fine dark scales (disappearing with age); margin striate in young specimens.

Gills

Gills whitish, later beige-pinkish and yellowish with brown spots, crowded, adnate to slightly decurrent.

Stem

Long (5–20 cm), slender, darker towards the base, stems in a cluster fused together; a distinct, persistent, membranous ring, whitish to yellowish.

Flesh

Whitish to pale flesh-coloured, does not change colour when cut; fibrous in the stem of older specimens.

Smell and taste

Smell faint, pleasant; taste when raw mild, then astringent, sourish. Spore print white to cream.

Where and when it grows

Grows gregariously, in large clusters on trunks, stumps and roots of broadleaf trees (oak, hornbeam, beech, fruit trees) in forests, parks and orchards; a parasite causing root rot. Armillaria mellea in the strict sense is fairly rare in Poland; Armillaria ostoyae on conifers is more common.

Most often with: oak, hornbeam, beech, apple, aspen

Where are conditions good today?

Look-alikes: what it can be mistaken for

• 

  Funeral bell Deadly poisonous high risk of confusion

  Deadly poisonous (amatoxins), also grows gregariously on wood. The funeral bell is smaller (cap 1.5–5 cm), has a rusty-brown spore print, rusty gills and silvery-white fibrils on the stem below a fragile ring. The honey fungus has a white spore print and whitish/beige gills.

  Step-by-step comparison: Honey fungus or funeral bell →
• 

  Sulphur tuft Poisonous high risk of confusion

  Poisonous, grows in similar clusters on stumps. The sulphur tuft has a sulphur-yellow cap, sulphur-yellow, then greenish and purple-black gills, a dark (purple-brown) spore print, no membranous ring and a very bitter taste.

  Step-by-step comparison: Honey fungus or sulphur tuft →
• 

  Sheathed woodtuft Edible low risk

  Edible, but easily confused with the funeral bell. The sheathed woodtuft has a rusty-brown spore print, cinnamon gills and a cap that dries from the centre (two-toned); the honey fungus has a white spore print.

In the kitchen

Mainly young caps are collected (the stems are fibrous). Always parboil first for approx. 5 minutes and discard the water, and only then cook further.

Watch out for toxins

Not a poisonous mushroom in the sense of containing potent toxins, but raw or undercooked it causes gastrointestinal illness; the steam from parboiling can cause headache.

Protection and sale

• Species protection: the species is not protected. Armillaria ectypa (marsh honey fungus) is strictly protected – it is a different, rare species of peat bogs.
• Sale: the species is on the list of mushrooms approved for sale (it may be sold only with a mushroom inspector’s certificate).

Where you may pick mushrooms →