Golden Bootleg

Phaeolepiota aurea – Edible

Forest edges, woodland margins, scrub, ditch sides, grassy lake shores, riverbanks. Autumn, second half of summer.

Fruiting bodies large, robust. Cap up to 35 cm across and larger, velvety, finely granular, scaly, golden in colour. Young gills covered by a leathery yellow granular veil, later free, yellowish-brown, narrow. Stem 8—15 (20)x2-6 cm, thickening towards the base, with a membranous yellow ring, above which it is whitish, yellowish, smooth, and below it granular, scaly, the colour of the cap. Flesh yellowish, thick, without a particular smell, not bitter. Characteristic features: fleshy, large fruiting bodies, finely scaly, granular, with a prominent granular yellow ring. Grows in large groups, sometimes in rings, on peaty soils. Edible. Common. Large caps and stems are not to be eaten.