BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Boletaceae

Old Man of the Woods, Stobilomyces floccopus

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Boletaceae

Height to 6"

Cap is up to 6" wide, convex to flattened, dry, whitish, and covered with dark gray, shaggy scales. The margin may also be shaggy with veil remnants. The stalk is covered in fibrous scales like the cap and has a loose, grayish collar. The spongy fertile surface of tubes and pores is a light gray that turns darker with age. Spore print is brown or black. The flesh, when bruised, turns red and then black. Old Man of the Woods grows in mixed woodlands, especially around oaks, in middle and eastern North America during the summer and fall. It is edible but best when young.