BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Tricholomataceae

Honey Mushroom, Armillariela mellea or Armillaria mellea

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Tricholomataceae

Height to 6"

Cap is up to 5" wide, highly variable in shape but generally convex or flat, centrally depressed with an undulating margin. Surface is usually honey-colored, darker in the center, and covered with minute, fuzzy scales. Stalk is pale above and darker brown below with a somewhat bulbous base and has a white, membranous collar with a cottony margin. Gills are attached and descending down the stalk, white to brownish. Spore print is white. Honey Mushrooms grow on decaying stumps and logs or on living trees, often forming large clusters. They are found throughout North America during the late summer and fall or during the winter in California. The mushroom is edible if cooked and the stalk is removed, but care must be taken to not confuse it with similar poisonous species. Also known as Honey Fungus.